San Diego State Football

By Markell Staffieri

Steadily declining in performance over the past 10 years, SDSU has finally become the door mat of the Mountain West Conference, but who is to blame? 

And what is happening to a program which should have nothing but success?

After all, SDSU is located in the heart of sunny San Diego, my home, where the temperatures range from 65 to 75 all year long.  We have beautiful beaches and air you can breathe; not that altitude junk. 

So who would not want to come here?

Without wasting too much time focusing on our opponent I want to look at a few reasons why SDSU finds themselves with only 1 win this year, and losses to some of the weakest FBS and FCS teams in the country.

Problem #1:  SDSU is in need of a rival.  This team is an emotional roller coaster and I think it is because they don’t know how to feel about their opponents. 

I read an interesting article today that said “SDSU has made a reputation of playing the Top Teams close.”  They play up for these games, because it would mean something to beat a big school like Michigan or Ohio State. 

But when they are playing conference teams you never know what SDSU team will show up to play.  When they are fired up, they can actually do some damage BYU @ SDSU (remember 2005, when we planted our flag in the middle of the 50yd line?). 

I think the fact that they are the only team outside of the mountains - in the Mountain West - leaves them feeling sorry for themselves and unable to find a true rival. 

I guess UNLV is out of the mountains too, so maybe they should start hating each other.  After all it is a short drive from SD to LV. 

Solution: Right now it would be great for SDSU and the city of San Diego to start a rivalry with USD.  They are a Div 1-AA team, but they are really good. 

They don’t lose very often, and probably would not lose to SDSU this year.  A rivalry here would really give SDSU the spark they need to be more competitive. 

Everyone needs someone to hate, and right now SDSU doesn’t have that.  They used to consider us their rival, but we really don’t have time to return the affection because we hate Utah too much and we try to accommodate TCU and Wyoming now and then. 

Besides, we have also thrown Utah State back in the mix.

Problem #2: The biggest contributor to the poor play of SDSU has to be their player’s commitment to the team. This may actually stem from having so much sunshine in the summer in So. Cal.  

I had the opportunity to train with two players from SDSU for the combine/pro day.  I asked one of them what seemed to be the problem there and he said, accountability. 

Fact is, there isn’t any on the Aztec football team.  Guys are not held accountable to each other or to their coaches to make it to workouts or to improve in the others areas of being a student-athlete.  This is the same problem that plagued BYU from 2002-2004. 

SDSU will not turn this thing around until the coaches start holding the players accountable. 

Interestingly enough SDSU consistently turns out more NFL players than any other MWC school. 

For the past few years (with this year being the first exception) they led the MWC in NFL players.  Right now Utah has 16 and SDSU has 15.  BYU (14) and TCU (10) are the next in line. 

So they have the talent.  They just need to harness it.  I heard a great quote from Drew Brees a couple weeks ago.  He was being interviewed before the Chargers/Saints game and talked about his time in SD and the trade. 

In a nutshell he said he does not resent being traded at all because in New Orleans the coaches built the offense for him, and they are so good and building game plans that highlight players' strengths. 

He said, “These coaches will never ask a player to run a play that preys on their weaknesses.”  Case in point, Coach Mendenhall switching from his pride and joy 3-3-5 to the 3-4, so that we could play to our strengths. 

Coach Anae replacing Nate Meikle with Andrew George because of the athletic ability and depth of our TEs.  The SDSU coaches are capable and have had a lot of success. 

In the off-season they need to sit down, evaluate the strengths of their players, and “Get the right people in the right seats.”

Food for thought on SDSU coaches:

The last 4 coaches for SDSU from most recent on back:

• Chuck Long is 8-25 at SDSU. Prior to that, his accomplishments included:
• Win 3 bowl games with Iowa as the DBs coach while his unit led the conference in INT returned for TDs and INTs 2 out of 3 years.
• QB coach of the 2000 BCS NC Sooners.
• OC for Oklahoma winning the 2002 & 03 Rose Bowls while averaging 51.5 points/game
• 2004 Asst Coach of the Year
• Tom Craft was 19-29 at SDSU…before that:
• 31-2 with 2 JuCo NCs for Palomar JC (Who FYI has 90% of its roster from local high schools) Why can’t they get them to SDSU?
• Top 5 in Total offense in 5 years
• Coached 7 All American QBs
• Ted Tollner was 43-48 at SDSU…before that:
• 26-20 @ USC and was fired after losing to rival UCLA 3 out of 4 times (we will discuss rivalry later)
• After following Head Coaches who kept getting fired, Ted has been fairly stable as an offense position coach and OC in the NFL for the 49ers
• Al Luginbill - the weakest of the bunch outside SDSU - was a surprising 31-25. That is one of the top winning % at the school. Should have kept him.
• 2001 XFL Champs as head coach
• 30-26 in the NFL Europe winning World Bowl III

