San José State Game Preview
Look for the Texas defense to smother the Spartans once again, shades of 2017. Photo: Tim Warner, Getty Images
Overview
Back home in Austin, Texas for game 2 of the 2025 college football season. Feels good.
In what is likely and hopefully the first of 3 tuneup games for the Texas Longhorns, they welcome the San José State Spartans to DKR on Saturday. Texas leads the all-time series 1-0. They defeated the Spartans 56-0 in 2017, the first year of the Tom Herman era. Both teams come into the game sitting at 0-1 for the season, with SJSU having lost to Central Michigan 16-14 in week 1, and the Longhorns suffering a 14-7 defeat to the #1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.
I expect both teams had a difficult week of practice, as the Horns should be angry and frustrated after what happened in Columbus, and San José State trying to figure out how it can possibly match up against this Longhorns team.
It’s a get right game for Texas, and one that should see several young players getting good reps throughout the game, especially the 2nd half. The game will be played in DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday at 11:00am CDT in Austin, Texas, and will be televised on ABC. The Longhorns are favored by 36.5 points, with the over/under set at 52.5.
Should be a fun one!
Texas Offense vs. San José State Defense
The main thing to look for in this game for the Longhorn offense will be the development of quarterback Arch Manning, as well as getting some new faces involved in the game early and often. It should be a game where Texas is able to open up the playbook and run some fun plays. I think it’s a great opportunity for Arch to work on his throwing fundamentals and practice some crossing routes and mid-range throws against a live opponent. Look for Sark to bring more motion, different personnel packages, and get the screen game involved as we can get the ball to our playmakers in space to generate some explosive plays. I suspect we should also see a deeper rotation of the running backs, with Jerrick Gibson and Christian Clark getting in on the action, as well as see at least one other QB toward the end of this game.
Defensively for the Spartans, it’s a tall task. Based on a one game sample size, their pass defense seems commendable, holding two Central Michigan QBs to under 60 yards each (word is still out on how good the CMU air raid attack might be). However, the rush defense looks quite suspect, having allowed 236 yards on the ground. I like the Horns’ chances to beat that number. Still, they’ve held their one opponent to just 16 points, and this was a respectable team last year, finishing 7-6 with a couple quality wins. It might not be the cupcake some fans are thinking it will be! That won’t mean that the Longhorns aren’t a heavy favorite in this matchup.
Advantage: Texas
Texas Defense vs. San José State Offense
After largely shutting down the Buckeyes offense last week, Texas’ defense should be licking its chops for this one. Having not recorded a sack or a turnover last week in what was still a fairly dominant defensive effort, you have to think some of these guys are ready to eat. We should also see a healthy rotation of guys on the Longhorn defense in this one, and they absolutely have the talent to pitch a shutout here. Look for the pass rush to ramp up and get after SJSU QB Walker Eget, generating several sacks and forcing him into multiple turnovers. Maybe we can get a defensive score as well?
For the Spartans, Eget is an experienced 5th year senior, having only started one full season however. He finished last year with 2500 yards and 13 TDs to 10 INTs. It’s likely he has never faced a defense of this caliber, and it may be tough sledding for the kid out of Santa Clarita. The rushing attack leaves a lot to be desired, having managed only 75 yards in the loss to Central Michigan on 3.1 yards per carry. Let’s just say I don’t expect them to even reach that mark in this one.
Advantage: Texas
Coaching
Well, he remains winless against Ryan Day, Kirby Smart, and Kalen DeBoer (who’s experiencing much bigger problems at the moment). Outside of those matchups, however, Sarkisian sits 27-1 against all other opponents dating back to November 2022. We will certainly keep talking about his performances and game plan in the biggest games, but he will have his chances later on this season, and until then we’ll enjoy the success that he brings against these lesser opponents. I remain a big believer in Sark! Let it fly and have some fun in this game.
San José State is coached by Ken Niumatalolo. Yes! The same one who coached Navy for 16 seasons, to decent success there. I guess he has moved on from the triple option - but would be kinda fun to see them break it out on Saturday, no? Coach Niumatalolo sports a 116-90 overall record as a head coach. Good for him for taking on a difficult rebuilding (building?) job!
Advantage: Texas
Prediction
This should be an enjoyable game if you’re a Texas fan, and I’m excited to see some wrinkles from Sark and hopefully a few more explosive plays out of the offense, and multiple turnovers from our defense. The result isn’t going to be in doubt, so the main thing hard core fans will be interested in is the final point spread and total. I personally like Texas to cover the 36.5, but we’ll go slightly under the total - I see the Horns keeping it on the ground and bleeding clock in the 2nd half. Happy home opener!
Score prediction: Texas 45, San José State 6
Hook ‘em
