Aug. 2, 2004
Below is part I of a two-part season preview on the 2004 San Diego State football team. Today's story will focus on the team's offense, while the Aztec defensive preview will follow Tuesday afternoon.
The momentum that has been building within the San Diego State football program over the last two years is now more than theory - even to the most casual of observers. In fact, the Aztecs enter 2004 on a bit of a roll.
San Diego State won three of its last four games to close 2003 and then, for the second straight year, produced a recruiting class ranked as the best in the conference and among the very best among all non-BCS teams.
When the squad hits the practice field in August, it will do so with 17 returning starters and 45 returning lettermen from a team that finished 6-6 a year ago, ending SDSU's record streak of four straight losing seasons.
And for the first time under Tom Craft, the Aztecs will take the field with expectations.
Craft's first team (2002) finished third in the Mountain West Conference after being picked to finish dead last in the league.
Craft's second team (2003) was picked to finish seventh in the conference and once again ended the year in the upper division with a fourth-place finish. SDSU has flourished while removed from the spotlight.
However, Craft's third team will not be so lucky. Eight starters return from a defensive unit that finished the year eighth nationally in total defense and tied with national champion LSU for the fewest offensive touchdowns allowed in 2003 at 17. It was a unit that held second-ranked Ohio State without an offensive touchdown and allowed just one of its final three 2003 opponents to cross the goal line. Six of the back seven defenders return intact and athleticism is waiting in the wings up front.
Eight starters also return on offense, including a stable of running backs rarely assembled on Montezuma Mesa, a receiving corps that returns virtually in tact and an experienced quarterback being pushed by talented underclassmen. Up front, SDSU returns two of its starting linemen, a redshirt class that has drawn rave reviews for the past year and on the way are two junior-college All-America offensive linemen.
San Diego State returns a first-team All-America selection in linebacker Kirk Morrison, the reigning Mountain West defensive player of the year. And SDSU returns the Mountain West's leading tackler in linebacker Matt McCoy.
SDSU also welcomes back a 1,000-yard rusher for the first time since 1998. That rusher is Lynell Hamilton, who was named a first-team freshman All-American by two national media outlets and is just the second freshman in Mountain West history to be named first-team all-conference.
For Tom Craft, who won three national championships at Palomar College, new expectations are all part of the process as he continues to rebuild his alma mater.
"Expectations have gone up for a variety of reasons," Craft said. "Our recruiting efforts are the foundation of the program. But we have a lot of returning players, including all-conference players. The student-athletes we have in the program make us a player in the upper echelon of this league."
Under Tom Craft, SDSU has had a high-powered offense (the 2002 squad finished fifth nationally in passing offense and was the fourth most improved offense in the country) and a stingy defense (the 2003 defense may have been the best in SDSU history and was the nation's most improved). However, 2004 may mark the first time that quality will take the field on both sides of the ball.
"We will have more balance, as an offensive unit and in relation to our offensive and defensive football teams," Craft said. "That improvement should allow us to have a reasonable amount of success.
"I also think you will continue to see the evolution of our special teams as we continue to add young, talented players."
How tangible that success will be remains to be seen. San Diego State faces a difficult schedule. The season opens at home with a game against first-time opponent Idaho State. Following an open date, the Aztecs play for 10 straight weeks, including non-conference road contests at defending Big Ten champion Michigan and at the Rose Bowl against UCLA, a team which SDSU has never beaten. A home date with Nevada on Sept. 25, slips in between the Michigan and UCLA games and comes before the team's conference-opener on Oct. 9 at Wyoming.
"The Mountain West Conference continues to improve," Craft said. "Utah has lot of people back from a championship team and New Mexico seems to improve every season.
"Our first conference home game is against a Colorado State team that always has a chance to win the league," he added. "We haven't beaten Brigham Young since I've been here and Air Force is one of the most consistent teams in the country."
Craft thinks UNLV is the league's sleeper team in '04 and he sees in Wyoming the same improvement that his own squad has been making.
