Time to be a homer for the Mountain West.

Barring a horrific finish, SDSU is in. To realistically advance, we need a 7 or preferably a 6 seed to avoid a 1 or 2 before the Sweet Sixteen. We can defend anyone in the country, but scoring against a balanced top seed would probably require more luck than we've exhibited this year.

Our conference is pretty bad top to bottom, even without the anchor that is San Jose State. Kenpom has us as the 12th rated conference, and we're not real close to anyone above us. (The WCC is the highest rated basketball conference outside the Big 6 this year because no one really sucks.) A 12th rated conference is highly unlikely to have three teams attend the party. So barring a highly unlikely event in Vegas, that leaves Colorado St and Boise. I'd be surprised if anyone watching our games thinks CSU is the better of those two teams.

CSU has the better record, but they played nobody before the conference season began. Top wins were Georgia St (!!!), Colorado, UTEP and New Mexico St. Georgia St and New Mexico St may sneak into the tourney, but as bottom feeders. They also beat Boise on the road, and the Aztecs at home. They have no bad losses, and an experienced lineup. Kenpom has them as the 74th best team in the nation, which is probably more accurate than their RPI at 26.

Boise is definitely the hot team in the conference. They should go to Vegas at 24-7, and with two wins should reach the final at 26-7. They have one bad loss to Loyola Chicago on a neutral site, but that team sits at 155 in Kenpom, which isn't that bad. Boise is up to 38 in Kenpom and 30 in RPI. By the conference finals, those will be closer to 30 and 25. They rebound and defend well and have the only player of the top three teams - Derrick Marks - that can own a game. If they get to the conference final without another loss, it will be very tough to keep them out.

So presuming the 12th rated conference in the country only gets two teams, who will it be? I'd say the key game will be the semis in Vegas. If SDSU beats CSU, I think CSU will be a high seed in the NIT. If CSU wins, the winner of the conference tourney advances, and the other will be one of those teams that has a legitimate beef as to why they didn't get into the NCAAs.

An afterthought ... winning at Vegas this week locks in our tourney invitation as a 7 or higher, which avoids a 1 in the second game. This is a very big game for us if the end game is a return to the Sweet Sixteen.

It might be just me, I'm spoiled by his quality coverage, but did we hear at all
From Ruben this past weekend?

Hoping all is well.
This post was edited on 3/2 9:42 AM by Rickdoerr

Think Narain is suppose to be there? anyone else?

What offense?? No sugar coating this performance. This was an awful offensive performance. There was no flow, no rhythm, no anything. Typical lack of movement, and no one who can penetrate. Hurtful loss.

Now that the coaching staff has been settled has there been any changes in the Grad Assistants

THX

This years team is raking so far, hitting 325 and averaging 8 runs a game. They play USD on Tuesday before a weekend conference series against SJSU

Found out today that Friday's scrimmage will be closed but I still got some good notes and observations out of today.

Today's practice was the first one with actual shoulder pads, making it more physical, but it was still a pretty limited practice in terms of contact. Toward the end of practice, for example, there were two plays on one drive where a defensive lineman got a hand on the quarterback's throwing arm mid-throw, causing the ball to hit the ground each time and end the play. This was not only counterproductive to the flow of practice, but it was also a sign of poor discipline since Rocky Long made it clear that the QBs shouldn't be hit in anyway. So when it happened the second time, this time by DL Noble Hall, coach Osia Lewis stepped in and gave Hall an earful.

Getting a hand on the QB isn't all that bad, but until the team goes into full contact practices starting this Friday, the goal here for the coaches is to instill discipline.

There was another example earlier in practice during 7-on-7s when Jemond Hazely took a blindside hit right as the play was being whistled dead, and Rocky basically yelled at the aggressor, "this isn't even a team period dammit."

I say this just to give you guys a feel about the type of practice it was. You can tell the team is eager to scrimmage.

