“Aztecs Football-Finishing Strong”

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San Diego State has spent the fall trying to solve all of its internal problems.

The quarterback mess created by injuries.
An offensiv eline force fed thru some painful times
A coaching change at the Offensive Coordinators desk
Important of a new QB-coach
And the decision to go back to a QB who was 5th ont he depth chart.

The Aztecs are finishing on an upbeat note, headed to a Bowl game, and finding a QB for next season.

But the wreckage of the start, the transfer of a blue chip quarterback, the injury to the starting quarterback, and the fact that fans have quit coming to games at Snapdragon Stadium, has really impacedt what had been a good run by SDSU football.

They play at lowly New Mexico on Friday and close out the season the following weekend with Air Force, then have a December bowl game.

A mixed bag of questions and answers at Brady Hoke’s weekly press conference:
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Brady Hoke

..Complete victory last week
..Team really came togethers from 2nd quarter on
..We beat a really good San Jose defensive front
..Jaylen Maden had a really good day
..We are hitting big plays with him
..Would still like to rush for 200-yards in a game
..Gave up 119-yards in 9-drives on defense
..We had 5-sacks and 9-tackles for losses
..Our special teams have become gratifying
..That 95-yard kickoff return by Byrd ignited the team
..Jack Browning’s 2-field goals continues strong trend
..Full team effort
..Short week for us to play on Friday

..Maden biggest jump-complete handling of the offense
..Handle the huddle-presents the play call to huddle
..His composure is really something to make him successful

..Offense come together-passing offense-lots of components
..Defensive changes moving Caden McDonald to outside linebacker big impact
..We are getting turnovers-making plays
..Never one guys makes you good or bad team…we seem complete
..Jeff Horton’s age factor and experience has helped us grow
..Ryan Lindley-coach who played the position-experience is huge
..What he learned in Cleveland in NFL has made him even better
..The Lindley-Maden relationship has grown too-together so much
..We have an agreement Lindley will come back and coach next year
..Talked to Jeff Horton about staying on Off Coordinator
..Horton is different personality-brings so much expertise

..Since bye week-young players growing up
..There is a standard of performance young guys learning about
..We have a good group of young guys who will be playing
..Our young offensive line is now growing

..As head coach-crossing 100-win threshold
..I learned so much from experiences we have had in last couple of years
..I learned from Lloyd Carr-Gary Moeller-Dan Simrell at Michigan-Toledo
..You never know if you are ready..Ball State gave me the chance
..What I have learned at SDSU dealing with all the issues-made me better

Recruiting QBs is so hard because the NIL is now linked to the portal
NIL…paying players 28,000 each at some schools
NIL needs boundaries-guidelines-regulations
The NCAA does not want to regulate it
Want federal government to recommend guidelines

Getting QBs into MWC…NIL is part of recruiting
Worry about what we are teaching kids
Don’t you have to stay and fight rather than leave
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(Jordan Byrd)-RB

1st I hear being 1st player to have TD run-catch-return in a season
We always have motivation to play-brotherhood-we have come together
Never lost confidence despite start
Hard to adjust to different roles-not be the guy but want tok do all types of things
They have given me opportunity to show my wares in lots of roles
95-yard KR-TD…saw on jumbotron no one was going to tackle me
Streaking the sideline-when I see space make defender make choice
Coaches practiced us on certain returns-confidence with my blockers
Blessing playing at Snapdragon..it is a kick
Playing at Carson was so hard
Being home is special
Boise has the best home stadium advantage in the conference-we want that advantage.

(Caden McDonald)

We have grown as a team-young guys feeling more comfortable thru tough year
As a whole-we took on challenge of playing San Jose defense more physical
Seeing Rocky Long on other sideline feels strange this Friday
He is a great coach-great man
Tell my teammates…about returning next year…Pray about it..ask God about it..Quit listening to noise
If you love the game-stay…it’s hard work-crap-hard work but worth it
I tell players if you go to NFL you could be 1-play away from losing your job

We have a huge home field advantage at Snapdragon
Real connection with the fans
It feels so good
Being here for 6-years at SDSU-I have learned so much
It is remarkable to be in the program around good people in my career
I would like to play in the NFL
Would be a dream
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