The 2020 San Jose State Spartans football team represented

San José State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

during the

2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 151st season of college football games in the United States. Organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision ...

. The Spartans were led by fourth-year head coach

Brent Brennan Brent Munger Brennan (born March 20, 1973) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at San Jose State University. Early life and education Brennan was born and raised in Redwood City, California, and attended Saint Francis ...

and played their home games at

CEFCU Stadium CEFCU ('sef-kyü) Stadium, formerly known as Spartan Stadium, is an outdoor athletic stadium on the west coast of the United States, located in the Spartan Keyes neighborhood of central San Jose, California. Owned by San José State Universit ...

and

Sam Boyd Stadium Sam Boyd Stadium (formerly the Las Vegas Silver Bowl) is a football stadium in the western United States, located in Whitney, Nevada, an unincorporated community in the Las Vegas Valley. It honors Sam Boyd (1910–1993), a major figure in the hote ...

as members of the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

. They finished the regular season 6–0 in Mountain West play and defeated

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

in the Mountain West championship game. This was the Spartans' first Mountain West championship win and 17th overall conference title. The championship victory also marked San Jose State's first win over Boise State in program history.

Previous season

The Spartans finished the 2019 season 5–7, 2–6 in Mountain West play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place in the West Division.

Schedule

San Jose State had non-conference games scheduled against

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan corre ...

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

and

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

, but all of these games were canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On August 10, 2020, the

suspended all fall sports competitions due to the

. However, MWC officials announced on Sept. 24 the conference would host a shortened fall football schedule. The Oct. 31 game originally scheduled at University Stadium in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

was relocated to San Jose due to COVID-19 cases related to contact tracing in

Bernalillo County, New Mexico Bernalillo County () is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Mexico.Bernalillo Co ...

. On November 19, the game at Fresno State scheduled for Nov. 21 was canceled because of a positive COVID-19 test and contact tracing within the Fresno State program. Nearly four and a half hours before kickoff, the Nov. 28 game at Boise State was canceled because of "an upward trend of COVID-19 cases and contact tracing within the Boise State football program." The home game against Hawaii scheduled for Dec. 5 was moved to

Aloha Stadium Aloha Stadium is a closed multi-purpose stadium located in Halawa, Hawaii, a western suburb of Honolulu (though with a Honolulu address). It is the largest stadium in the state of Hawaii. , the stadium ceased fan-attended operations indefinitely ...

in Honolulu after new COVID-19 restrictions were released in

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...

, where CEFCU Stadium is located. The Dec. 11 home game against

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, originally scheduled to be played at CEFCU Stadium, was moved to

due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Santa Clara County. The

Mountain West conference championship game The Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game is an annual postseason college football game played to determine the champion of the Mountain West Conference (MW). History From 1999 to 2012, the champion of the Mountain West was determi ...

was to be hosted by San Jose at CEFCU Stadium, but was moved to Sam Boyd Stadium due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Santa Clara County.

Game summaries

Air Force

New Mexico

At San Diego State

UNLV

At Fresno State (No contest)

At Boise State (No contest)

At Hawaii

Vs. Nevada

Vs. Boise State (MWC Championship game)

Vs. Ball State (Arizona Bowl)

Rankings

On November 8, San Jose State received votes in the

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

for the first time since Week 2 of 2013. Then on November 15, San Jose State received votes in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

for the first time since being ranked no. 21 in the final 2012 season poll. This led to the Spartans cracking the College Football Playoff Top 25 for the first time, ranking no. 24 on Dec. 15, 2020.

Depth chart

Awards and honors

Individual Honors

*Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year :

*Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year :Cade Hall, DL

All-American Selections

:Cade Hall, DL (TSN, USAT)

All-Mountain West Conference Team Selections

Ref:

References

{{Mountain West Conference football champions

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

San Jose State Spartans football seasons Mountain West Conference football champion seasons

San Jose State Spartans football The San Jose State Spartans football team represents San Jose State University, San José State University in NCAA Division I NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, FBS college football as a member of the Mountain West Conference. History ...