San Jose State enters today’s football game against Hawaii with a banged-up roster and a three-game losing streak.
That’s a precipitous decline for a team that finished 2012 with an 11-2 record and a final BCS ranking at No. 24.
This season, under new head coach Ron Caragher, the Spartans (1-3, 0-1 Mountain West) have been challenged by injuries and a tough early schedule. Their three losses are to Stanford, Minnesota and Utah State.
But David Fales, who led the nation in passing accuracy in 2012, is still the quarterback. There have been key injuries at receiver — including the loss of Noel Grigsby — but Chandler Jones remains one of Fales’ favorite targets.
Jones is familiar with the UH campus. In 2008, he attended a UH football clinic.
"I wanted to play there coming out of high school," Jones said. "They throw the ball a lot. As a receiver, that’s something you like."
Jones was invited to join the Warriors as a walk-on. He turned down the offer, saying, "It would be tough on my mom with out-of-state tuition."
Instead, he accepted a walk-on offer at San Jose State. He eventually earned a scholarship and, in 2011, a place in the NCAA record book. Against Hawaii, he scored on a rush, a fumble return and the winning reception with 36 seconds left.
"After that last touchdown, I was filled with excitement," Jones said. "A lot of the guys rushed over. We had to call a timeout to get everybody settled down."
Last week, the Rainbow Warriors created their own drama when they nearly completed a historic comeback from a 42-3 deficit. Sean Schroeder threw three scoring passes and directed two other scoring drives in a 34-0 run that began in the third quarter.
Still, UH coach Norm Chow has kept the starting quarterback’s spot a mystery for today’s game. Chow has said Taylor Graham, if healthy, gives the Warriors their best chance to win. If Graham is unavailable for the second consecutive week, it will be between Schroeder and freshman Ikaika Woolsey.
The Warriors will be without running backs Joey Iosefa, who is recovering from foot surgery, and Faga Wily, who is suffering from concussion-like symptoms.
