San Diego State Aztecs Season Preview
San Diego State Aztecs Season Preview
Brady Hoke was a Michigan man and he is now gone after putting the Aztecs back on the map for being a relevant team in the Mountain West Conference.
Hoke was in his first year just two seasons ago at 4-8, but put together a magical 9-4 season. They had two NFL receivers in Vincent Brown (Third Round-SD) and DeMarco Sampson (Seventh Round-AZ) to stretch the field with.
They also had a solid quarterback (Ryan Lindley 6'4, 220 pound Senior) who threw for 3,830 with 28 TDs and only 14 INTs.
Most expect him to perform as the best quarterback in the MWC minus Kellen Moore. Lindley is a future NFL player not saying he is a future star or even a starter, but he has the making of at least becoming a solid NFL backup.
His backfield mate may have something more to say though.
Rocky Start Is Not an Option
Ronnie Hillman (5'10, 185 pound sophomore) had a sensational freshmen campaign rushing for 1,532 yards along with 17 rushing TDs. Hillman has the talent to become the best back in the entire conference alongside Doug Martin of Boise State.
Making First Team All-MWC may seem great, but the Aztec runner just wants to win and knock off those Boise State Broncos and the TCU Horned Frogs. Becoming a BCS buster would be something special for first year man Rocky Long.
Long was the defensive coordinator the previous two seasons and had a stint as the head coach at New Mexico for eleven years (’98-‘08) where he went 65-69 (40-34) with five bowl appearances.
Long's best season was a 9-4 year in ’07 and despite only finishing third in the Mountain West Conference, Long had an improving defense through the years and ran a ball control type of offense that always had a solid north-south runner.
His new defensive coordinator will be a former defensive linemen coach Osia Lewis and his new offensive coach will be Andy Ludwig (OC Cal ’09-‘10).
Aztec Strength
The offense returns eight and besides their stud signal caller and running back they have three linemen returning. Right tackle Kurtis Gunther, right guard Nik Embernate, and center Alec Johnson are All-MWC performers.
This is the best line after Boise State and Air Force. The line is actually a tad better than TCU who only has one starter back. The running offense was 48th a season ago averaging 161 yards per game and most expect that number to only improve.
The passing offense figures to take a decent step backwards as they ranked 12th averaging 295 yards per game. They may drop significantly with Boise State joining the conference and with a tougher schedule.
Not Spectacular but Efficient
The defense only returns five starters. They ranked 57th against the run allowing 148 yards per game a season ago. The production should stay about the same with three starters back in the front seven.
They are led up front by stud linebacker Miles Burris who had 9.5 sacks and 10.5 tackle for losses. Burris is a beast at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds with solid speed coming off the edge in their 3-3-5 defense.
The other linebacker is no slouch either in Logan Ketchum (6'3, 220 pound Senior) who was the number four tackler with 52. They lack the big beef up front (Jerome Long 6-foot-5, 280 pound Senior) and teams will try to run right at them in order to succeed.
Keeping that high power offense on the sidelines is a good idea to try as well. The secondary was 38th allowing only 205 yards per game thanks in large part to corner Leon McFadden who is looking to have back to back seasons as First Team All-MWC.
McFadden is a rangy athlete that can roam sideline to sideline with his speed.
The star safety on the team is Brandon Davis who has a chance to make a Second Team All-MWC though he just came onto the scene one season ago.
Drama's Forecast
Overall, this squad has the guts and the glamour to go nearly as far as one season ago. However, they were sneaky good last year as they came just a few plays away from knocking off TCU in their 35-40 loss.
Losing Hoke will not hurt as much as some think because Long has been there done that and loves running the ball. That is exactly what this team is good at with its offensive line back and its star runner (Hillman) returning.
The schedule is fairly easy despite going up against a few ranked teams (Michigan, TCU, & Boise State). SDST does not have the aerial assault to get past those teams, but outside of those three mid-terms I truly believe the Aztecs have a shot at running the table.
Predicted Finish: 8-5, 4-3
Predicted Bowl: Independence Bowl
Predicted order of finish in MWC: Fourth