I too have had high expectations that haven’t become reality.
This game will tell us a lot.
We have a lot of positive answers to questions most teams are struggling with, but we have a few things we need to prove:
Do we have some semblance of a running game? Do we have to throw the ball on third and three, or are we a threat with the run?
Can we get consistent stops on D? Is their punter going to make a regular appearance?

There is not a major difference in the size of the lines. They have one massive guy on defense and a couple of offensive linemen who outweigh ours by less than 10 lbs which is less than 3%. Their number two OL guys are smaller or the same size as ours, depending on who we start.
We are used to playing bigger teams than San Jose

re the Daily Democrat’s
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/sports/20180828/ucd-set-for-season-opener-thursday

concern about young offensive linemen; we do have a lot of redshirt freshmen and freshmen linemen plus a few sophomores. But on our two deep depth chart we’ve got 7 upperclassmen and we have returning starters at three of the five positions.
Author takes Hawkins literally on the twenty passes to Doss. He interprets that as completions. That’s tough to do if you run the normal number of plays but hopefully we’ll run more due to hurry up no huddle offense.
Plough/Speckman/Hawkins are not going to be one dimensional given the other ball handlers on our team.

It will be Maier for sure.
Dr Mike,and anyone else at the game...Give us a report of how the svelt version of Tehran looks from a running back perspective. It seems he added a lot of weight between high school and last year and has since dropped 15 lbs and is back near his HS weight

That’s so last year, give the new guy a shot

I agree with both of your points. We want to know what’s going on and some of us are some distance away. So we need to get info about football from the data sources, not just personal stories etc.
I do appreciate at least seeing who are candidates to start in the depth chart. Once the game starts we know who’s actually #1

I applaud the departments effort to have some in house reporting. Can’t count on the Enterprise, the Bee etc, as illustrated by this seasons coverage. But unfortunately Bruce’s work is full of fluff and not a lot can be learned from it, but beggars can’t be choosers.

On the depth chart issue I see where you are coming from. Gee, who do you think will start at quarterback?

They have the safeties and the corners mixed up

Mercury News thinks 2010 was not in the 21st century!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mercurynews.com/2018/08/27/san-jose-state-football-game-by-game-predictions-2/amp/

For those who don’t remember, UCD 14 SJSU 13

They just don’t want a recording of their loss

So why a Thursday night? I assumed that was for TV.

yep. Kind of predictable. So Spencer probably full time receiver.
Also other redshirt players in depth chart. Pretty good 1st class for Hawkins when added to the freshmen who played last year, I think maybe some of this year’s freshmen will play a role this year, just not necessarily in first game.

from the link on the SJSU release to a pdf game notes
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/sjsu/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2018-19/release/release_20180827aaa.pdf

..
Interesting to note:
CJ Spencer is listed as starting wide receiver.
Darius Livingston is on the 2 deep depth chart wide receiver, we haven't seen him play
Luka Nixon is on the depth chart.at Defensive End, he redshirted last year.
Ulonzo Gilliam is listed behind Tehran at running back.
Montel Bland is on the depth chart at linebacker, a redshirt last year
Erron Duncan is listed as a starting corner. He redshirted last year
Redshirt freshman Devon King on depth chart at corner
Not that this is necessarily accurate, but I believe it reflects who's done well enough in camp to get some notice,

I wish we had last years depth chart to compare but the web site redesign lost those links..
I think Olave moved from corner to safety., Parenteau from safety to linebacker,

His HS coach
“His vision, athleticism, ability to pass protect and pass receive make him a great running back,” Scheidt said. “The way we run gave him the freedom to take an inside run and bounce it outside or take an outside run and cut up the field. He was a kick returner and punt returner. If he’s not the best, he’s one of the best open-field tacklers we’ve ever had”
Like a lot of guys at this level, an incredible high school career in both football and basketball

from a high school Speckman was once head coach at. I wonder if they still run Speckman’s fly offense

Finally a Davis Enterprise article about the game focused on our running backs. Interesting that Ulonzo Gilliam is in the mix.

“Gilliam, Thomas and Modise have all had good camps. And I don’t think any one tailback is going to take all the snaps in our system. We feel each one has a little bit different talent and different skillset,” believes Speckman, who like any good coach isn’t about to spill the beans on a game plan for Thursday.

kind of like Sacramento State and UCD, But at least they have a web presence and some Mercury news coverage

That’s the only game in this century decided by more than four points I believe. San Jose is one of those schools that fluctuates between pretty good and poor. They were pretty good that year.

CA Forever
I think the point you make about yards per carry and number of touchdowns is indicative of him not being too explosive. I get the impression that their whole team is more grind it out than explosive.
The receivers haven’t averaged much per catch, even in their last scrimmage; possibly due to QB. Apparently their tight end is their pro prospect. Maybe they have some newcomer who is going to be more explosive.
My guess is that they will try to maintain the ball, overpower us. Our offense should be looking to fool their defensive unit which won’t have much experience. I think we are a difficult opponent for a team making wholesale changes on defense because we are varied in what we do. It’s not all about stopping Doss by a long shot. I hope we’ve improved our run game, not just with the running backs but with the linemen, where we’ll have a couple of new starters. I’ll be surprised if we don’t reach our average score, if the defense gets the ball back for us.