SAN JOSE — San Jose State coach Brent Brennan has preached to his team all season that the true mark of a good team is whether or not it is playing meaningful games in November.
Saturday’s matchup against UNLV (12 p.m., Mountain West Network) will be the most important game the Spartans play this regular season.
UNLV (9-2, 6-1 Mountain West) is currently the best team in the conference, and in order for SJSU to have a chance at a Mountain West championship game berth, it will need to stifle the highest-scoring offense in the conference.
“We’re getting ready to play a really good UNLV team,” Brennan said. “They do all the things that lead to winning football and it’s really impressive. They’ve got good players at all positions that present a whole bunch of different challenges. So this is an incredible challenge for our football team.”
First-year head coach Barry Odom has turned around UNLV and has led the Rebels to their first nine-win season since 1984. When Odom was hired last December, he handpicked Bobby Petrino to be his offensive coordinator until Petrino left for the same role at Texas A&M 21 days later.
Petrino’s exit turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Odom hired Brennan Marion — an upcoming offensive assistant who is one of the architects of the “go-go offense.”
Since Marion took over playcalling duties, the Rebels have the best offense in the conference and a top-20 offense in the country. UNLV averages 35.9 points per game behind the play of freshman quarterback Jayden Maiava.
Maiava has only started eight games, but is fourth in the Mountain West in passing with 2,399 yards and 13 touchdowns. It helps that Maiava throws to the conference’s leading receiver in Ricky White III who has caught 70 balls for 1,189 yards.
“They’re really good offensively,” Brennan said. “(Maiava) is athletic, he’s a young player who’s already really good. He does a good job of delivering football to multiple people and they do a good job using his legs.”
Maiava resembles the type of quarterback SJSU has struggled to defend. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound quarterback had the ability to move the pocket to create better passing windows and escape pressure with his legs.
But the Spartans believe they have the formula to contain Maiava, especially after playing the likes of Caleb Williams (USC) and DJ Uiagalelei (Oregon State) earlier this season.
Through the first six games of the season, SJSU was one of the worst defenses in the county, allowing over 200 rushing yards a game through the first half of the season. Defensive coordinator Derrick Odom has turned the Spartans’ defense into one of the staunchest in the conference during the team’s five-game winning streak.
In the first six games of the season, SJSU opponents scored 202 points. In the last five games, the Spartans have given up just 76 points.
Last week’s game against San Diego State also showed signs of improvement against mobile quarterbacks.
San Diego State quarterback Jalen Mayden has been one of the most effective quarterbacks in the conference using his feet, but the Spartans were able to hold Mayden to 138 yards from scrimmage and picked him off twice.
“Coach Odom always has us prepared and calls a solid game,” said SJSU linebacker Jordan Pollard.
Being in the Mountain West, SJSU naturally sees a lot of different offenses from Hawaii’s run-and-shoot to Air Force’s triple option. Brennan hopes to carry those experiences into Saturday’s game.
“It is interesting in this conference that one of the things you have to deal with is a whole bunch of schemes,” Brennan said. “You have to get ready for a bunch of different stuff. These guys are really good and they’re doing a really good job.”