With impressive resumes before and after SDSU, it tells me there was something else going on besides just the head coach.

(1-5) (3-4)

University Stadium 4PM MT TV: Radio: XTRA Sports 1360 or 770 KKOB

New Mexico really needs this game to get back to .500 and inch closer to a bowl bid. The Lobos have won six straight against San Diego State, and this year the Lobos have been up and down, so no wins are guaranteed.

San Diego State, as its record indicates, is not very good this year, and if quarterback Ryan Lindley can't go because of injury, the prospects of the Aztecs getting a win are not good.

New Mexico is decent in its run defense and that is all it will need to stop the very stagnant running game of the Aztecs. San Diego has only 284 yards of rushing on the year. Yes, the college game includes sacks in the rushing yards, but the Aztecs' top two rushers haven't done much through six games—Atiyyah Henderson has 146 on the year and Brandon Sullivan has 142.

Part of that is due to the Aztecs being down and needing to pass a lot, because the two average 3.8 and 3.9 yards, respectively. New Mexico should have little problems stopping this so-called running attack.

New Mexico will just run Rodney Ferguson until he can run no more because the Aztecs have been giving up big plays or a lot of rushing yards this year. Quarterback Brad Gruner should be able to have a good game because the Aztecs are giving up nearly 30 points per game, and, believe it or not, their pass defense is worse then their run defense.

Final Score New Mexico 34, San Diego State 10

Notre Dame's first test of the 2008 season came on Saturday, as they hosted San Diego State University.  The Irish looked much like a student who was not prepared for the first exam of the year and barely got by with a passing grade.  Follow me here, please...

Where can we begin to look at problems the Irish had on Saturday afternoon?  Offense, defense, and special teams all had issues that kept from pulling away from San Diego State, yet all three also had some bright spots.  As Charlie Weis told his team after the game, "You're happy with an ugly win because it's better than an ugly loss". 

Truer words have never been spoken.  As bad as the team looked at times on Saturday, they did rally and were able to come from behind late in the game to find a victory.

Now what was it that looked good for the Irish and what was it that looked so bad and should be reason for concern this season?

On offense, many expected that Duval Kamara was to have a breakout season where he developed into a legit No. 1 threat at wide out.  Not to say that is not going to happen, but Golden Tate stole the show of the wideouts on Saturday afternoon. 

Heckled for not being able to run anything but fly routes a year ago, Tate caught several first-down passes on slant routes in the fourth quarter. 

It was also a pleasant surprise to see Michael Floyd get some playing time and catch the first Irish touchdown pass of the season in the second quarter.  Despite being a true freshman, Floyd is going to be getting more playing time as the season goes on, because he's simply too good not to have out on the field.

The offensive line was not faced with a notable opponent, but for the most part supplied Jimmy Clausen with decent time to throw the football.  Possibly by habit after a season a year ago in which he was running for his life the majority of the time, Jimmy Clausen seemed to me to be stepping out of the pocket too quickly at times on Saturday. 

After a season like he was faced with a year ago this is far from surprising, but it's something that will need to be corrected.

The running game of Notre Dame was average on Saturday afternoon but far from great.  It seemed to me at times that the Irish were fully capable of pounding the ball down the throats of San Diego State, but that the powers that be decided not to do so.

Aramando Allen had a strong performance for the Irish as did Robert Hughes, despite both coughing up costly fumbles in the ballgame.

If these two running backs could be steered in a better direction about anything, it would have to be with their posture while holding onto the football.  Both were found running with their bodies too straight up when they fumbled, something that luckily did not do the Irish in on Saturday. 

The offense as a whole did not do a bad job against San Diego State.  The problem was that they turned the ball over four times on Saturday, with at least two of these possessions not ending in points like they most likely would have done.

