SJSU 2004 Outlook by XENOPHON Here is my best assessment of San Jose State's team for this upcoming season. While, in general, I believe the team will be improved, the caveat is that the rest of the league is
also stronger. Fresno had a reputedly great recruiting class. Boise is always tough, especially with its great coaching. Tulsa, under Kragthorpe, will be even better than last year. Mike Price will have a strong impact at UTEP. Chris Ault at Nevada is inhumanly competitive. Hawai'i has Chang. Rice should be stronger. SMU SHOULD be better. La Tech can never be overlooked. The league should make a strong statement this year. ASSESSMENT OFFENSE Quarterback We have
three capable quarterback aspirants. Right now Dale Rogers appears to have an edge. He is big (250 lbs), strong and mobile. As a red shirt senior he should have the poise to be a leader on the team. He can also fulfill the punting duties if necessary. He filled that role at Cal Poly a few years ago before transferring to SJSU. Red shirt freshman Adam Tafralis is probably the best overall athlete. He is very strong and mobile. He can throw the ball as far as anyone we've seen (he was a state
finalist shot putter). Definitely appears, at this time, to be the future. The only question marks are his leadership abilities and decision making. His youth seems to be why the coaching staff are headed to the more mature Rogers. Senior Beau Pierce has been a backup for a couple of years. He is the best "pure passer" on the team, the tallest of the three (6'3") and very fast. His lateral mobility may not be quite what the other two candidates possess. Running Game
Coach Hill says we will emphasize the run this year. That will be very different for us but we may have the "horses" to pull it off. We are very deep at this/these position(s) (depending on whether we run a one back or two back offense). We are really excited about the potential of running back transferee Tyson Thompson. He was a four star running back recruit that TCU was delighted to snag a few years back. Apparently Coach Hill recruited him out of high school for Arkansas when
Hill was recruiting coordinator for the Razorbacks and that connection paid off when Thompson became available. His is big and strong (225 lbs) with blazing speed and agility. A real man child. If he returns to his best form after recovering from injuries we should have our best running back since Deonce Whittiker. For the past couple of years Lance Martin has been, overall, our most productive back. He is returning. He is strong, fast and mobile. Between him and Thompson our inside running
game should be very good. Additionally, little, shifty scatback Lamar Ferguson (smallest player in division 1A) is returning after recovering from injuries last year. He is 5'4" and about 160 lbs. He provides a lot of excitement. Redshirt Freshman Derrell Hutsona is another "blue chipper" at that position. A couple of years ago he was a high school all-state performer who starred for the south in the north/south high school football game. In high school he was a state
qualifying hurdler. Sophomore Yonus Davis also showed some promise early last year and should be returning at full strength. Offensive Line While the O line lost all but one of its starters, we anticipate that it will again be good. Anchored by sophomore center Matt Cantu and tackles William Obeng and John Toensfeldt it will have to adjust from protecting for the passing game to attacking for the running game. The players seem to be eager to hit rather than be hit. Most have had
a good deal of playing time. The line will be very big with an average weight over 300 lbs. with good speed and mobility. Tight end will be a real question mark. We had two great tight ends last year and one, Leon Pickney, was due to return. He, unexpectedly, left the team. That leaves us with several unknowns who look good on paper but are unproven. Wide Receivers Probably not quite up to the standards of the past couple of years. We lost Kendrick Starling, Jamaal Broussard and
Tuati Wooden. They'll be tough to replace. The candidates who appear to show the most promise are Rufus Skillern who was coming on by the end of last season and had a good spring game. Casey Miranda and John Broussard (Jamaal's brother) earned the same comments as Skillern. A few promising recruits who may rise to the challenge are also in the wings. We should be good here, as always, but a shade under last year. DEFENSE Defensive Line This is probably where we anticipate
having our most improvement. In the past it has often proven to be our "Achilles heel". It is anchored by inside linemen JC all-American Eddie Brown and Kenji Green and pass rush specialist Sean McNamara and Tony Ficklin at defensive ends. If Brown and Green (we're in to colors) can help plug up the middle, McNamara and Ficklin will add to their number of quarterback sacks and "hurries". The main hope is that the D line will put enough pressure on opposing quarterbacks
that they will not have the time to pick our secondary apart. Traditionally, it is the time that opponents had that ran up the big passing numbers against us. Linebackers The experienced Mike Liranzo and Demetrius Jones return here to provide some continuity at their positions. Additionally, Ezekiel Staples shows great promise. He was a big running back for us who earned the tough yards when needed. It looks like his speed and strength will be a strong asset at linebacker
against both the run and pass. He has the lateral mobility to cut off the run and the acceleration to stay with deep receivers and tight ends. Opponents who try to isolate him against a wide receiver may regret that decision. Defensive backs Right now our coaching staff feels this may be the strength of the defense. If the line and linebackers can cut down of opposing quarterbacks' time to throw, we have the coverage people to do the job. Juniors Josh Powell and Eric Wilson at
safeties are well proven, solid commodities. Josh appears to be the leader of the group. Two year veteran Trestin George is another solid back at corner back. As an ex-running back he knows what to do when he gets the ball. SPECIAL TEAMS As always we will have enough speed and agility to field dangerous kick return units. Punt and kickoff returns will provide ample excitement for fans. On the opposite side, coverage has been a question mark. In recent years it has improved.
We'll see whether that improvement continues. The kickers are strong. Sophomore Jeff Ferrier was a four star recruit (we don't get too many of those) and can kick field goals in the 60 yard range with some degree of regularity. He may be used for kickoffs. Look for him to also be used in very long field goal situations. Jeff Carr was used most often last year on field goal attempts due to his great accuracy. Its good to have both of them back. Punting duties may be handled by quarterback Dale
Rogers or one of the place kickers mentioned above. Any of them will adequately fill the role. INTANGIBLE The staff and fans are very excited this year to have added Keith Burns to the coaching staff as the Defensive Coordinator. He is the former head coach at Tulsa and defensive coordinator at Arkansas (where he and coach Hill developed a friendship). In the past we have never had the budget to hire proven assistant coaches. SJSU has been the place where young coaches prove
themselves. Thanks to some donations by boosters, we were able to hire coach Burns. The athletes have taken to him and feel he has elevated the level of defensive coaching. Their confidence seems to be very high. If he has the impact on the defense that we are hoping, it should go a long way toward making us more competitive and a factor in the WAC race. June Jones of Hawai'i feel we are the "sleeper" team in the league. His teams have been severely challenged by us in the past
couple of years. San Jose fans just hope he is right. MY PICKS 1. Boise State 2. Cal State Fresno 3. Hawai'i 4. Tulsa 5. Nevada 6. Louisiana Tech 7. Rice 8. UTEP 9. SMU Xenophon | 
