First Look: San Jose State vs. Central Michigan

Spartans take on the Chips in Week 1 of the college football season.

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First Look: San Jose State vs. Central Michigan

Early look at the Spartans Week 1 opponent.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Early OOC looks.

With the summer months upon us, it is time to take a look at the non-conference schedules for the Mountain West team-by-team. San Jose State takes on Central Michigan from the MAC and the Spartans will be heading to Michigan for the season opener.

Team: Central Michigan
Conference: MAC (West Division)
2019 Result: 8-6
Head coach: Jim McElwain (8-6, second year)
All-time series: 1-1

San Jose State takes on the Chips in Week 1 and it will be a good challenge for the Spartans and it will feature a former familiar face in its head coach Jim McElwain as he coached Colorado State from 2012-14 with a 22-15 record.

This Central Michigan team is going to be a tough one for the Spartans as the Chips are the highest-rated team in the MAC West for SP+ and projected to go back to its conference title game.

Offensive players to watch:

The quarterback situation is extremely dicey for Central Michigan as David Moore is likely to miss this game, plus the first month of the season after testing positive for a banned substance. That leaves them with untested quarterbacks in sophomore George Pearson, redshirt freshman Daniel Richardson, or incoming freshman Tyler Pape.

They do have weapons to assist the new quarterback. Running back Kobe Lewis who averaged 5.9 yards per carry and had 12 touchdowns. Lewis also was good for some big plays with 31 runs of 10 or more and nine of 20-plus.

The receiving group could be the best of all as they return two of the top three wide outs in Kalil Pimpleton and JaCorey Sullivan, plus they have a solid tight end in Tony Poljan. All of these will help the new quarterback adjust and have some friends to get the ball to.

Defensive players to watch:

On the other side of the ball, Central Michigan is a bit stronger overall with key players back in LB Troy Brown, DT Robi Stuart, and DE LaQuan Johnson. Brown was a first-team All-MAC player last year and led the league in tackles for loss last year. Those other two have a legitimate chance to join Brown as one of the best defenders in the league.

This defense could be one of the top best that the Spartans face all year and with San Jose State breaking in a new quarterback this will be a pretty big challenge in Week 1.

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