Tie third, San Diego State

San Diego State

August 28, 2006

2005 record: 5-7

2005 MWC record: 4-4

Predicted record: 8-4

Predicted bowl: New Mexico Bowl, Aztecs vs. Nevada

Head coach: Chuck Long, first

Last bowl appearance: 1998 Las Vegas Bowl, lost to North Carolina 20-13.

QUARTERBACK: One reason former offensive coordinator Chuck Long decided to accept the job at San Diego State over other opportunities he’s considered was the talent returning to the Aztecs roster. Long praised former head coach Tom Craf for his recruiting efforts the last four years. There is no better sign of Long trying to build on what he inherited than the unusual step of Long keeping Craf’s son, quarterback Kevin Craft, on the roster. Usually new head coaches run off players considered loyal to the former head coach and in rare cases rosters with relatives of the head coach. Junior Kevin O’Connell returns of his second full season as as a starter after taking over as the starter late in in his redshirt freshman season in 2004. Craft, now in his second season, earned the backup job over highly touted 2004 recruit Darrin Mougey.

RUNNING BACK: Lynell Hamilton, a freshman All-American in 2003, had mixed results in his comeback from missing the 2004 season with a severe ankle injury. But he still managed 819 yards after gaining 1,087 as a freshman. Hamilton was the victim o undersized offensive linemen, but he still managed 100-yard games in wins over Utah and Colorado State. Long wants to balance the offense and will use a fullback as a blocking back to create more emphasis on the run. Hamilton has a talented backup in junior Brandon Bornes. Hamilton and Bornes are power backs and Atiyyah Henderson is the scatback option.

RECEIVERS: The Aztecs have recruited some talented wide receivers that may be ready for the some breakthrough seasons now that Jeff Webb has graduated to the NFL. The cast of tall receivers starts with junior Chaz Shiliens and Brett Swain, two players who turned down Pac-10 schools for the Aztecs. Swain scored on an 80-yard touchdown catch and run against Ohio State. Other promising receivers with NFL size are sophomore Marcus Montgomery, DeAndre Sampson and redshirt freshman Roberto Wallace, but Sampson and Wallace were injured in fall camp. The Aztecs expected to be strong at tight end, but two juniors who split time the past two seasons, Eric Miclot and Lance Luis, both suffered season-ending knee injuries in spring ball.

OFFENSIVE LINE: No position has held the Aztecs back from their quest to advance to a bowl game more than the offensive line. There has been some talent, but there hasn’t been enough size for the Aztecs to hold up week in and week out in a balanced conference. Two junior college transfers, Peter Manuma and David Hathaway, and a true freshman, Hawaiian Whitley Fehoko, could evolve into starters. That will improve the size but not the experience. The only returning starter, Brandon Dombrowksi, missed most of spring ball with an injury and is a backup to open the season to Nick Smith. Pat Justman moves to center. Will Robinson and Mike Kravetz are the tackles and Mike Schmidt at guard could be the surprise story of the season.

DEFENSIVE LINE: Defense may be able to carry the Aztecs like no other year in recent seasons. SDSU features three returning starters in the trenches with senior tackle Jonathan Bailes, junior end Antwan Applewhite and junior end Nick Osborn. Osborn was foreced to play tackle last year, but he can move outside to his natural position this year. Applewhite was honorable mention last year. With improved depth this year, the other tackle position will be filled by Oman Nwansi.

LINEBACKERS: Linebackers have been the strength of the Aztecs in recent years and that’s still the case despite three linebacker being drafted in the last two years. Russell Allen and Joe Martin were stating outside linebackers who return. Martin, honorable mention a year ago, will move to middle linebacker with the graduation to the NFL of Freddie Keiaho. That opens a starting position outside for Andrew Schantz, but there is still depth with junior Brett Mar6in and redshirt freshman Luke Laolagi.

SECONDARY: The Aztecs return three starters and two honorable mention picks in the secondary. Senior strong safety Reggie Grigsby and senior cornerback Terrell Maze were honorable mention. Donny Baker, another returning senior starter, and Maze considered nearly in equal in talent, although Maze eanrned conference recognition. It will be a veteran secondary as senior Brett Sturm, a high school quzarterback who converted to safety, takes over at free safety. He had an interception for a touchdown last year in a win over San Jose State.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Both junior kickers are returning from impressive sophomore seasons with punter Michael Hughes, an honorable mention and place-kicker Garrett Palmer. The Aztecs haven’t had a strong return game in recent seasons.