2009 NCAA - San Diego State
The Aztecs hope they got it right this time in the coaching department. High profile hire Chuck Long was only able to produce nine wins in his three seasons before finally being bought out at the end of last season. In steps Ball State ex-coach and alum Brady Hoke, who helped pilot the Cardinals to a 12-0 season before a loss to Buffalo in the MAC title game. Hoke was obviously intrigued with the possibility of getting to recruit west coast talent into San Diego. He'll need to start up front - on both sides. The Aztecs were second-to-last of 119 teams at stopping the run, and third-to-worst at running the ball. They finished 2-10 last fall, including losses to Cal Poly SLO and New Mexico (Rocky Long, the new SDSU defensive coordinator, was at the helm of the New Mexico team that thrashed the Aztecs 70-7 last fall).
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San Diego State
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A positive for Hoke is that there appears to be talent leftover from the Chuck Long regime that should make the defense immediately more competitive, especially in the back seven. Both defensive ends return, but there is a lot of work to do for the Aztec defense to be competitive. On the other side, Hoke brought in Al Borges to run his offense. Borges piloted Auburn to the top-scoring offense in the SEC in 2004 and 2005 and was a two-time Broyles Award finalist for the nation's top assistant back in 1997 and 1998. Nine starters return, but Borges's biggest challenge is - surprise, surprise - finding someone who can run the ball. Sophomore Ryan Lindley (16 TD's, 9 interceptions) was at least solid and had spectacular moments in his first campaign. |
| ASK the bookie? - Because of the coaching hires, this will be a team to watch closely. Don't pencil in an automatic loss to UCLA in the opener. After that, the Aztecs don't play a home game on the board until Oct. 3, and two weeks later BYU comes to town for the first conference home game. That one will tell a lot, but don't be surprised if this group of coaches don't turn things around sooner rather than later. Six wins and bowl eligibility looks like a realistic goal in Hoke's first season. |
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