Mountain West Football: 12 most important 2017 non-conference games
By Zach Bigalke
Like their MWC West rivals Nevada, San Jose State is entering 2017 with a new football coach. Brent Brennan isn’t a stranger to the Spartans, having coached offense in various capacities for six seasons years under Dick Tomey and Mike McIntyre. After six years at Oregon State as a wide receivers coach, he returns to San Jose for his first head gig.
The Spartans have a tough opening test, with American front-runner South Florida visiting San Jose on August 26. They follow with FCS Cal Poly, then go to Austin to face Texas. But the toughest test might be one against a team whose departure from the Mountain West facilitated San Jose State’s move into the conference.
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Utah will miss Joe Williams in the backfield, but the Utes should still be a solid challenger in the Pac-12 South this year. This game more than anything will set the tone for the early Brennan years. If he can somehow guide the Spartans to even keep it close against Utah in Salt Lake City, it could benefit recruiting vis-à-vis the other MWC schools.