Fresno State @ San Jose State preview
CEFCU Stadium
Last Meeting ( Nov 26, 2011 ) San Jose State 27, Fresno State 24
No. 13 Fresno State looks to complete an undefeated and untied regular season for the third time in school history when it visits San Jose State in its regular-season finale Friday. The Bulldogs have already wrapped up the West Division title in the Mountain West Conference and will play in the league championship game on Dec. 7. To finish perfect, Fresno State will have to defeat its longest-running rival, as the Spartans and Bulldogs have played 76 previous times.
San Jose State can become bowl eligible with a victory over Fresno State, which would also snap the Spartans' three-game losing streak. Navy dealt San Jose State a bitter 58-52 triple-overtime defeat last weekend that may be hard for the Spartans to bounce back from. Fresno State is hoping to keep its hopes for a BCS bowl alive as well, as three of the last four teams to go undefeated in Mountain West play have played in a BCS bowl.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network. LINE: Fresno State -9
ABOUT FRESNO STATE (10-0, 7-0 Mountain West): While many around the Fresno State program are paying a lot of attention to the BCS standings — especially after the Bulldogs dropped a spot in the latest rankings — quarterback Derek Carr isn't one of them. Carr is trying to keep himself and his teammates focused on getting the job done on the field, letting everything else take care of itself. “We've just got to win,” Carr told the Fresno Bee. “We can't do anything about that stuff. It's out of our hands. All we can control is our effort and preparation.”
ABOUT SAN JOSE STATE (5-6, 4-3): A week after giving up 478 yards and 58 points in a loss to Navy, the San Jose State defense is feeling confident about going up against Fresno State's high-powered offense. Why? Because the Bulldogs are a passing team, something the Spartans are used to facing, as opposed to the run-oriented Midshipmen, who had 432 of their yards on the ground. “It's kind of the best situation we could be in, to play a team like this,” linebacker Keith Smith told the San Jose Mercury News. “Something we're used to playing week in and week out.”
EXTRA POINTS
1. This is the third time San Jose State has hosted Fresno State when the Bulldogs were nationally ranked, and the Spartans won the previous two meetings (1986, 1990).
2. Fresno State is averaging 573.9 yards per game offensively, which would shatter the school record of 537.1 yards set in 1991.
3. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series with the Spartans 39-34-3, having won 16 of the last 18 meetings.
PREDICTION: Fresno State 45, San Jose State 35