Because of the turnovers I give the Irish a grade of a "D" on Saturday.  They made plays when they needed to and took care of business late in the game, but it was also their fault that the outcome of the game was not decided sooner.

The defense of the Fighting Irish was the sole reason Notre Dame was kept alive in the ballgame.  Defensive playcalling is not my strong suit, but I did notice a few things that left me in question during the ballgame.

First, how difficult is it to disguise a blitz?  Early on the blitz was getting to San Diego State quarterback Ryan Lindley but after time adjustments were made and the blitz was not as effective for the entire game.

Granted, adjustments are going to be made by an opponent, but later in the game just as a casual observer in the stands I could tell much of the time where the blitz was coming from before the snap and what receiver would be given a hot route and thrown too quickly. 

Trust me, if I am able to make a read like this, then a Division 1 offensive coordinator or quarterback would be as well.

I felt the pass defense of Notre Dame played very well in the fact they only allowed 13 total points against a very pass-happy offense and came up big late in the game.  However, giving up big yards on first and second down will kill a team; against better opponents, this is going to bite the Irish in the butt.

They were able to get away with a multiple 5-yard gains on first down today, but don't expect that to hold.  The better teams will feast on this, and better defense on first and second down is desperately needed. 

As a unit, I give the defense of Notre Dame a "B-" on Saturday, mostly because of how their game plan to blitz wound up working against them after time.

Erase two missed field goals and the special teams of Notre Dame looked very strong Saturday.  Armando Allen had a long punt return that should have set up an Irish score if not for an interception and kick coverage Saturday was very strong. 

It's tough to go into detail but Mike Anello had a great special teams game, racking up multiple tackles for minimal returns by San Diego State.  The special teams was great in some aspects and terrible in the kicking game, they average out to a "C" performance.

All in all, a win is a win, and Notre Dame is 1-0.  Although it was not pretty, it's much better than having the numbers in the W/L column reversed.  I'll close with my MVP's of the game and talk to you in a few days as Notre Dame gets set to host 1-1 Michigan.

Offensive MVP: Golden Tate
Defensive MVP: David Burton
Special Teams MVP: Mike Anello

Overall I give the Irish a team grade of "D+".  I only allow a team to get an "F" if they lose a game. However, with the pass defense and late production from the offense, the Irish did have a few things go their way on Saturday, just not as many as most would have liked.

Earlier this week, Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis had some choice words for his offensive plan against all of his regular season's opponents, starting with his first rival, the San Diego State Aztecs.

"We're going to pound it."

Sensing an obvious weakness in the Southern California squad's defensive line (five players suffered injuries in the Opening Week loss to Cal Poly-SLO last Saturday, including a season-ending injury for DE Tony DeMartinis), Weis saw no reason to be coy about his play selection, considering the Aztecs ranked 118th out of 119 Division I schools against the rush in 2007.

Coming off a season that saw Notre Dame lose the most games in a single season in its history (nine), Weis and the Fighting Irish couldn't have picked a better opponent for their season opener.

At best, San Diego's offense is a one-trick pony, relying on the arm of freshman QB Ryan Lindley and the team's talented wide receiver corps to move the chains via the passing game.

At worst, the Aztecs will turn the ball over constantly upon the slightest of contacts, fumbling and risking interceptions with its pass-first, ask-questions-later style of offense. San Diego showed both facets of this against the Cal Poly Mustangs.

Notre Dame, on the other hand, also has a number of questions about their offense, namely the offensive line. QB Jimmy Clausen was sacked a team-record 34 times in 2007 and was benched after winning only one of his first six starts in favor of Evan Sharpley.

In front of their home crowd, though, and coming off a horrible season, Notre Dame cannot afford to lose a game like this against a team that shouldn't provide too much resistance.

Weis' insistence to run the ball will be apparent in this game, and despite running behind a line that was questioned in 2007, Irish tailbacks will probably find holes often in the banged-up Aztec front four.

Losing to the Cal Poly Mustangs after turning the ball over five times was a disaster, and despite the unfavorable matchup on the road against a hungry Notre Dame, head coach Chuck Long's major coup will be keeping his offense mistake-free and his run defense under 200 yards or so.

If My Life Savings Depended On It: I'd pick Notre Dame.