"The league is improving but we have some balance now that should allow us to compete for another upper-division finish and a bowl game."
The following is a position-by-position look at the Aztecs's offense heading into the 2004 season.
San Diego State's entire offensive philosophy changed on the first possession of the 2003 season when senior quarterback Adam Hall suffered an ankle injury. Although he would return later in the year (only to be eventually sidelined by a finger injury), the "Air Craft" attack that ripped the Mountain West in 2002 was dramatically altered during its first set of downs in 2003.
Suddenly Matt Dlugolecki's year of observing Hall execute Tom Craft's offense was over. He was forced into the starter's role and would play more downs and attempt more passes than Hall. And unlike the previous season when Hall had a pair of future NFL receivers awaiting his tosses, the Illinois transfer was surrounded by inexperience everywhere: at tight end, flanker, wide receiver and in the backfield. He was handing the ball off to a true-freshman running back whose season would also end prematurely.
Predictably, San Diego State was not the same offensive team in 2003. But the trials and tribulations of a year ago smoothed out as the season progressed. The Aztecs went on to finish 6-6 and took fourth in the MWC. And eight starters return off of that offense.
"We are a better team for having gone through some of those growing pains last season," Craft said. "Matt Dlugolecki is now an experienced quarterback with a proven running back in Lynell Hamilton. Our receiving corps returns almost intact and we have a couple of redshirt freshmen that I expect will contribute very early. We have more size up front."
Offensive Line
Tackle: SDSU returns its best offensive lineman in Oceanside's Mike Kracalik. The two-year starter has grown into a tantalizing NFL prospect and his second-team all-conference status of a year ago is sure to be upgraded. In 2004, he will move from the right tackle to left tackle. He is a proven commodity and joins center Jasper Harvey as a returning starter up front.
Kracalik's backup will be redshirt freshman Will Robinson. He is an athletic but inexperienced lineman who traveled with the team throughout 2003 but the staff was able to keep him off the field and preserve his redshirt season. Robinson is still growing but his quick feet will pay dividends early.
On the other side of the offensive line things are considerably different. The right tackle position is wide open. The starting candidates include transfer Robert Nelson, all 6-10, 350 pounds of him, and redshirt freshman Mike Kravetz, the starter entering camp.
SDSU will no doubt be more athletic up front than it has been in recent history. But at right tackle, experience will be missing in action.
The Bottom Line: San Diego State is replacing an all-conference tackle in Brendan Darby but also returns its best player up front in Mike Kracalik. Robert Nelson is inexperienced, but the coaching staff can hardly contain its enthusiasm regarding his potential. Kravetz will be in the hunt.
Guard: The Aztecs will replace two starters at guard where Shawn Dickie and Gerald Sykes have graduated. There is guarded optimism, however, that both spots could see an upgrade. In February, San Diego State signed two of the nation's top 20 junior-college players in Palomar's Chris Pino and Taylor Schmidt. Craft plans for both newcomers to get looks at guard in the fall and both Pino and Schmidt are listed on the pre-camp depth chart.
Also in the hunt inside are Brandyn Dombrowski, the pre-camp starter, and Nephi Penerosa. Dombrowski is another member of the redshirt freshman class who will be seeing his first varsity action. Penerosa is a sophomore with little playing time under his belt. However, both players are expected to contribute and push the community-college arrivals. Sophomore Patrick Justman is also listed as a starter entering fall camp.
"As a unit, we are bigger than we have been, more athletic than we have been and we have more depth," Craft said. "We will work hard to establish our starters early in camp to give them as much time together as possible before the opener."
The Bottom Line: There are job openings at guard but the Aztec staff is quietly confident in the abilities of the players auditioning for starting roles.
Center: San Diego State welcomes back an experienced starter at center in junior Jasper Harvey, a member of the Rimington Award preseason watch list. He joins Kracalik as the only other returning starter in the offensive front and his intelligence, as much as his athleticism is key for a youthful front wall.
