Oct. 15, 2001
Game No. 7San Diego State (2-4, 1-2 MWC) at
Ohio State (3-2, 2-1 Big Ten)
Oct. 20, 2001 -- 9:10 a.m. PDT
Ohio Stadium
Capacity - 99,000+
Columbus, Ohio
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Television
The San Diego State at Ohio State game will be televised live regionally by ESPN+Plus, locally on Channel 4 San Diego. Jim Barbar will call the play-by-play with Al Harris providing the analysis. Peggy Kusinski will serve as the telecast's sideline reporter.
Radio
All San Diego State football games can be heard live in southern California on XTRA Sports (690 AM). Jim Stone calls the action with "The Coach", John Kentera, handling the color. Mike Costa provides sideline reports.
The Records
San Diego State enters the game with a 2-4 (1-2 MWC) record after falling to UNLV, 31-3, in Las Vegas, Oct. 13. Ohio State is coming off a 20-17 loss to Wisconsin. The Buckeyes are 3-2 (2-1 Big Ten).
The Rankings
Neither is ranked heading into Saturday's game. Ohio State is receiving votes in both the AP Top 25 and ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.
SDSU Coach Ted Tollner
Aztec head coach Ted Tollner (Cal Poly '62) is in his eighth season at San Diego State and has compiled a 42-44-0 (.488) record on The Mesa. Tollner's overall career mark stands at 68-64-1 (.515).
Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel
Jim Tressel is in his first season at Ohio State. He is 3-2 with the Buckeyes. Prior to his arrival in Columbus, Tressel served as head coach at Youngstown State, compiling a 135-57-2 with the Penguins.
The Series
Saturday's game in Columbus will be the first between San Diego State and Ohio State.
The Back Stretch
The San Diego State Aztecs, 2-4 overall and 1-2 in Mountain West Conference play, will step out of the league for the final time this season when they head to Columbus to face the Ohio State Buckeyes, 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten. Kickoff is set for 12:10 in Columbus (9:10 Pacific) and will be televised locally on Channel 4 San Diego (ESPN+Plus). Saturday's game is the rescheduled contest from Sept. 15th.
Changes This Week
There are a couple of changes this week in the standard SDSU practice routine due to Thursday's departure for Columbus as well as the Aztecs' tough night of travel in the return from Las Vegas. Head coach Ted Tollner wiped out Sunday's regular schedule of film and a light workout. The squad will instead practice on Monday with the standard Tuesday and Wednesday workouts in place. On Thursday, SDSU will move up its workout to 1:30-3:30 p.m., due to the 6:30 departure from Lindbergh Field.
TV This Week
San Diego State will make another television appearance this week, marking the fifth TV game in seven outings for the Aztecs. After national cable appearances vs. Arizona and Air Force (ESPN2) and two ABC appearances (Colorado State and UNLV), the Aztecs will make their first appearance on ESPN+Plus this week. Jim Barbar will call the action with Al Harris providing the color. Peggy Kusinski serve as the game's sideline reporter.
The Crowd Factor
Saturday's crowd figures to be the largest ever to see an Aztec game, surpassing the 80,000 in Tokyo that watched the Aztecs and Air Force in the 1981 Mirage Bowl. The largest crowd to see the Aztecs play in the United States came in 1997 when SDSU visited Wisconsin with 76,864 fans on hand. Ohio State's smallest home crowd this season was for the opener when 102,602 were on hand to see the Buckeyes defeat Akron in newly-expanded Ohio Stadium.
You Know This Already...
San Diego State will be facing a first-year head coach for the third time this season. The Aztecs opened with two coaches in the first games at their respective schools (John Mackovic at Arizona and Dirk Koetter at Arizona State). This week Jim Tressel will be coaching his sixth game as the Buckeye boss. Next week when the Aztecs host Brigham Young, they will be facing another first-year boss in Gary Crowton.
The Series
San Diego State and Ohio State will be meeting for the first time on Saturday. However, San Diego Sate, which is 2-7 all-time vs. the Big Ten, is meeting a member of that league for the fifth straight season and for the sixth time in eight seasons.
Against The Big Ten
San Diego State is 2-7 all-time vs. the Big Ten with all of the meetings coming against Illinois (0-2), Iowa (0-1), Minnesota (1-1) and Wisconsin (1-3). Through 2007, the only current Big Ten member on the schedule is Ohio State. The Aztecs and Buckeyes are scheduled to meet in 2003 in San Diego and 2005 back in Columbus. The Aztecs have dropped five straight against the Big Ten, dating back to a 48-17 romp over Minnesota in 1993.
