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MINNEAPOLIS -- David Fales' brilliance wasn't enough to prevent San Jose State from suffering a deflating 43-24 loss to Minnesota on Saturday.
The Spartans' defense was battered and bruised to the point that even typically-optimistic coach Ron Caragher struggled to put a positive spin on the defeat before 45,647 at TCF Bank Stadium.
"My big thing is that each week we get better," Caragher said. "I'm not so sure we did this week.
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But the second half exposed SJSU's biggest weakness -- tackling. Minnesota freshman quarterback Mitch Leidner, making his first start, rushed for a 151 yards. Running back David Cobb had 125 yards and the Golden Gophers (4-0) racked up 353 yards on the ground.
What was most glaring was the Spartans inability to bring down ballcarriers before they pushed forward for extra yardage.
"It came down to fundamentals," said linebacker Keith Smith, who had a career-high 21 tackles. "Tackling is one of the biggest parts of the game. You can be in position all you want, but if you can't tackle, then what does it do for you?"
Cornerback Bené Benwikere blamed the effort on a failure to properly read Minnesota's offense.
"Not everyone was reading their keys on every play," Benwikere said. "At halftime alone, we pointed out a lot of mental mistakes where guys just weren't reading their keys. We were hoping to come out and make those corrections and those corrections just weren't made."
SJSU has six first-year starters on defense, including three linebackers in the new 3-4 alignment that has not fared well against the physical running attacks of Stanford and Minnesota. Caragher conceded part of the issue right now is growing pains from inexperienced players.
"Our guys have got to learn and they'll be physical coming out of these two weeks," Caragher said. "We have to be."
http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_24147331/san-jose-state-loses-at-minnesota-defense-struggles
The Spartans' defense was battered and bruised to the point that even typically-optimistic coach Ron Caragher struggled to put a positive spin on the defeat before 45,647 at TCF Bank Stadium.
"My big thing is that each week we get better," Caragher said. "I'm not so sure we did this week.
------------
But the second half exposed SJSU's biggest weakness -- tackling. Minnesota freshman quarterback Mitch Leidner, making his first start, rushed for a 151 yards. Running back David Cobb had 125 yards and the Golden Gophers (4-0) racked up 353 yards on the ground.
What was most glaring was the Spartans inability to bring down ballcarriers before they pushed forward for extra yardage.
"It came down to fundamentals," said linebacker Keith Smith, who had a career-high 21 tackles. "Tackling is one of the biggest parts of the game. You can be in position all you want, but if you can't tackle, then what does it do for you?"
Cornerback Bené Benwikere blamed the effort on a failure to properly read Minnesota's offense.
"Not everyone was reading their keys on every play," Benwikere said. "At halftime alone, we pointed out a lot of mental mistakes where guys just weren't reading their keys. We were hoping to come out and make those corrections and those corrections just weren't made."
SJSU has six first-year starters on defense, including three linebackers in the new 3-4 alignment that has not fared well against the physical running attacks of Stanford and Minnesota. Caragher conceded part of the issue right now is growing pains from inexperienced players.
"Our guys have got to learn and they'll be physical coming out of these two weeks," Caragher said. "We have to be."
http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_24147331/san-jose-state-loses-at-minnesota-defense-struggles
