SAN JOSE STATE FOOTBALL
San Jose State football has 2011 schedule firsts

Linebacker Keith Smith was one of four Spartans to earn freshman All-America honors in 2010.
photo: Terrell Lloyd

Two first-time nonconference opponents, unprecedented back-to-back September home games against two Western Athletic Conference rivals, and a return to 1 p.m. home games are key components of the 2011 San Jose State University football schedule.

The Spartans, under second-year head coach Mike MacIntyre, have a 12-game schedule ahead of them that features five home and seven road games.

San Jose State embarks on its quest for a first WAC championship with home games against Nevada on Sept. 17 and New Mexico State on Sept. 24. Hawai'i on Oct. 14 and Idaho on Nov. 5 are San Jose State's other two WAC home games.

The home schedule concludes on Nov. 19, when San Jose State and Navy meet in football for the first time in a home-and-home series.

"We have great home games on the schedule," says MacIntyre. "Our players are excited about it, the WAC schedule and the opportunity to open the season at Stanford in front of the Bay Area's college football fans."

Besides Navy, San Jose State faces nonconference and Pac-12 Conference opponent UCLA for the first time. The Spartans-Bruins game is Sept. 10, in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and matches "sister" institutions.

(Back in 1882, when San Jose State was known as the State Normal School, Gov. George C. Perkins dedicated the Los Angeles Branch Normal School, which later became the southern branch of the University of California in 1919 and, eventually, UCLA in 1927.)

Staying in California for the first month of the 2011 season is far different from what MacIntyre and the Spartans experienced a year ago. San Jose State traveled to Alabama and Wisconsin on the first two legs of a nearly 16,000-mile six-plane air travel odyssey to three time zones.

UCLA is one of two Pac-12 Conference opponents for San Jose State in 2011. The Spartans open the season with the 65th meeting at nearby Stanford. San Jose State's remaining nonconference road games are at Colorado State on Oct. 1 and Brigham Young on Oct. 8.

With the exception of the Friday night ESPN nationally-televised game against Hawai'i, San Jose State has a home schedule with consistent early-afternoon kickoffs for the first time since 1995.

Conference road games are at Louisiana Tech on Oct. 29, Utah State on Nov. 12 and Fresno State on Nov. 26.

MacIntyre has 49 letter-winners and 19 returning starters from a year ago ready to battle in 2011. Every defensive starter is back, starting with Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America linebacker Keith Smith.

The Spartans coach also has a handful of players who have 10 or more starts for San Jose State in their careers, but missed last season due to injury. Two-time first-team All-Western Athletic Conference safety Duke Ihenacho is one of these players and among a 26-member senior class MacIntyre is counting on.

Add in another promising recruiting class and San Jose State eagerly anticipates big things in 2011.

The season opener against Stanford Sept. 3 in Stanford Stadium is not far away.

For tickets to any 2011 San Jose State home football game, visit www.sjsuspartans.com or call 408-924-SJTX during weekday business hours.