College Football: Why San Diego State's Ryan Lindley Will Have a Breakout 2011

Sporting News named Ryan Lindley the Mountain West's "best passing quarterback" last season, beating out the famous Andy Dalton.

He also has arguably the strongest arm in the conference.

After Lindley led an explosive Aztec offensive squad to a 9-4 record in 2011, head coach Brady Hoke departed for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at the University of Michigan.

This leaves San Diego State with some questions this season.

And Ryan Lindley is willing to answer them.




*Note: The quarterback rating prediction is based on the NCAA's passer rating formula...

(8.4 X yards) + (330 X touchdowns) + (100 X completions) - (200 X interceptions) / attempts

The Aztec defense is coming off of an impressive 2010 season. It allowed a solid 22.1 points per game last year (36th in the nation), including just 17.6 in San Diego State's nine wins.

And you know what they say, a good defense is a great offense.

Although it did enough to keep San Diego State in ballgames, it averaged almost 32 minutes of being on the field per game throughout the season, thus losing the possession battle.

In the Aztec's four losses, the defense was on the gridiron for 36.2 minutes per game—not anywhere close to where it needs to be.

However, a good majority of the squad returns, including the first-team All-Mountain West linebacker Miles Burris. He led the team in tackles (80), tackles for loss (20) and sacks (9.5). The senior will lead his side of the ball in hopes of giving Lindley more time to shine.

Ryan Lindley will have a lot to work with in 2011.

The Aztecs return a powerful offensive line. With the exception of center Trask Iosefa, San Diego State has an experienced squad with OT Tommie Draheim, OG Alec Johnson, OG Nik Embernate and OT Kurtis Gunther returning. This crew made life easy for Lindley last season, only allowing nine sacks in 13 games.

And all are listed at no less than 295 pounds.

That same huge O-line led the way for freshman running back Ronnie Hillman to rush for 1,532 yards and 17 scores. The 5'10" Californian is back for more this year and will improve his conference-leading (by far) stats.

Although he loses his two leading receivers in Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson to the NFL, Lindley will have two nice targets to throw to with junior wideout Dominique Sandifer and sophomore tight end Gavin Escobar. 

Ryan Lindley has proved that he can be a little inconsistent at times, but more than anything he's shown how hot he can get.

In games that the Aztecs won (nine), he completed 156 of 263 passes (59.3 percent) for 2,630 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions (161.8 passer rating) compared to his performance in losses, in which he completed 87 of 158 (55.1 percent) for 1,200 yards, nine scores and seven picks (128.8 passer rating).

From October 30 (Week 9) on, Lindley successfully completed 117 of 188 passes for 1,940 yards, 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions—good for a 169.6 QB rating.

He is clearly better at home (178.2 rating) than he is on the road (121.9). This is good news for San Diego State, for it plays seven home games in 2011, including pivotal matchups against TCU, Boise State and Fresno State.

When he's hot, he's hot.

With Brady Hoke's evacuation of SDSU and the hiring of Rocky Long, a new identity of the Aztec offense will be born.

Long is primarily a run-first type of coach and with Hillman and the offensive line being as good as they are, Lindley may find himself throwing the ball a little less than he did last year.

But if the defense doesn't step up and give the offense more time of possession, Long's idea of running the ball may have to wait for the future.

It's cliche, but it all depends.

Here is my prediction for the Ryan Lindley and the Aztecs in 2011.





2010 Stats:

243-421 (57.7%) 3,830 yds, 28 TD, 14 INT (149.4 rating)

2011 Prediction:

246-400 (61.5%) 3,528 yds, 26 TD, 9 INT (152.5 rating)