Spartan Daily

Coach Mac Corner: Louisiana Tech is the first stop of the road to a bowl for SJSU

Senior safety Duke Ihenacho in mid-sprint during his defensive two-point conversion against Hawaii on Oct. 14 at Spartan Stadium. Ihenacho strained his hamstring on the play but will play this weekend against Louisiana Tech. Photo by Vernon McKnight / File Photo

Three wins — the total number of victories the SJSU football team is short of becoming bowl eligible.

With three of its last five games on the road, the football team’s first stop to playing in a bowl game since the 2006 New Mexico Bowl is this weekend in Ruston, La. as the Spartans take on Louisiana Tech.

SJSU is coming off its bye week following a thrilling victory over Hawaii on Oct. 14 at Spartan Stadium.

Head coach Mike MacIntyre said it is very easy for a team to either regress or improve during a bye week, but assured the media Monday afternoon at his weekly press conference that Spartan football is steadily moving forward.

“We worked really hard during our bye week,” he said. “We are trying to get more physical and improve on little things.”

He said sometimes teams start up slow hitting the field after a bye week and it is key to get back to the speed of the game, and quickly.

“Sometimes you get worried when you’re off — you got to crank it back up,” he said. “We’ll be in good shape there.”

MacIntyre added that from what he saw on practice Sunday night and Monday morning following the off weekend he sees a fresh, motivated group of players.

“They’re excited about getting back to work,” he said. “They bounced around well out there. They were motivated on what was going on — I feel good about that.”

Atop SJSU’s priorities in preparation for this weekend’s game against the Bulldogs is stopping its “excellent” running back in senior Lennon Creer, MacIntyre said.

The cause for such concern: Creer’s performance in last season’s 45-38 loss to Louisiana Tech at Spartan Stadium — 263 rushing yards on 30 carries.

“He ran around us, through us, by us,” MacIntyre said. “He did anything he wanted to. I’m sure he’s sitting in his dorm room right now and can’t wait until we show up.”

Creer did not have such a dynamic performance in Louisiana Tech’s 24-17 win over Utah State on Saturday — 62 yards on 17 carries — but MacIntyre said in order to win this Saturday’s game, SJSU must be able to “find a way to stop him.”

MacIntyre said Creer reminds him of NFL-great running back Shaun Alexander, who played hard-nosed football using a tantalizing stiff arm and a loose hip to fend off defenders.

“Scouts have been trying to simulate (Creer) in practice,” MacIntyre said. “He has good speed and can get going — we need to keep him from getting going.”

Another aspect of Louisiana Tech’s game that gained MacIntyre’s attention is the play of its defensive linemen, particularly defensive ends Matt Broha and Shakeil Lucas.

“They will put a lot of pressure on our quarterback,” he said. “They can create havoc and cause turnovers.”

In addition to Broah and Lucas, the Bulldogs also have a talented linebacker in Adrien Cole, who earned Western Athletic Conference defensive player of the week for his 14-tackle performance against Utah State on Saturday.

The trio led a Bulldog defensive attack against Utah State, limiting the Aggies to 166 total rushing yards after coming into the game ranked sixth in the nation in total yards on the ground, averaging 298 yards.

Louisiana Tech’s run defense will be key in determining how effective SJSU’s ground game will be this Saturday.

Fortunately for the Spartans, its hobbling senior star running back, Brandon Rutley, got an extra week to recover from a sprained ankle injury he suffered on Oct. 1, which caused him to miss a week of play at BYU.

MacIntyre said SJSU will continue with his same strategy as far as the running game goes.

“(Rutley) had two extra weeks to get better, that’s key for us,” he said. “Our other running backs have been running the ball well. It’s a good combination for us. If we can hold onto the ball we’ll be in good shape.”

Also healthy once again is senior safety and team co-captain Duke Ihenacho, who strained a hamstring returning an outcome-deciding defensive extra point in the win against Hawaii.

“He got back to the field (Sunday) night,” MacIntyre said. “That play was huge for us. When he kicked it into gear and took off, that was the game-changing play.”

With three wins needed to reach a bowl game, SJSU has only two more games at home.

However, the road-heavy second half of SJSU’s schedule does little to rattle MacIntyre’s cage, he said.

“I look at every game like it’s its own season, you have to do whatever you can to win the game — whatever it is,” he said. “Everybody and his own role.”

MacIntyre added SJSU cannot look past anyone and the team cannot afford to look ahead.

“We would like to win all our remaining games and play on Thanksgiving weekend, hopefully for the WAC championship,” he said. “I know Louisiana Tech is thinking the same thing.

This is a big game for them. They whipped us last year so they probably already think they have the win. We’ll go down there and take care of business.”