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‘AZTECS FOOTBALL-WHAT I SAW-THINK’
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I must have misinterpreted something, misheard the statement, or maybe the Aztecs new head coach lied to me.

Any of that is possible.

But when Sean Lewis kept using the term ‘Aztecs Fast’, I thought he meant his offense.  Maybe he meant his defense.

San Diego State staggered at the start, was trailing, then destroyed Texas AM-Commerce on Saturday night…the (45-14) hammering of the Lions.

So as the weekend finished, SDSU is in first place in the Southland Conference and tied for first place in the Mountain West.  The life of luxury for one week.

Here are my notes as the night progressed.

STAGE FRIGHT:..Freshman QB-Danny O’Neil really shrugged, overthrows, flustered, pocket presence, got rocked.  I thought the play calling should have let him find rhythm throwing to backs, crossing patterns, short passes to tight ends to settle in.  They didn’t till late in the second quarter.  The second half was so different.

OFFENSIVE LINE…They could not handle the early blitz package.  They didn’t run block very well.  They got punched in the mouth much of that first half. And they lost their starting left tackle with a knee injury.

DEFENSE..They were Aztec Fast-everywhere, swarming, storming, gang tackling, and they never gave up relentless pursuit from start to finish.  The defense got there..got there fast…got there in a foul mood.

TOUGHNESS..They got stronger and stronger as the night wore on, and they played with a chip on their shoulder.  It was a nasty night, 31-combined penalties for 273-yards.  Need to tone down the shots on defenseless players.

I TOLD YOU SO..Lewis kept running players in at a frantic tempo…3-snaps in a (;51) span.  I wrote down with 3-minutes left till halftime, the Lions defense was gassed.  They could not run in the secondary, they could not get to O’Neil any longer.  And when they could not keep up the route was on.

BIG PLAYS..Told you so a second time, that big plays would come after big plays.  47-yard TD run.  44-yard TD pass.  Massive chunk plays that allowed them to finish with a (468-180) yard edge in offense and a (73-49) edge in snaps.
When they were done, SDSU had plays of 19-28-29-30-44-47 yards.  Hell, more big plays in one night than we saw in an entire season last fall.

STARS..RB-Marquez Cooper was powerful and explosive enroute to his (223Y) rushing effort.  O’Neil got bolder and better as the second half wore on (214Y-2TD). WR-Louis Brown had (3R-91Y) with a TD bomb.  WR-JaShaun Poke caught 6-balls.  The tight ends were unstoppable in the second half..  The defense had 3-takeaways-4 sacks and were in the Lions backfield all night.  JD Coffey had a pick six-TD return.   CB-Dalesean Staley had an interception TD wiped off the books by a penalty.  The DBs were jumping routes and jumping into the face of the skill players.  No place for the timid.

FANS..The upper deck was 70% empty, and the disappointment to me about fan support in this football community stuns me.  The student body was in full throat with the ‘Show’ putting on its ‘We Will Win Chant’ to start the game.  The fans and the band were better than the first half of the game.

TEAMS..The Lions were coached by former Arena League QB-star Clint Dolezel.  He just needs lots more skill people to match the Texas toughness
his kids brought to the field.  They just ran out of gas.  The Aztecs (Transfer U) had 55-new players  on its opening night roster.  The Texas-Chamber of Commerce roster had 51-transfers on its opening night roster.

WHAT’S NEXT..Enjoy the win, the week in first place in these conferences, because next week Oregon State comes to town.  The Beavers had two running backs combine for (315Y) rushing in their clobber job win over Idaho State in a mismatch route.  The following week the Sean Lewis circus has to go to Cal.

CLOSING COMMENT..Hope this town pays attention to what was on exhibit on Saturday night.  For disenfranchised Chargers fans, maybe you should give this team a look-see.  The Stadium was loud, rocking with just 18,000 on hand.  Imagine what it could be if they put 30,000 hanging from the rafters.  Imagine too if Sean Lewis words about ‘Aztecs Fast’ had meanings to both offense and defense.
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