Bay Back In Town
Saturday's game marks the return to Columbus for Rick Bay. San Diego State's executive director of athletics and special assistant to the president served as the Ohio State director of athletics from 1984 to 1987. He resigned his Ohio State post rather than fire then-head football coach Earle Bruce.
Other SDSU-OSU Connections
* Ohio State special teams coordinator Ken Conatser served as an assistant coach at San Diego State during the 1984 and '85 seasons. Conaster was in America's Finest City for the final two seasons of Doug Scovil's tenure as the head coach of the Aztecs.
* The Buckeyes have two Californians on their roster. Freshman tailback JaJa Riley is from San Diego and a graduate of Mission Bay High (as is SDSU's starting lineman Mike Houghton) while junior linebacker Jack Tucker, from Cypress, Calif., attended Kennedy High and Cerritos College. No current Aztec players call Ohio home.
* Ohio State women's basketball coach Beth Burns held the same position at San Diego State from 1990-97. Burns, a three-time WAC coach of the year, led the Aztecs to conference championships in three of her final four seasons in San Diego.
Ted Tollner And The Big Ten
San Diego State head coach Ted Tollner is 3-5 all-time vs. the Big Ten with all three wins coming during his tenure at USC. Included in that total was USC's only Rose Bowl win from 1981 to 1989, a 20-17 upset of fifth-ranked Ohio State and Heisman runner-up Keith Byers in the 1985 Rose Bowl.
Scouting The Buckeyes
Ohio State is 3-2 in the Jim Tressel era. The Buckeyes are coming off of a 20-17 loss to Wisconsin. The Buckeyes' other defeat was 13-6 at UCLA on Sept. 22nd. Ohio State has a stingy defense, allowing just 308 yards per game. Johnathan Wells leads the team in rushing, averaging 96 yards per game and 4.7 yards per carry. OSU holds on to the ball for nearly 33 minutes per game.
Roaring 40
San Diego State defensive tackle Jerome Haywood, who has started every game of his three-plus year career, made his 40th consecutive start last week at UNLV. He also had his best statistical game of the season versus the Rebels, posting nine tackles, including five solo stops.
Starting Streaks
In addition to Haywood, three other Aztecs extended double-digit starting streaks in Sin City, including strong guard David Moreno (17 games), safety Will Demps (17 games), cornerback Ricky Sharpe (16 games). Quarterback Lon Sheriff had his 14-game consecutive start streak snapped as Adam Hall made his first career start. It was the first time in since Sept. 9, 2000, versus Illinois that Sheriff was not the Aztecs' starting signal caller.
A Terrific 20
Junior receiver J.R. Tolver and senior wideout Derrick Lewis each extended their consecutive games with a reception streak to 20 versus UNLV. Tolver, the Mountain West's No. 2 receiver in receptions and yards per game, hauled in seven receptions for 54 yards. Lewis finished up with three catches for 14 yards.
Running Man
* Larry Ned may have had his consecutive 100-yard games streak stopped at UNLV last week, but the senior still ranks among the national leaders.
* Ned, who had games of 177, 178 and 285 yards prior to his 46-yard outing versus the Rebels, is averaging 136.2 yards per game to rank 13th nationally and No. 1 in the Mountain West.
* Ned's 640 total yards versus Colorado State, Air Force and Eastern Illinois is the best three-game rushing performance since George Jones ran for a total of 696 yards during a three-game stretch in 1995.
* Ned's 285 yards versus Eastern Illinois stands as the best rushing performance in the nation this season. It is also a Mountain West Conference record and the fourth-best single-game rushing performance in San Diego State history.
Notable Ned Numbers
Though San Diego State has played just six games, Larry Ned is just 77 yards shy of breaking his single-season high for yards of 894 set during the 1999 campaign, Ned is also well on his way to becoming the Aztecs' first 1000-yard rusher since Jonas Lewis gained 1,021 in 1997.
What A Difference A Year Makes
What does a fully healthy Larry Ned mean to SDSU? After struggling with a knee injury early on and later going down for the year with a season-ending shoulder injury, Larry Ned averaged just 2.6 yards per rush during 2000. Now at peak performance and running behind a significantly more experienced line, Ned's production has more than doubled to 5.4 yards per rush and 136.2 yards per game.