After a season that could not finish soon enough and into a season that could not get here quickly enough, its finally time for the Irish to open 2008. They will do so on Saturday (3:30 EST, NBC) with a home game against the 0-1 San Diego State Aztecs. Although there is not a whole lot known about either squad coming in, the Irish find themselves to be 22 point favorites in Vegas.

The Aztecs will bring in a very inexperienced team, a very similar build up to what Notre Dame has but with less talent. Youth, which was much of the reason for the Irish's debacle in 2007, will be looked on for veteran leadership in 2008. Yes, veteran leadership will be expected out of the vast number of contributing freshman and sophomores from a year ago. The Irish are expected to start fifteen starters from a year ago with the bulk of them having still another year or two of eligibility after 2008.

San Diego State brings in a fairly young team as well, having only 14 starters back from a 4-8 ballclub a year ago. The Aztecs dropped their week one contest against Cal Poly, being the only Division 1 team to lose to a CFS team this past weekend. Let's look at both sides of the ball and see what should be expected.

The Aztecs will bring a spread offense that likes to throw the ball around the field to Notre Dame Stadium and Saturday. In a game where the Irish defense should be far superior to the offense of SDSU there are a few things that I look for to happen:

1) Obtain a pass rush.
Corwin Brown, and his 3-4 being helped out now by Jon Tenuta, seems to be a group that will blitz more than we have seen in years past. It is important that we are able to get to the quarterback on a regular basis this Saturday - we sure as hell aren't going to be able to get to the quarterbacks of the Michigan's, Michigan State's, and North Carolina's of the world.

2) Force Turnovers.
This goes hand in hand with getting to the quarterback, but with a pass happy team coming to town, we already know that Chuck Long's gang is not planning on trying to run the ball down Notre Dame's throats. The Irish have a defensive line that nearly weighs the same on average as the SDSU offensive line. The Irish weigh in on average only 23 pounds lighter than that of SDSU (305 lbs to 282).

3) No long drives.
This is a team, that, for lack of a better term, is awful. If the Irish are to win more than five or six games this year the defense will be called upon. There is nothing that makes you feel worse than when your defense is stomped all over on an eighty yard, 15 play scoring drive. I do not want to see anything like that this weekend.

The offense for Notre Dame in this game should be given an asterisk before any snaps are taken. Would you expect to see them show a whole lot for coming opponents in a game where they are just trying to survive and win? No, absolutely not. Notre Dame is far more talented in every aspect of the offensive game than SDSU is on the defensive side. With ND's line weighing nearly 40 pounds more than what's up front for the Aztecs, Notre Dame needs to be able to dominate up front.

There are however three things I would like to see Notre Dame's offense be able to do on Saturday that would make me feel better when looking ahead to the coming weeks.

1) Stay out of third and long.
Last year was a pain as you sat and watched Notre Dame not pick up yards on a regular basis on first and second down. You can have the most talented teams in the nation and if they are given consistent third-and-eights or worse, they won't succeed. 1st and 2nd down production is a must for this Irish team.

2) Dominate the line of scrimmage.
I am not going to say that a 100 yard rusher is a must, because the way carries could be split between (Robert) Hughes, (Armando) Allen, and (James) Aldridge, you can't anticipate that one will get enough carries to do so. However, with Hughes running for 100 yards in the final two games of 2007, it would be nice to see him crack that 100 yard mark. As a whole though, I would like to see the offensive line pushing guys back and making holes and the running game to seem unstoppable.

3) A big pass play for a score.
The longest pass for a touchdown last season was a brisk 26 yards a year ago. This kind of shows how bad the offense was as well. But, against a weaker defense I would really like to see Jimmy (Clausen) connect on a deep pass with one of his multiple receivers and show the Irish have at least a threat of the deep ball this year.

Finally, on special teams, Notre Dame can restore a bit of the success it had with these in the first two Charlie Weis seasons. I'm not asking for a return for a touchdown, but on kickoff returns, I would like to actually see blocking take place and for Notre Dame to show even a hint that they may be able to bring a kick back for a score this year. The kicking game is going to struggle for the Irish this year. For some reason I get the feeling that something will go wrong during an extra point and the Irish will miss one of those.

