College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the San Diego State Aztecs season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– San Diego State Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 10-3 overall, 5-3 in MW
Head Coach: Brady Hoke, 1st year, (3rd year overall at SDSU) 13-12
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 70
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 30
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 70
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: San Diego State Aztecs Offense 3 Things To Know
– Welcome back Brady Hoke, and welcome in new offensive coordinator Jeff Hecklinski – Hoke’s assistant at SDSU the first time around and then at Michigan. Now they have to try ramping up the nation’s 110th best and Mountain West’s worst offense that averaged just 343 yards and 21 points per game.
Ryan Agnew ended his career with a three-touchdown bang in the bowl win over Central Michigan, but he didn’t push the ball down the field – that was the offense. He’s gone, and now it’ll be up to backup Carson Baker and Georgia Tech transfer Lucas Johnson to add more pop to the mix. In this offense, being able to run matters – both can do that.
CFN in 60 Video: UCLA Preview
– The receivers are in place, and now they’ll get the chance to do a whole lot more. Leading target Kobe Smith is a 6-2, 190-pound veteran who caught a team-high 58 passes for 691 yard and four scores – but he’s not alone. Sophomore Jesse Matthews and junior TE Daniel Bellinger return after combining for five scores.
Even with six receivers/tight ends transferring out, the top eight pass catchers are expected to return, along with Ball State TE transfer Nolan Givan and a few nice options from the recruiting class.
– Who’s the next great San Diego State running back? Juwan Washington was banged up and missed too much of last year, but he still led the season in rushing.
Washington is gone, but Chance Bell is a good back who was Deondres on the team with 384 yards, and Chase Jasmin is a solid veteran with 11 rushing scores over his three years. Nebraska transfer Greg Bell brings a little more pop.
The offensive line was always solid under Rocky Long, but it struggled for the ground game and allowed too many plays behind the line. Three starters are expected back, mostly missing C Keith Ismael after he bolted early to the NFL. Kyle Spalding is a good left tackle, and 6-5, 350-pound William Dunkle is a massive pounder at guard.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: San Diego State Aztecs Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: San Diego State Aztecs Defense 3 Things To Know
– No pressure or anything, new coaching staff and defensive coordinator Kurt Mattix, but the bar was set ridiculously high over the last several years. The Aztecs led the Mountain West and were fifth in the nation in total defense, and they were second behind only Georgia in scoring D.
Losing leading tackler Kyahva Tezino from the linebacking corps hurts, but six of the top eight tacklers are expected back for a D that has no excuse to be anything but fantastic again.
It starts with that linebacking corps, where senior Andrew Aleki will likely move into Tezino’s spot, and Caden McDonald and Seyddrick Lakalaka are 230-pound veterans who’ll get behind the line more. The recruiting class will help with some instant producers for the depth – at least.
– The defensive front loses Myles Cheatum, but Keshawn Banks is a 270-pound junior who led the team in tackles for loss with 13.5, and Cameron Thomas is a solid anchor on the nose who came up with nine tackles for loss. The group is beefed up with help from the JUCO ranks, and there’s good depth returning.
– All-star corner Luq Barcoo is gone after picking off nine passes, but this is still a loaded secondary. The safety combination of Dwayne Johnson and Tariq Thompson – 92 and 55 tackles finishing second and third, respectively – is among the nation’s most productive, and Trenton Thompson is a fantastic all-around playmaker from his spot. On the outside, junior Darren Hall earned All-Mountain West honors at one corner job.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top San Diego State Aztecs Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top San Diego State Aztecs Players
Best San Diego State Aztecs Offensive Player
OG William Dunkle, Soph.
It would be nice – and potentially a must – if one of the quarterback options rose up and became a star, but going into the season, the line and the receiving corps should be the biggest pluses on the O.
It starts with the 6-5, 350-pound Dunkle, a road grader of blocker who’s just getting started. The Mountain West all-star is a true anchor no matter which guard spot he plays – he’s the bulk.
2. WR Kobe Smith, Jr.
3. PK Matt Araiza, Soph.
4. WR Jesse Matthews, Soph.
5. RB Chance Bell, Jr.
Best San Diego State Aztecs Defensive Player
DT Cameron Thomas, Soph.
Close your eyes, put your finger on a spot on the defensive depth chart, and you might have the team’s best defensive player. The 6-5, 260-pound Thomas is the biggest returning star coming off a massive freshman season on the interior. He tied for fifth on the team with 49 tackles with 5.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss,
2. S Tariq Thompson, Sr.
3. S Dwayne Johnson, Sr.
4. DE Keshawn Banks, Jr.
5. CB Darren Hall, Jr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: San Diego State Aztecs Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: San Diego State Aztecs Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The San Diego State Aztecs Offense
Get the running game going again. The ground attack has been on a four-year slide, hitting the 3,000-yard mark three seasons in a row with a high mark in 2016 with 3,680 and 34 scores, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Last year, the offense ran for just 1,827 yards and 12 touchdowns averaging 3.4 yards per carry.