He Can Score, Too
* Though he was held out of the endzone at UNLV, Larry Ned continues to be one of the Mountain West Conference's most prolific scorers.
* SDSU's leading scorer, Ned enters the Ohio State game ranked fourth in the MWC and 35th nationally in scoring with 48 points (8.0 ppg).
* Against Eastern Illinois, Ned not only notched a career high in rushing yards, but he also set a career-high in touchdowns with three. Ned's first quarter touchdown run was his sixth of the season and the 27th of his career. The senior added a pair of third-quarter scores for the 28th and 29th touchdowns of his career (No. 7 and 8 of the year).
* Ned has now had at least one rushing touchdown in 4-of-6 games this season and 19-of-32 games in his career. He also has eight games with at least two touchdowns.
* In the SDSU record books, Ned's 174 career points is tied for eighth all-time.
Ned's March Toward History
San Diego State running back Larry continues his ascent up the charts in the Aztec record book. Rushing: Ned's 46 yards last week versus UNLV vaulted him past George Jones (2,810 yards from 1995-96) into third place all-time in career rushing yards. He enters the Ohio State game with 2,830 yards and needs just 14 yards to overtake SDSU's No. 2 all-time rusher, Jonas Lewis (2,843 from 1996-99). Marshall Faulk (1991-93) is San Diego State's career leader in both yards and attempts with 4,589 yards on 766 carries.
Rushing Attempts: With 605 carries, Ned is second all-time at SDSU. He moved past No. 2 Jonas Lewis (589) last week at UNLV
Scoring: Ned also moved into SDSU's top 10 in scoring with 18 points against Eastern Illinois. He enters the UNLV game with 174 career points, tied for eight all-time at SDSU. The senior needs 30 more points to move into a three-way tie for sixth with Art Preston and Paul Hewitt at 204.
More Chart Watching
Two other Aztecs could move into SDSU's all-time top 10 this season:
* With 97 career receptions, wide receiver J.R. Tolver needs 18 catches to tie Webster Slaughter (1984-85) at No. 10 on the Aztecs' career reception list with 122.
* Lon Sheriff could move into the top 10 in total offense, passing yardage and completions by season's end with a repeat performance of 2000, when he connected on 155-of-290 attempts for 2,163 yards. The junior needs to accumulate 1,773 yards of total offense, 1,541 passing yards, and 103 completions, respectively, to move into SDSU's top 10 in each category.
Boom Ball
* Ray Guy Award watch list award candidate Brian Simnjanovski continues to make huge strides as San Diego State's punter. Simnjanovski, who had never punted prior to last season, is averaging 44.6 yards per boot this season to lead the Mountain West Conference and ranks 13th nationally.
* Simnjanovski had another banner outing at UNLV, averaging 43.7 yards on seven punts, including a 57 yarder. Two of the seven kicks died inside the 20-yard line.
* The junior also had solid outings earlier this season at Arizona State and Colorado State, averaging 47.4 yards on eight kicks versus the Sun Devils and 46.8 yards on nine punts against the Rams. Of those 17 punts six traveled over 50 yards. He also showed off his increased skill at the discipline, dropping six of the kicks inside the 20-yard-line.
* Against Air Force, Simnjanovski had only three attempts, but placed two of the three inside the 20.
Clutch Catches
* J.R. Tolver continues to be the Mountain West Conference's most consistent receiver. After leading the league in reception in league games last year averaging 6.57 receptions per game, Tolver is right back near the top of the charts once again.
* San Diego State's leading receiver, Tolver has hauled in 33 catches for 484 yards and the Aztecs only two receiving touchdowns.
* Those numbers account for over 46 percent of SDSU's total aerial yardage and 36 percent of the Aztecs' total number of receptions. They are also nearly triple the Aztecs' next leading receiver, Derrick Lewis (13 catches for 190 yards).
* Tolver owns SDSU's longest pass reception of the season, a 45-yarder versus Eastern Illinois and the Aztecs' lone touchdown receptions of the season (a 40-yard hookup with Lon Sheriff and a 21-yard reception from Adam Hall versus Eastern Illinois).
* After entering the season with just two career 100-yard receiving performances, J.R. Tolver has equaled that feat this season, gaining 127 yards against Air Force and 137 yards versus Eastern Illinois.
Tolver In the Rankings
* Tolver is the MWC's No. 2 receiver in both yards per game (80.7) and receptions per game (5.5). Those figures rank 32nd and 37th nationally.