Prediction Time:

Mark Says: Notre Dame 38, San Diego State 10
Nick Says: Notre Dame 37, San Diego State 6
Joe Says: Notre Dame 27, San Diego State 17

After a season that could not finish soon enough and into a season that could not get here quickly enough, its finally time for the Irish to open 2008.  They will do so on Saturday (3:30 ET Kickoff, NBC) with a home slate against the 0-1 San Diego State Aztecs.  Although there is not a whole lot known about either squad coming in, the Irish find themselves to be 22 point favorites in Vegas.

The Aztecs will bring in a very inexperienced team, a very similar build up to what Notre Dame has but with less talent.  Youth which was much of the reason for the Irish's debacle in 2007 will be looked on for veteran leadership in 2008.  Yes, veteran leadership will be expected out of the vast number of contributing freshman and sophomores a year ago.  The Irish are expected start fifteen starters from a year ago with the bulk of them having still another year or two of eligibility after 2008.

San Diego State brings in a fairly young team as well having only 14 starters back from a 4-8 ballclub a year ago.  The Aztecs dropped their week one contest against Cal Poly, being the only Division 1 team to lose to a CFS team this past weekend.  Lets look at both sides of the ball and see what should be expected.

The Aztecs will bring a spread offense that likes to throw the ball around the field to Notre Dame Stadium and Saturday.  In a game where the Irish defense should be far superior to the offense of SDSU there are a few things that I look for to happen:

1) Obtain a pass rush.

Corwin Brown and his 3-4 being helped out now by Jon Cenuta seems to be a group that blitz more than we have seen in years past.  It is important that we are able to get to the quarterback on a regular basis this Saturday, we sure as hell aren't going to be able to get to the quarterbacks of the Michigan's, Michigan State's, and North Carolina's of the world.

2) Force Turnovers.

This goes hand in hand with getting to the quarterback but with a pass happy team coming to town we already know that Chuck Long's gang is not planning on trying to run the ball down Notre Dame's throats.  The Irish have a defensive line that nearly weighs the same on average as the SDSU offensive line.  The Irish weigh in on average only 23 pounds lighter than that of SDSU (305 lbs to 282). 

3) No long drives.

This is a team that for lack of a better term is awful.  If the Irish are to win more than five or six games this year the defense will be called upon.  There is nothing that makes you feel worse when your defense is stomped all over on an eighty yard, 15 play scoring drive.  I do not want to see anything like that this weekend.

The offense for Notre Dame in this game should be given an asterisk before any snaps are taken.  Would you expect to see them show a whole lot for coming opponents in a game where they are just trying to survive and win?  No, absolutely not.  Notre Dame is far more talented in every aspect of the offensive game than SDSU is on the defensive side.  With ND's line weighing nearly 40 pounds more than what's up front for the Aztecs Notre Dame needs to be able to dominate up front.

There are however three things I would like to see Notre Dame's offense be able to do on Saturday that would make me feel better when looking ahead to the coming weeks.

1) Stay out of third and long.

Last year was a pain as you sat and watched Notre Dame not pick up yards on a regular basis on first and second down.  You can have the most talented teams in the nation and if they are given consistent third and eights or worse they won't succeed.  1st and 2nd down production is a must for this Irish team.

2) Dominate the line of scrimmage.

I am not going to say that a 100 yard rusher is a must because the way carries could be split between Hughes, Allen, and Aldridge you can't anticipate that one will get enough carries to do so.  However, with Hughes running for 100 yards in the final two games of 2007 it would be nice to see him crack that 100 yard mark.  As a whole though I would like to see the offensive line pushing guys back and making holes and the running game to seem unstoppable.

3) A big pass play for a score.

The longest pass for a touchdown last season was a brisk 26 yards a year ago.  This kind of shows how bad the offense was as well but against a weaker defense I would really like to see Jimmy connect on a deep connection with one of his multiple receivers and show the Irish have at least a threat of the deep ball this year.

Finally on special teams Notre Dame can restore a bit of the success it had with these in the first two Charlie Weis seasons.  I'm not asking for a return for a touchdown but on kickoff returns I would like to actual blocking take place and for Notre Dame to show even a hint that they may be able to bring a kick back for a score this year.  The kicking game is going to struggle for the Irish this year, for some reason I get the feeling that something will go wrong during an extra point and the Irish will miss one of those.

Prediction Time:

Notre Dame 37 San Diego State 6