San Jose State football: Spartans use bye week to get back to business

San Jose State football coach Mike MacIntyre likes to say teams get better or worse but they don’t stay the same.

He wants to believe the Spartans took another step in the right direction during the bye week that followed a 28-27 victory over Hawaii, their third win in four games.

“I felt like we did get better,” said MacIntyre, whose team visits Louisiana Tech on Saturday. “We worked really hard. We were in pads (three days). We’re trying to get more physical and get better at the little things.”

“It was a work week,” defensive end Travis Johnson said.

Senior offensive tackle Fred Koloto said the extra time allowed the team to come down emotionally from the win over Hawaii and gave his sprained left knee the chance to heal. Koloto will be back in the lineup after missing two games.

Also expected to start are safety Duke Ihenacho (hamstring) and offensive tackle Andres Vargas (foot), both dinged up during the Hawaii game.

MacIntyre has called Koloto the squad’s top offensive lineman, and center Robbie Reed agreed that Koloto’s return will be a boost to an offense starting to find its rhythm.

“He knows our offense inside and out. The mental part really helps out. We all just work real well together,” Reed said.

The Spartans and Bulldogs are two of four Western Athletic Conference teams tied for second place at 2-1, just a half-game back of Nevada (2-0). San Jose (3-4 overall) needs three victories in its final five games to become bowl eligible.

“Guys are believing we can do this … do something really special here these last five weeks,” Koloto said. “Looking at the standings, we have a chance to win the league and go to a bowl game.”