Harvey has been a starter for the better part of two seasons and he is just entering his junior season. However, the experience disappears when looking at the depth chart.
Justman, a spot player last season, is listed behind Harvey on the depth chart. He is an intelligent player but has yet to play a down at center at the NCAA Division I level.
The Bottom Line: The Aztecs should be stronger here thanks to the return of Harvey and Justman's ability to spell him when needed.
Tight End: Tom Craft has been patiently waiting on the tight end to become a bigger part of the Aztec attack and with a returning starter back for his senior season and one of the headliners of the 2004 recruiting class joining the fray in the fall, the time may be now.
Senior Jeremy Justice is the returning starter at tight end. He was solid but not spectacular in that role in his first year on campus. A nagging knee injury that forced him into late-season surgery, however, could have been to blame. The athletic Justice finished sixth on the team with 17 catches, while the remaining tight ends tallied only three catches. The tight ends did not score a touchdown in 2003.
New to the team in 2004 will be freshman Lance Louis, a highly-touted prepster whose final college choices came down to San Diego State and Miami, Fla. Louis is listed second on the depth chart entering fall camp and the feeling is that he has the size and strength to be an immediate contributor.
"We think Lance will be a player this fall," Craft said. "But I expect big things from Jeremy Justice. Sometimes it takes a year and the knee really played a part last season."
The Bottom Line: This position will also see an improvement from a year ago. Justice is the senior and has the talent to become a star in the Mountain West. Louis is the future and his athleticism could make him the first recruit from the 2004 class to have an impact.
Receivers
A year ago, San Diego State entered the season trying to replace the record-setting duo of J.R. Tolver and Kassim Osgood. The players doing the replacing had virtually no experience and even fewer career receptions.
In 2004, nearly the entire receiving corps is back in the fold. They are bigger, stronger, smarter and will have some help from the redshirt freshmen.
"We will be much better at receiver," Craft said. "This unit was really hurt when we started parading quarterbacks in and out of the lineup."
Slot: The coaching staff made a move in the spring when Devin Pitts moved inside to the slot after spending most of 2003 as a flanker. He is a great target at 6-3, has good hands and his speed is dangerous anywhere on the field.
"Devin has the ability to play inside or outside," Craft said. "He can go over the middle or he can go deep. We like what he brings to the table at the slot."
Pitts was second on the team last season with 39 catches. His two touchdowns also ranked second.
Backing up the senior will be junior Robert Ortiz. The ever-developing former walkon finished third last season with 33 catches and caught a pass in every game except for the opener. Oritz caught 27 passes over the last five games of the season and his development is likely to continue in '04.
Look for redshirt freshman Brett Swain to make a contribution inside as well. He arrived in '03 ready to play and it was all the coaching staff could do to keep him on the redshirt list.
The Bottom Line: With a returning starter and one of the key reserves returning to the position, chalk up the slot as another position in which San Diego State will be better this season.
Flanker: No one looks the part of a receiver more than Wesley Williams. After redshirting his first season on campus, Williams became a contributor last year with 19 catches for 196 yards. He scored the lone offensive touchdown of the game in San Diego State's 16-13 loss at No. 2 Ohio State. In 2004, Williams will likely be the starting flanker. He has the size to cause matchup problems and he is physical enough to be a big-play threat. The San Diego State coaches expect a big season from Williams.
Listed second on the depth chart is Chazeray Schilens, while Pitts could see some time at his old position if warranted.
The Bottom Line: As in all areas of the receiving game, San Diego State expects to be improved at flanker in 2004 with an experienced and talented Williams ready to break loose.
Wide Receiver: The Aztecs return another starter at wide receiver in honorable mention all-conference wideout Jeff Webb. The La Quinta junior was fourth in the conference last year with 5.5 catches per game and he led State with 55 catches for 706 yards. Those totals would have been even better if he had not missed the final two games due to a shoulder injury suffered early in the game at UNLV.