The offensive line is in place to do far more, and the backfield – even without Juwan Washington – is deep enough to keep things moving.
The new offense will try to speed things up a bit more, and under Brady Hoke the offense went from running for 940 yards in his first season in 2009 to 2,101 yards and 29 scores in 2010.
Over the last four years, San Diego State is 20-2 when running for 200 yards or more.
Biggest Key To The San Diego State Aztecs Defense
A lot of the aspects to the defensive side depends on how much of the old formula is kept around. The Aztecs were sixth in the nation in time of possession, and that’s going to be part of this all again, but there will be more tempo under the new staff, and there will be more of an offense.
Under Rocky Long, it was about owning the lock, not making mistakes – SDSU was second in the nation in fewest turnovers lost – and relying on the rested defense to do its part and then get off the field.
The D was No. 1 in the Mountain West in third down stops, allowing offenses to convert just 34% of their chances. But the Aztecs allowed two teams to convert 50% or more – Utah State and Hawaii – and they lost both games.
Considering the offense won’t be 2019 LSU right away, the D still has to do its job. SDSU is 0-for-its-last-9 when allowing teams to convert 45% or more.
Key San Diego State Aztecs Player To A Successful Season
QB Carson Baker, Soph.
Or former JUCO transfer Jordon Brookshire, or Georgia Tech transfer Lucas Johnson.
Ryan Agnew wasn’t amazing last year, but he was experienced, accurate, and usually mistake-free. That’s what the new San Diego State quarterback has to be, and a little bit more.
The 6-3, 190-pound Baker doesn’t have to be lights-out, but he has to be accurate, can’t start throwing picks, and he has to start pushing the ball down the field for an offense that isn’t used to taking a whole lot of chances.
Key Game To The San Diego State Aztecs Season
at Nevada, Sept. 26
There is no Boise State or Air Force to face, and most of the Mountain West games are more than winnable – San Diego State should be the favorite in just about every conference game.
Nevada, though, had the Aztecs’ number last year in a 17-13 win. The Wolf Pack have won the last two games in the series, and this time around it’s the Mountain West opener. With this the start of a run of three road games in four weeks, a loss would put the pressure on right out of the gate.
– San Diego State Aztecs Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 San Diego State Fun Stats
– Time of Possession: San Diego State 33:51 – Opponents 26:09
– Fumbles: Opponents 18 (lost 9) – San Diego State 6 (lost 2)
– Rushing Yards Per Carry: San Diego State 3.4 – Opponents 2.8
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: San Diego State Aztecs Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: San Diego State Aztecs Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
When Rocky Long took over the San Diego State program in 2011, he seemed like an uninspiring hire.
He was let go from his gig at New Mexico a few years earlier after a 4-8 season after a nice tenure, but nothing amazing – even if the Lobo program would kill to go on a run of seven six-plus win seasons in a row like Long came up with.
All he did was take what Brady Hoke helped create and turn San Diego State into a Group of Five powerhouse with three Mountain West titles, eight bowl appearances in eight years, and an unprecedented era of success before leaving. He’s now the New Mexico defensive coordinator under new head coach Danny Gonzales.
And now …
Brady Hoke doesn’t seem like the most inspired of hires.
He did the impossible at Ball State and turned it into a winner, his 2010 9-4 campaign at San Diego State was the program’s first winning season wince 1998, and his run at Michigan wasn’t that miserable – the guy won a Sugar Bowl and went 31-20 in four years.
The defensive line coach at San Diego State last year under Long, now the program is his again.
Now it’s his turn to take the baton back from Long and run with it.
Set The San Diego State Aztecs Regular Season Win Total At … 8.5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 8
This year’s team has the experience and talent to be every bit as strong as last year’s version, but how much will the coaching change matter?
If the Aztecs can take the defense of the last several years and combine it with a more effective offense, they should be able to win at Toledo, and take out UNLV, Sacramento State, San Jose State, Colorado State, and Hawaii at home. Even if there’s a biff, that’s still a base of five wins.
There isn’t a game on the schedule that they can’t win. There’s no Boise State to face, the UCLA game is at home, and even the Mountain West road games are winnable.
The pressure is on Hoke. Anything less than eight wins with this team will be blamed on the coaching change.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
