# 2002 San Jose State Spartans football team

The 2002 San Jose State Spartans football team represented San Jose State University in the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. Members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), the Spartans were led by second-year head coach Fitz Hill and played their home games at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans finished the season 6–7, 4–4 in WAC play, to finish in fourth place. Although they improved from a 3–9 season in 2001, the Spartans did not participate in a bowl game.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 4:00 p.m. | vs. Arkansas State* | War Memorial StadiumLittle Rock, AR | | W 33-14 | 18,492 |
| September 7 | 12:30 p.m. | at No. 11 Washington* | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA | FSNNW | L 10–34 | 70,147 |
| September 14 | 7:00 p.m. | at Stanford* | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA (rivalry) | KRON | L 26–63 | 54,500 |
| September 21 | 11:00 a.m. | at Illinois* | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | | W 38–35 | 50,990 |
| September 28 | 7:00 p.m. | UTEP | Spartan StadiumSan Jose, CA | FSNBA, FSNSW | W 58–24 | 10,416 |
| October 5 | 12:00 p.m. | at SMU | Gerald J. Ford StadiumDallas, TX | | W 34–23 | 13,016 |
| October 12 | 9:00 a.m. | at No. 5 Ohio State* | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | ESPN Plus | L 7–50 | 104,892 |
| October 19 | 1:00 p.m. | at Nevada | Mackay StadiumReno, NV | | L 24–52 | 19,481 |
| October 26 | 2:00 p.m. | Boise State | Spartan StadiumSan Jose, CA | | L 8–45 | 10,497 |
| November 2 | 8:00 p.m. | at Hawaii | Aloha StadiumHalawa, HI (Dick Tomey Legacy Game) | Oceanic PPV, KFVE | L 31–40 | 36,784 |
| November 9 | 2:00 p.m. | Louisiana Tech | Spartan StadiumSan Jose, CA | | W 42–30 | 6,391 |
| November 16 | 12:00 p.m. | at Tulsa | Skelly StadiumTulsa, OK | Cox 9 | W 49–38 | 15,653 |
| November 23 | 2:00 p.m. | Fresno State | Spartan StadiumSan Jose, CA (rivalry) | | L 16–19 | 14,134 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Pacific time |||||||

## Game summaries
### Vs. Arkansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | | | | | 0 |
| Indians | | | | | 0 |

### At No. 14 Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| No. 14 Huskies | 0 | 0 | 17 | 17 | 34 |

### At Stanford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 10 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 26 |
| Cardinal | 7 | 21 | 21 | 14 | 63 |

### At Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 7 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 38 |
| Fighting Illini | 0 | 21 | 0 | 14 | 35 |

### UTEP

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 7 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
| Spartans | 7 | 21 | 10 | 20 | 58 |

### At SMU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 7 | 0 | 14 | 13 | 34 |
| Mustangs | 14 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 23 |

### At No. 5 Ohio State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 5 Buckeyes | 7 | 17 | 17 | 9 | 50 |

### At Nevada

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 0 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| Wolf Pack | 14 | 0 | 17 | 21 | 52 |

### Boise State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Broncos | 21 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 45 |
| Spartans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |

### At Hawaii

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 10 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 31 |
| Warriors | 14 | 14 | 2 | 10 | 40 |

### Louisiana Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 9 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 30 |
| Spartans | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 42 |

### At Tulsa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 14 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 49 |
| Golden Hurricane | 6 | 15 | 3 | 14 | 38 |

### Fresno State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 19 |
| Spartans | 6 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 16 |

## Personnel
### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Seasons at San Jose State | Alma Mater |
| Fitz Hill | Head coach | 2 | Ouachita Baptist (1987) |
| Earl Buckingham | Assistant head coach, defensive line | 2 | Arkansas (1983) |
| Norman Joseph | Co-offensive coordinator, quarterbacks | 2 | Mississippi State (1977) |
| Ronnie Lee | Defensive coordinator, defensive backs | 2 | Washington State (1989) |
| Charlie Roche | Co-offensive coordinator, offensive line | 2 | Eastern Illinois (1996) |
| Charles Nash | Running backs | 2 | Arizona (1976) |
| Kenwick Thompson | Linebackers, recruiting coordinator | 2 | Harding (1992) |
| Keith Williams | Wide receivers | 2 | San Diego State (1996) |
| Chris Wilkerson | Defensive ends | 1 | Eastern Illinois (1995) |
| Keith Allen | Special teams, defensive assistant | 1 | Oklahoma (1997) |
| Source: ||||