Spartans Hang Tough, But In Typical Fashion

With the fifth year of Head Coach Dick Tomey under way at San Jose State, the time has come to start evaluating the legacy he'll leave behind once his tenure as the Spartans' coach is over.

Off the field, the legacy will be nothing less than stellar.

Tomey has been a savior of sorts in San Jose, bringing a measure of legitimacy to a program that barely qualified as an FBS squad prior to his arrival.

As the face of San Jose State football, Tomey has led a campaign that increased attendance by over 300 percent (and brought it to the standards required by the NCAA), and greatly improved the academic performance and graduation rate of the players.

In short, Tomey took over a dying program and saved it from near extinction.

On the field, his teams have been more competitive overall than in years past, defeated rivals such as Stanford and Fresno State, and played in and won the program's first bowl game in nearly 20 years in 2006.

But if Saturday night's loss to Utah is any indication, the most notorious part of Tomey's legacy at San Jose State could be the upsets his teams let slip away.

Expectations weren't very high for the Spartans heading into the game against the No. 17 ranked Utes, especially coming off the previous week's demoralizing defeat at USC.

Led by a stingy defense that forced two turnovers and kept Utah's explosive offense mostly in check, the Spartans gave notice early that they wouldn't be rolling over in their home opener. Halftime came with the teams tied 7-7, a score that would hold steady into the fourth quarter.

But in a way, that has become all to familiar to San Jose State—a seemingly inevitable result that the team's fans almost expect—the bending Spartans finally broke in the fourth quarter, allowing Utah to break the game open with two touchdowns in a span of five minutes.

The pain of knowing they were capable of the upset and let it slip away is almost worse than the pain that comes with a thrashing like the one USC put on the Spartans—but it's a pain San Jose State fans should be getting numb to.

Back in 2006, the Spartans were nearly the spoiler to Boise State's undefeated season and heroic Fiesta Bowl comeback against Oklahoma.

San Jose State controlled most of the game heading into the fourth quarter against the undefeated and 14th-ranked Broncos. With a little over five minutes to go, Boise State tied the score at 20, giving a Spartan offense that had moved the ball well all night ample time to drive for the winning touchdown.

Instead, the drive stalled, and special teams had a melt down on the ensuing punt, allowing Boise State to return it 43 yards and straight into field goal range. A 37-yard field goal as time ran out sealed the game—and a magical season—for the Broncos.

The following year, it was Hawaii's turn to represent the WAC in a BCS Bowl, but not before making a stop in San Jose.

The Spartans hosted the 16th-ranked Warriors on a rain-soaked night in front of a nationally televised ESPN audience, and despite the sloppy field conditions, the two teams put on an offensive barnburner.

While the Spartans were lit up by Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan for 545 yards, they also managed to pick him off four times and keep him under duress throughout the night. With a 35-28 lead and under four minutes left in the game, San Jose State was controlling the football and the upset seemed almost certain.

A Spartan fumble would change things quickly, however, and lead to the game-tying touchdown and extra point. In overtime, the Warriors stunned the crowd by scoring first and then intercepting a pass to seal the victory.

The trend would continue in 2008. Heading into the fourth quarter on the road against Nebraska, the Spartans trailed by a mere two points and had silenced the crowd of 80,000-plus fans at Memorial Stadium. That changed rather quickly after a kickoff return for a touchdown by the Cornhuskers opened the door to a 21-point outburst and a 35-12 final score.

San Jose State would also go on to play tough against Boise State and Fresno State, only to be outclassed in the final quarters of those games, resulting in defeats that on paper did not reflect how competitive the Spartans had been.

Suffice it to say, the Spartans under Tomey have not been able to get the breakthrough, upset wins that propel teams past mediocrity and into conference contention.

To be fair, Tomey took on a steep, uphill battle when he stepped in as head coach of the program. Poor academic results under the previous regime had left San Jose State under NCAA sanctions that reduced scholarships, forcing Tomey to play a large amount of freshman out of need, and not necessarily based on talent.

The lack of depth and experience on the Spartans roster has been most apparent when they've taken their best opponents to the brink, only to fold at the end.

But the academic improvements under Tomey are bringing the scholarship cuts to an end, and the Spartans began 2009 with the steepest roster of talent he has had yet, by his own admission.

If the Spartans are to become a contender in the WAC, and not merely a bump on the road for conference champions, they are going to have to start upsetting teams for a full 60 minutes.

They travel to Stanford next week, and the disappointment of the previous two games can be erased with a victory over their South Bay rivals.

Unfortunately, this isn't nearly the same squad the Spartans beat in 2006, nor is it even the same team that walloped them the following two seasons.

For San Jose State to notch the first win of '09, they'll have to overcome a vastly improved team under Jim Harbaugh that features one of the premier running backs in the Pac-10 (Toby Gerhardt) and one of the most promising young quarterbacks in college football (Andrew Luck).

In other words, the Spartans need to pull off a big upset.

And if they can't, the 0-3 Spartans could be facing an upset of a different kind in Week Four, against Cal Poly.