April 21, 1999
San Diego State had taken two steps forward and one step back from 1995 to1997 but Head Coach Ted Tollner's program made a quantum leap forward lastseason. After struggling to an 0-3 start out of the gate against Wisconsin,USC and Arizona, the Aztecs went on to win seven of their last eight games,tie for the Pacific Division title in the Western Athletic Conference andearn their first post-season bowl bid since 1991. Only a tipped-ball,interception in the North Carolina end zone in the final minute of the 1998Las Vegas Bowl kept SDSU from forcing overtime in a 20-13 loss to the TarHeels.
This season, as one of eight schools moving from the WAC to create theMountain West Conference, San Diego State hopes to contend for the league'sinaugural football crown. That hope is born out of a roster made up of 29seniors, including nine returning starters on offense and six starters backfor a defense that was the school's best in more than 20 years. In lastyear's final 7-5 record, all of SDSU's losses came to bowl teams.
The Aztecs will make their title bid within a league that Tollner believesis one of the most balanced in the country. In SDSU, Air Force, BrighamYoung, Colorado State, New Mexico, UNLV, Utah and Wyoming,there are sevenof eight conference members that have been involved in post-season playwithin the past two seasons.
The 1999 non-conference schedule sees San Diego State opening at homeagainst South Florida prior to consecutive road trips at Illinois, USC andKansas. While the Aztecs have struggled in recent years against majornon-conference opposition, Tollner is hopeful his team has learned fromthat experience to have some success in 1999.
"Even though we're playing a Pac 10, a Big 10, and a Big 12 team on theroad this year, I'm hoping that past experience will allow us to grow andhave success this season," says Tollner. "We have a lot of returningveterans who have experienced playing 'elite' teams. We've been competitivewith some of those people but now we've got to take the next step andimprove so we can beat those teams. We believe we can line up and go on theroad and be competitive."
DEFENSE
Without the dramatic improvement shown on the defensive side of the ball,there would have been no divisional championship and no bowl game for theAztecs in 1998. Defensive coordinator Claude Gilbert's unit ended theseason ranked 35th in the nation in total defense, the highest ranking forSan Diego State since 1970 when Gilbert was in his first coaching stint onMontezuma Mesa as defensive coordinator. Last season's 20.4 points per gameallowed were the fewest by an SDSU team since 1977 while Gilbert was headcoach. San Diego State ranked fifth in scoring and total defense and fourthin run defense last season in the 16-team WAC. At one point in the season,the Aztecs went 14 straight quarters without allowing an offensivetouchdown and the team registered its first shutout since 1984 in a 10-0win over Fresno State. Six defensive starters return led by seniorall-American candidates Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila at defensive end and safetyRico Curtis.
"Our defense made tremendous strides last season," says Tollner. "Outsideof expecting to continue our development in all areas defensively, I feelwe still need to cut down on the number of big plays allowed. Had we notallowed big plays in the Las Vegas Bowl, we would have won that game."
Defensive Line
Three starters return to a unit that was the strength of the team in 1998.Only four league teams held opposing runners to less than the 3.4 yards perrun the SDSU defense allowed a year ago. The Aztecs gave up just 10 rushingtouchdowns on the season. Only Utah was stingier with nine.
In addition to Gbaja-Biamila, WAC Freshman of the Year Jerome Haywood isback at nose tackle as well as Scottie Nicholson who showed promise atdefensive end in his first season out of San Francisco Community College. Areplacement must be found for defensive tackle Darryl Jones. Returningcandidates with experience include converted end Antwone Young and Kabeer's"little" brother Akbar Gbaja-Biamila. JC newcomer George Heather could pushfor playing time here in the fall. A host of promising redshirt freshmencould very well impact this area.
"There's no question that we can count on Kabeer, Jerome, Scottie andAntwone," notes Tollner. "But after that, it's our young guys includingAkbar and George Heather that will have to step up. There should be somegreat competition. We'll need to develop some depth this year in ourredshirt freshmen like Ryan Iata, Jared Ritter, Josh Allen and Amon Arnoldbecause we'll lose all our established guys except Jerome after this year."
