Joe Santoro: Spartans now the standard for Pack

There used to be this fantasy surrounding Nevada Wolf Pack football that the Biggest Little Football Program would grow up someday to become the Boise State Broncos. The Broncos were the Pack’s gold standard, dominating mid-major football (and the Wolf Pack) for roughly two decades and winning three Fiesta Bowls along the way.

Boise State captured the imagination of college football fans across the nation, many of which didn’t even know Boise was in Idaho. But they knew Boise had blue turf and they beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day 2007. But all that Pack fans could think of during that era was, “That should be us. We were better than Boise State and Boise State passed us by on the highway like an Indy car blowing the doors off a Ford Escort.”

The only thing Boise State ever captured as far as Pack fans were concerned was anger, a little jealousy and a burning desire for Chris Ault to stop making excuses and go beat Boise. Well, except for one magical night in 2010, Ault and the Pack couldn’t beat Boise at its best. So, eventually, the hope in Northern Nevada of ever becoming Boise State simply faded away about the same time Ault gave up hope after the 2012 season. Even last year, when the Pack actually whipped the Broncos like they used to in the 1990s, it barely caused a ripple in Nevada.

The win over Boise State in 2010 was like the celebration after World War II. The win last year was like finding gas for under $5.50 a gallon. That’s because the team the Pack beat last year in Boise was not the Boise State that used to bathe Ault in a cold sweat at night. That Boise State, the gold standard Boise State, doesn’t exist anymore. And it’s not coming back. The Pack can’t become the next Boise State because not even Boise State can become the next Boise State. The Boise State that will show up at Mackay Stadium next Saturday is some watered down version of the blue monsters Pack fans used to hate.

So, Pack fans, it’s time to finally forget the dream of becoming the next Boise State. The Pack needs a new standard to try to emulate. That standard, believe it or not, is the San Jose State Spartans.

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Yes, the Spartans. The team that is nobody’s gold standard. The team that nobody, not even in their own backyard, pays attention to. Well, the Pack and its fans need to start paying attention to the Spartans because the Spartans should be the new Nevada model for success.

If you were looking for a way to stomach this Pack season and to convince yourself that the silver and blue sky has not indeed fallen, never to rise again, well, look to San Jose State. That is a model the Pack can actually emulate and achieve.

Spartans head coach Brent Brennan compiled a record of 3-22 his first two years in 2017 and 2018. He built that to 5-7 in 2019 and in 2020 he won the Mountain West championship with a 7-1 record, 7-0 in league play. Yes, it took a pandemic in 2020 for that to become reality and nobody is hoping for another year like 2020 ever again. But the Mountain West has yet to recover from that pandemic, as well as the transfer portal and likely never will.

The Spartans have remained competitive since, going 5-7 in 2021 and are now 5-2 this year, coming off a 35-28 win over Nevada last weekend. The Spartans’ extended Brennan’s contract after the 2020 season through 2023. The Spartans are what the Wolf Pack under Ken Wilson can actually grow up to become. That Boise State model was never achievable in Nevada and was never going to happen. Becoming San Jose State can happen soon.

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Wilson and Brennan, it seems, are cut from the same nice-guy, stay-true-to-your-school coaching cloth. They were both assistants at their current schools long before they became head coaches. They both spent years in the Pac-12 as assistants, Wilson at Washington State and Oregon from 2013-21 and Brennan at Washington, Arizona and Oregon State from 1999-2000 and 2011-16. Those years in the Pac-12 made both of them head coaching candidates at their current schools. And both of them seem genuinely thrilled and honored to be where they are.

Brennan was born and raised in Redwood City near San Jose. His first coaching job was at Woodside High in Redwood City. His father played at San Jose State in the late 1960s and his mother was a Spartan cheerleader. He bleeds Spartan blue and gold.

Wilson isn’t from Northern Nevada but he got here in 1989 and stayed until 2012 when Ault abandoned him. His wife is a former Wolf Pack cheerleader coach and his son played for the Wolf Pack. Even when he was at Washington State and Oregon his blood still flowed silver and blue and he continued to pray to his Chris Ault statue every night.

Brennan likely could have gotten a job at another FBS school after the 2020 season. But he stayed. Wilson has already vowed to never leave Nevada and if he does Ault will break into his house some night and take back the statue. If San Jose State with Brennan can build a competitive winning team that can win a conference title in the new watered down Mountain West, the Wolf Pack can do the same with Wilson.

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The nine sacks the Wolf Pack allowed last Saturday night at San Jose State brought to mind the Colin Kaepernick years. Kaepernick, who was usually too busy running down the sideline for opposing defenses to sack him, was sacked just 12 times in 2009 in 12 games and just 10 times in 2010 in 14 games. He was sacked 18 times in 2007 and 21 times in 2008 before Ault finally figured out Kaepernick couldn’t make a living in the pocket like Mike Maxwell or Chris Vargas (something he never figured out with Fred Gatlin). Kaepernick wasn’t sacked at all in 2010 until Week 6.

Kaepernick, of course, had a few things working in his factor. He could run like the wind, in the Pistol offense he never sat in the pocket longer than radio announcer Dan Gustin could say “Colin Kaepernick takes the snap” and he played behind a talented and gritty offensive line that featured the likes of Alonzo Durham, Mike Gallett, Jeff Meads, John Bender, Chris Barker, Steve Haley, Kenneth Ackerman, Charles Manu, Alex Pinto, Greg Hall, Dominic Green, Jose Acuna, Jeff Nady and a young Joel Bitonio. Tight end Virgil Green could also knock down a defensive end or linebacker or two.

Giving up sacks, of course, is not always an offensive line failure. The team’s offensive philosophy and the mobility of the quarterback also plays a huge role in how often the quarterback has to eat dirt. Carson Strong, don’t forget, was sacked 43 times last year because he moved about as quickly as that Ault statue.

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It has become fashionable in Northern Nevada this year to blame the Pack’s 2-7 record, seven-game losing streak, the cold wind off the Sierra, inflation and the high price of coffee on former Pack coach Jay Norvell. But what rarely gets mentioned is that Norvell didn’t take with him to Colorado State four very productive defensive players that are no longer playing for Nevada.

Defensive lineman Daniel Grzesiak left for Utah State, linebacker Daiyan Henley and defensive back Jordan Lee are now at Washington State and defensive lineman Jack Powers is now at East Carolina. Henley had a team-high 103 tackles last year at Nevada along with four interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Lee had 86 tackles last year, five fumble recoveries and forced four fumbles. Grzesiak had 5.5 sacks for the Pack and Powers had 22 tackles, four for a loss and 1.5 sacks.

They are all doing well at their new schools. Henley has 80 tackles and four sacks for Washington State while Lee has 28 tackles for the Cougars. Grzesiak has four sacks for Utah State while Powers has 18 tackles and a sack at East Carolina. If they were that productive on offense it‘s likely Norvell would have noticed and taken them all to Colorado State.

Grzesiak and Henley reminded Norvell of that this year. Grzesiak had three sacks and forced a fumble in Utah State’s 17-13 win over Colorado State while Henley had 13 tackles, three sacks and forced two fumbles in Washington State’s 38-7 win over Colorado State. The Pack, by the way, lost to Colorado State (and six of their other eight opponents) without Grzesiak, Lee, Powers and Henley.