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Aztecs Scouting Report: San Jose State

San Jose State quarterback Chevan Cordeiro is pressured by the Fresno State defense in a game earlier this season.
San Jose State quarterback Chevan Cordeiro is pressured by the Fresno State defense in a game earlier this season.(Gary Kazanjian / Associated Press)
Spartans coming to San Diego with a familiar face at quarterback — Hawaii transfer Chevan Cordiero — and a scoring defense ranked 10th in the nation (16.4 ppg)

San Diego State has dominated its series against San Jose State in recent years, winning eight of nine meetings between the teams since 2013.

But the Spartans defeated SDSU two years ago 28-17 on the way to the 2020 Mountain West championship. And the Aztecs needed double-overtime last year to prevent it from becoming a two-year losing streak.

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SDSU’s 19-13 win last season gave the Aztecs a 23-20-2 record in the all-time series.

This is expected to be another close contest.

“The thing I know about San Diego State is they are without question one of the most physical, most talented, hard playing teams we play every year,” San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan said Monday during his weekly interview. “That’s how it is every year, so we’ve got to get ready to go.”

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SDSU (5-4, 3-2 MW) was listed Monday as a 2½-point underdog against San Jose State (6-2, 4-1) for a game that kicks off Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (Fox Sports 1) at Snapdragon Stadium.

About the Spartans
Two years removed from a MW title, San Jose State was viewed as an also-ran this season when it was picked for third place in the conference’s West Division in a preseason media poll.

Instead, they are vying for the division title with Fresno State, which holds a tiebreaker advantage by virtue of its 17-10 win over the Spartans.

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San Jose State provided an early indication of what it might be capable of doing in Week 2, when the Spartans came within a touchdown at Auburn in a 24-16 loss.

The Fresno State loss is the only MW blemish for a San Jose State team coming off home victories over Nevada (35-28) and Colorado State (28-16) the past two weeks.

The Spartans have been playing with heavy hearts following the death three weeks ago of freshman running back Camdan McWright, who was killed in an off-campus scooter accident.

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The Spartans other conference wins were against Wyoming (33-16) and UNLV (40-7).

After the Aztecs, they conclude the regular season with games against Utah State and Hawaii.

The offense
There’s a very familiar face at quarterback for the Spartans.

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That would be junior Chevan Cordeiro, who started three years at Hawaii before transferring to San Jose State.

The Honolulu native has never been a high percentage passer — he’s completing 60 percent of his throws this year — but he knows how to lead an offense and has the running ability to keep defenses on their toes.

Cordeiro (177-for-294, 2,224 yards, 11 TDs/2 INTs) is among the NCAA passing leaders, ranking 20th in the nation with 278 yards a game.

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“Chevan is doing a great job of distributing the ball,” Brennan said.

Cordeiro’s favorite target is Elijah Cooks (43 catches, 701 yards, 4 TDs), a graduate transfer from Nevada.

The quarterback also looks for big gains from sophomore wide receiver Justin Lockhart (26 catches, 428 yards) and scoring grabs from junior tight end Dominick Mazotti (21 catches, 216 yards, 3 TDs).

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The Spartans are averaging only 89.3 yards a game rushing, with senior running back Kairee Robinson (98 carries, 447 yards, 9 TDs) and Cordeiro (92 carries, 182 yards, 7 TDs) the two most likely players to run with the ball.

The defense
San Jose State ranks 10th in the nation in scoring defense (16.4 ppg), which is almost exactly what SDSU’s offense has averaged (16.8 ppg) at Snapdragon Stadium in four games against FBS opponents.

The Spartans rank 20th in total defense (316.9 ypg), limiting teams to 120.4 yards a game on the ground.

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Most impressive the past two weeks is the 17 sacks the Spartans totaled. That gives them a conference-leading 3.62 sacks per game.

San Jose State has picked off 10 passes this season, with nine different players getting in on the act (Nehemiah Shelton leads with two). The Spartans also have four fumble recoveries.

The 14 takeaways isn’t a lot, but the team ranks fifth in the nation with a plus-9 turnover margin because the offense has turned the ball over only five times in eight games.

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Junior defensive lineman Viliami Fehoko has been disruptive in the backfield, with 15 of his 51 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Graduate defensive lineman Cade Hall, the 2020 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, also has double-digit (10) tackles for a loss and leads the team with 6½ sacks.

Graduate linebacker Alii Matau is second is sacks with 4½ and Kyle Harmon leads the team with 64 tackles.

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