Linebackers
The performance of the San Diego State linebacking corps was one of thepleasant surprises of the '98 campaign. The three "Joe's" - startinglinebackers Joe Jackson, Joe Tuipala and Joey Mayo - all earned some levelof all conference recognition. Tuipala was the defensive player of the gamein the Las Vegas Bowl. Mayo, who earned second team All WAC honors in hisfirst Aztec season, is the lone returnee but ranked second on the team intackles with 86, just three behind squad leader Rico Curtis. A middlelinebacker last season, he has the ability to play outside as well. Thegroup of candidates to fill the two open spots include Scott Johnson,Martin Chlumak and Michael Duran, all of whom have started at some point intheir careers. Senior Mac Cleary has seen battle as a reserve. Rodney Allenshowed promise last year as a freshman and incoming juco players RossMarchbanks and Brian Berg will compete here.
"We've got one proven player and we'll throw the other guys into wide opencompetition until we figure out our depth," notes Tollner. "We'll let itunfold to see who our best three guys on the field are."
Defensive Backs
Rico Curtis is one of the top safeties in the country and he will bejoined by three experienced returnees at cornerback. Aazaar Abdul-Rahimsolidified himself as a starter at corner last season and, although hisopposite starter, Eric Lewis, has graduated, Tairou Smith and Kevin Burtonare back with significant minutes under their belts. In fact, as a group,every defensive back who intercepted a pass in 1998, returns this season.The biggest question will be whether Jermaine Watkins, Ricky Sharpe,StanBogard or an incoming player can step up to claim the free safety positionin pre-season to allow Curtis to return to his more natural strong safetyposition. Curtis switched to free last year and had a standout campaign butAztec coaches would like to get him closer to the line of scrimmage. Thatwould take advantage of not only his tackling ability but also allow him tobe more active in the team's zone blitz package. A cadre of newcomers couldhave an impact in this area in '99.
"We've got some experience returning at cornerback and we'll throw in acouple of junior college candidates into the mix," says Tollner. "We'regoing in initially thinking of Rico as a strong safety and havingcompetition at free between Jermaine, Ricky and Stan. The safety spots arewide open other than Rico."
OFFENSE
The 1998 San Diego State offense was improved from the previous season butit was still not the explosive, high-powered, point machine that hascharacterized Aztec football in recent decades. Inexperience at quarterbacklimited the diversity of the passing game, there were four new starters inthe offensive line and the receiving corps lacked quality depth. Still, theunit found ways to be successful, leaning on a solid running game thataveraged 186.5 yards per game, a figure that ranked fifth in the 16-teamWestern Athletic Conference. The passing game improved under Brian Russellas the season went on but Tollner is looking for more in 1999.
"It is imperative that we get more production out of our passing game inmaking big plays down the field," according to the sixth year head coach."That's what the one-back scheme is based upon. It was somewhat ironic thatwe had our success relying on our running and an underneath passing game ina scheme designed to stretch the field. We need to get back to what thissystem was designed to do. That would make our running game that much moreeffective."
Quarterback
After a season-ending injury to starter Spencer Brinton in the second gameof 1998, sophomore transfer Brian Russell stepped into the fray. Whileassimilating to game conditions, Russell showed improvement throughout theyear and his leadership and heart drove SDSU to a divisional title and bowlgame. After a freshman year as a part-time starter at Penn and a redshirttransfer year at San Diego State, Russell struggled in early starts butfinished strong. Five of his seven regular season interceptions weresuffered in his first three extended outings. He had a qb efficiency ratingof 137.25 in his final three contests.
Although Russell goes into spring drills as number one, he will facechallenges from junior college all- American Jack Hawley and redshirtfreshman Lon Sheriff. Both are big, strong-armed candidates who will get along look as Tollner searches for a passing game that will once againstretch opposing defenses vertically and horizontally, as the one-backscheme was designed to do. Brinton indicated last December that he haddecided to give up football.
"Whether it's Brian or Jack or Lon, we need to make more plays of theplus-20 yard variety," says Tollner. "We weren't bad last season atunder-15; our percentage was good there. But we need to be more explosivedown the field. I'd like to come out of spring knowing we have twoquarterbacks that I know we can win with and will allow us to do the thingsoffensively that this system was built for. I'm looking for that more thantrying to identify a starter per se in the spring."
Running Backs
In senior Jonas Lewis and junior Larry Ned, the Aztecs possess one of thebetter running back duos in college football. While splitting duties on theseason, the Lewis and Larry show combined for 1,659 rushing yards and 11touchdowns in the 11-game regular season. Each averaged 5.0 yards per carryand averaged for 184.4 yards per game as a tandem. Lewis' season washighlighted by a 173 yard outing vs. New Mexico as he finished the seasonranked sixth in the WAC in rushing. In his first season of collegiate ball,Ned was enjoying an outstanding early campaign before nagging injuriesslowed him down. He had 100 yards in his first four career starts including146 yards against Arizona.