Webb torched Brigham Young last season with 10 catches for 253 yards and three touchdowns. He is likely to be SDSU's big-play threat at receiver in 2004.
Webb's understudy is newcomer Marcus Edwards. The South Florida transfer was a heavily-decorated prepster in the Florida high school ranks. He spent last season on the scout squad during his transfer season but he had a strong spring and will see the field early and often.
The Bottom Line: Another returning starter with a talented backup should again mean an improvement over last season for the Aztecs.
Running Back
There are many coaches across America that would love to have San Diego State's problems at running back.
The squad returns a first-team freshman All-America and a first-team all-conference selection in sophomore Lynell Hamilton. He rushed for 1,087 yards in less than 10 full games in 2003 and is expected to be fully recovered from the season-ending ankle injury he suffered at UNLV.
Also returning in the backfield is Michael Franklin. The New Orleans junior stepped in when Hamilton went down and responded with a pair of 100-yard rushing games to close the season. While Hamilton is power and balance, Franklin is stop-and-start quick with surprising strength. His role will probably grow in 2004 instead of diminish as the coaches experiment with ways to get him the ball.
The new kid on the block is redshirt freshman Brandon Bornes. He has eye-catching size at 6-1, 230, with sprinter's speed and a bruising style. He roughed up the defense enough during the spring that the coaches began playing with the idea of two-back sets, something SDSU has only unveiled in short-yardage situations in the past.
"We are extremely deep at running back," said Craft in a mild understatement. "Each player brings something different to the table and it is up to the coaching staff to find ways to get these players the ball."
Franklin and Bornes are sure to be utilized in the kicking game as well as in the offense.
Hamilton averaged nearly 24 carries per game as a true freshman so don't look for him in the return game. However, all of the top three running backs will likely see their receptions totals climb this fall.
The Bottom Line: The offensive backfield will be as good as it has been at SDSU in years. It is probably the deepest position on the squad.
Quarterback
After two years, Tom Craft probably has his ideal situation at quarterback. An experienced starter is back in the form of Matt Dlugolecki, a promising redshirt freshman is waiting in the wings in Kevin O'Connell, and a true freshman arrives in the fall with a chance to move up quickly. His name is Darren Mougey and he already looks the part.
"We have a great situation in that we have two quarterbacks in Matt and Kevin who have a better grasp than Matt did when he was forced to play last season," Craft said. "All three of these guys have some skills."
"I am not afraid to share this position between two or three players throughout fall camp and heading into the first game," Craft said. "I want to give it some time to sort itself out. We won't make a premature decision and then second-guess ourselves four games into the year."
Dlugolecki was forced into duty almost from the opening whistle in 2003 and had a bit of an up-and-down season. But he finished strong and closed the year with a flawless performance in the 24-3 win over Air Force. The former Illinois signee completed nearly 58 percent of his passes and had 24 more attempts than Adam Hall.
"Matt is a lot more comfortable now and it shows in his presence in the pocket," said Craft, a former Aztec quarterback. "I think you'll see a big difference in him this fall as compared to last year."
O'Connell is a big quarterback with some athletic ability and he made giant strides during the spring. He lacks only experience.
Mougey was rated among the top 20 combo quarterbacks in America last year and the former Arizona prep star will be given a long look in the fall. If he grasps the offense early, he may be hard to keep off the field.
The Aztecs have all kinds of options at quarterback and the coaching staff is very comfortable in the three-way competition. A year ago, SDSU's quarterbacks rotated due to injury. This season, the changing of the guard could be by design.
The Bottom Line: Look for San Diego State to put its most balanced offensive team on the field certainly since Tom Craft's arrival and probably several years prior to that. SDSU is experienced at receiver, running back, tight end and in some regards at quarterback. The offensive line will be a little green but there has been a definite infusion of talent and size. It has been a while since SDSU entered a season with this many weapons.