Will San Jose State football repeat as MWC champion in 2021?
By Andrew Tineo
San Jose State’s defense needs to continue climb
Derrick Odum has made massive strives on the defense, a unit that was ranked 106th nationally, just two seasons ago.
In 2020, San Jose State ranked fourth in the conference and top-30 nationally in scoring defense.
The duo of Cade Hall and Viliami Fehoko makes up the best defensive line in the conference. Hall, the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, ranked second nationally in sacks with 10. Fehoko is expected to be a first-team All-Mountain West selection by season’s end after recording 12.5 tackles for loss last season. Those two plugging holes in Odum’s 3-4 defense should continue to rattle any starter quarterback.
Kyle Harmon ranks second in returning tackles with 78 and leads a linebacker unit with all four of the starters listed as seniors. Harmon has collected 207 tackles in his three seasons while forcing four fumbles and 10.5 tackles for loss.
The defense lost safety Tre Webb as he transferred down to Montana State. Just two weeks later, Tulsa safety Ryan Nixon made the decision to commit to San Jose State, replacing the depth at the position.
In the secondary, Tre Jenkins and Nehemiah Shelton are expected to be the leaders of the unit with sophomore Kenyon Reed hoping to build off of a solid sophomore season with 21 tackles and a pass deflection.
The most room for improvement in 2021 is taking the ball away. The Spartans defense only forced three interceptions and recovered five fumbles in 2020.
That number has to get better, especially for a defense that brings back every 10 starters.
The Spartans have the make-up for a top 20 ranked defense nationally, and one that should pester Boise State for the top spot in the conference. Turning teams over and defending the pass better is what’s holding the Spartans of that.