"Jonas and Larry grew into a top-notch, Division I running back duo,"relates Tollner. "Lewis proved he could play two years ago and continued tobe a threat for us last season. Ned had a phenomenal streak when he washealthy. They're similar in that they can both run with power and arephysical and both are now in the 210 to 215 pound range. We plan to playthem both again."
Senior Mike Williams and true-sophomore James Truvillion both saw someaction in a reserve capacity last season and will be joined by redshirtfreshman Garric Simmons in the backfield this year. With the limited provendepth at tight end this season, SDSU may show more two-back sets in '99.
Offensive Line
Last year, this unit began the season having to replace four starters,including two players who would go on to become NFL starters as rookies in1998. With center Mike Malano as the lone holdover starter, the new groupcame together last season to lead a rushing attack that ranked fifth in theWAC and reduce the team's quarterback sacks allowed from 39 in 1997 to 23in 1998. While all-league tackle Rick Austin has graduated, first teamall-WAC senior center Malano returns for 1999 with three other seniorstarters in guards Andrew Kline and Brad Elmore and tackle Greg Spillane.Junior Chris Williams saw significant game time as a reserve but additionaldepth must come from the inexperienced group of junior Kareem Missoumi,junior college transfer Ted Printy and a corps of untested sophomores andredshirt freshmen.
"Malano, Kline and Spillane performed at a consistent, winning, Division Ilevel last season and Iexpect them to be even better this year," predictsTollner. "There will be competition between Printy, Elmore, Williams andMissoumi for the other two spots but we also have to be conscientious aboutplaying some of the younger guys. We could lose all five starters afterthis season."
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Damon Gourdine had a stellar campaign as a receiver and kick returner in1998 on his way to first team all-WAC recognition in both roles. The 5'7"senior from Palos Verdes, California was on the receiving end of more thana third of the team's receptions with 55 catches on the year. Althoughstarting wideout Jesus Reyes is gone, Lonny Mitchell returns after playingin the slot position most of '98. Tollner will look for improvedconsistency from Mitchell but must develop additional receiver depth.Veteran Sean Pierce could help but the junior from Covina Hills,California has had each of his past two seasons cut short by injuries. Agroup of untested sophomores must show they can produce or incoming juniorcollege and freshmen pass catchers could see themselves competing forplaying time in the fall.
"Damon had a solid all-conference season a year ago," says Tollner. "Thefact that we didn't have much diversity in our passing attack and have himstill do what he did last year speaks highly of his abilities. He's tough,can go deep, isn't afraid to make the catch underneath and he blocks. Hisonly shortcoming is his limited target size. After Damon, everything isopen at receiver. We're looking to develop a total of six guys we can counton playing with to get back to our three and four receiver sets."
Depth will be thin in the spring at tight end. Jim Ange was solid for SanDiego State in 1998 as a blocker and also caught at least one pass in 11 ofthe team's 12 games. Gray McNeill has a world of potential and could put itall together this fall. Two highly-regarded freshmen tight end candidates,Raleigh Fletcher and Mike Lynch, will join the group in the fall.
"The two tight ends we have back played well but we haven't got muchdepth," says Tollner. "We'll only have two tight ends in the spring. Itprobably means we'll have to use more two-running back sets with the secondback having essentially the same responsibilities as a second or thirdtight end."
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Aztecs return junior Nate Tandberg to handle placements but thepunting duties are open with the graduation of two-year letterwinner DonCopeland. Tollner hopes to have filled that void with the signing of firstteam all-American junior college punter Justin Sisco of Riverside CommunityCollege. He will report in the fall.
SDSU is depending upon Tandberg to improve on his consistency, especiallyin the 30-to-39 yard range where he was four-of-seven a year ago and11-of-19 in his first two seasons. On extra points, Tandberg is 52-of-54for his career. Mike Spellman served in a back-up placekicking capacitylast season and returns for his senior year.
Thanks to an all-conference performance by Damon Gourdine, San Diego Stateled the WAC in punt returns with an 18.8 average and three touchdowns.Gourdine ranked second in the nation and led the conference with an 18.4average per runback with two for scores, including a school record-setting95 yarder against Utah. He was fourth in the WAC in kickoff returns with a24.5 average.
"We have to make dramatic improvement in our consistency and abilities tomake field goals and get depth and hang time on our kickoffs," stressesTollner. "Outside of that, it's just a matter of making continual progressin the other areas."