* In conference games, Tolver tops the chart in receptions with 6.67 per contest. His 88.3 yards receiving per league game ranks No. 4.
Rock-Solid Safety
* San Diego State strong safety Will Demps continues to lead the Mountain West Conference in tackles with 58 on the season, including eight solo stops and two tackles behind the line of scrimmage last week at UNLV.
* Dating to the end of the 2000 season, Demps has averaged 11.2 tackles per game over SDSU's last eight contests.
* Demps showed off another talent the previous week versus Eastern Illinois, snagging his first interception of the year. The pick was the fourth of his career.
Looking Sharpe
* Ricky Sharpe is making a strong bid for all-conference honors at the cornerback position. Tied for the Mountain West's top spot in passes defended with eight, Sharpe has had two games with at least three pass break-ups, busting up a trio of attempts versus both Air Force and Eastern Illinois. The junior also notched his first interception of the season with a fourth-quarter pick versus the EIU.
* Sharpe registered his first double-figure tackle game of the season and just the second of his career against Air Force, making 10 stops versus the Falcons to tie a career high for total tackles.
Can't Keep This Good Man Down
* Butkus Award watch list member Jomar Butler may be struggling with injuries this season, but that still hasn't kept the senior from making his presence felt on the field.
* Butler, who missed the Air Force game and was severely limited last week at UNLV, still ranks second on the team and 12th in the Mountain West Conference in total tackles with 35.
* The senior is also tied for second on the team in tackles for loss (5) and sacks (2).
* Butler has led the Aztecs in total tackles twice this season, recording seven against Eastern Illinois and 10 at Arizona State. He has registered seven double-digit tackle performances in his last 11 starts.
Getting More From Morrison
After making his first career start against Eastern Illinois two weeks ago, middle linebacker Kirk Morrison looked like a seasoned veteran last week at UNLV. The redshirt freshman, who had just six stops versus EIU, tallied a game-high 12 versus the Rebels for his first career double-digit tackle performance.
Sticky Fingers
Cornerback Jeff Shoate may be in just his first year of Division I football, but sophomore-transfer is beginning to develop a knack for interceptions. Shoate, who matriculated at Montana out of high school before transferring back home to attend San Diego State, nabbed his second career interception at UNLV last week. His first came earlier this year at Colorado State.
Kicking Into Gear
Place-kicker Tommy Kirovski may have gotten off to a slow start at SDSU with just one field goal in the first four games of the season, however the junior has been heating up of late. Kirovski's 34-yard field goal at UNLV was a season long and his third in the last two games. He has now connected on 4-of-5 attempts on the year and is a perfect 4-for-4 inside 40 yards.
First Timers
* Quarterback Adam Hall made his first career start at UNLV last week. The sophomore finished up 7-for-15 passing for 51 yards.
* Redshirt freshman linebacker Stephen Larsen also made his first career start versus the Rebels. Starting in place of a banged up Jomar Butler, Larsen collected five tackles.
Gambling On Donte
* Kick return specialist Donte Gamble may fly by the seat of his pants, but the senior has energized SDSU's kick return unit this season. Gamble, who had just five kick off returns in 2000, is averaging 23.7 yards per return this season to rank fifth in the Mountain West.
* Gamble turned in his best return of the season at UNLV last week, returning the Rebels' first kick of the game 61 yards to set up SDSU's lone scoring drive. In all, Gamble averaged 28.5 yards on four returns.
* Against Air Force, Gamble had six returns for 125 yards, including a 38-yard return on the game's opening kickoff.
Just Where Do You Want Me?
Versatile may be the best word to describe San Diego State's Mike Houghton and Sakimo Randall.
* A senior offensive lineman and former walk-on, Houghton continues to show why the Aztec coaching staff considers him to be the squad's most versatile line asset. He entered 2001 with 20 career starts - 13 at tackle and seven at center. The Mission Bay HS product has been on the move once again this season, starting all four of SDSU's games at quick guard. He has now started at least one game at 4-of-5 offensive line positions. The new position apparently agreed with the 6-6, 315-pounder, who graded out above 80 percent in 3-of-4 contests.
* Randall's sojourn has been even more dramatic. The senior tight end, who has made a pair of starts at tight end this season, opened his Aztec career on offense but was moved to defensive tackle during 2000 due to a lack of depth in SDSU's front. He spent the spring of 2001 with the black shirts, but was moved back to the offensive side of the ball when fall camp opened.