Today was also the first time we were shown the warrior drill, the session when offensive and defensive players go up against each other while the entire team circles around. The defense lost the overall battle and had to do pushups as punishment. It should be noted that the Mission Hills head coach, along with some recruits including DB WIll Stricklin and TE/LB Justus Te'i, were in attendance so it'd make sense to add a little extra excitement to the practice. FYI, incoming WR Jack Bailey watched all of practice as well.

My tally from the warrior drill:

-Noble Hall and Sergio Phillips split their reps
-WR Chase Favreau won his rep, I'm not sure who he went up against.
-S Kameron Kelly won his reps against Paul Pitts III. Kelly actually knocked Pitts out of the entire circle one rep.
-TE Darryl Richardson lost his reps to LB Ryan Dunn but those battles were pretty even.

QBs

I think Maxwell Smith once again had the best overall day but none of the QBs really stood out too much to be honest. He seems to have the best timing on his throws and definitely connects on more of the tougher, longer routes compared to the rest of the QBs - although there weren't too many of those today at all.

I thought Adam Wood had a better day and so did Nick Bawden.

RBs -

Chase Price doesn't get too much credit as a productive back but I think he deserves some praise for consistently performing at a high level. He's looked great these past two practices and it should be very difficult for the younger guys to steal carries from him this season.

Speaking of the younger backs, Rashaad Penny was just OK today. He had a fumble during a team period later during practice and Jeff Horton wasn't very happy about that. I'll be monitoring Penny closely moving forward to see if fumbling can potentially be an issue.

Marcus Stamps stood out a little bit more today, both during inside and outside runs, I think that having the shoulder pads on today allowed him to loosen up a bit. He also laid a nice smack on walk-on DB Luke Bussey while running out of bounds on a HB toss play - one of the bigger collisions of the day.

PJ Walker isn't one to break many big runs and you can tell he's still learning how to attack the hole and get to the second level at times. Horton pulled him aside a couple times today, letting him know where exactly he should be following his lead blockers.

OL

Joe Salcedo has a chance to be very good as long as he keeps adding strength and mass. SDSU currently has him on the second-team at right tackle, while JuCo transfer Ryan Pope is opposite of Salcedo at left tackle. Physically, Pope is very impressive looking. His lower body is big but his upper body doesn't have much bad weight on him. His biceps are huge for a former basketball player too. There's no reason not to think he can be a starter down the line with the right coaching, especially considering how much eligibility he has. It's worth noting that transfer OL Ryan Krum was in the second unit when Austin Maass went down. Sergio Phillips moved up to the first team at center as well.

Maass' injury was a little weird and it's hard to tell how serious it is. He gave a bad snap to Jake Rodrigues and the next thing I know he's on the ground in pain. I thought it was a right hip problem but Rocky said after practice that it was his lower back.

TE

I think you guys should all be very excited about Brunskill, Richardson and Wells this year. They are all very capable of being productive tight ends. None of them are quite like Gavin Esobar as of now, but as a trio, those three can all play at a high level. I'd be shocked if Horton doesn't take advantage of them more in the offense next season. They have been very reliable through two practices I've watched.

WR

As mentioned earlier, not too many big highlights today in the passing game. The only guy that broke a long catch and run score was Christian Cumberlander during 7-on-7s. He had a long TD on Monday, too, for what it's worth. He's definitely staying on his feet after the catch more this spring, a big improvement.

There was also a cool moment late during practice when the coaches were getting antsy about too much unnecessary contact. Lomax and Holder were blatantly going at each other for a series and talking trash after each play. Lomax held Holder the entire time during one play, but Holder answered back with a (double move) cross over the middle for a big gain on the very next play.

DL

First off, someone who stood out today was ASU transfer Sean O'Grady. He's a very good tackler at the line of scrimmage and should be a capable rotation guy at nose tackle this year. Very good at getting OL hands off of him and finding the ball carrier and getting leverage. That's very important for SDSU because if they can find someone to back up Alex Barrett, then that will allow Christian Heyward to play more at defensive end where he's much more effective.

It's worth noting that Aaron Boesch was taking some reps at standup end today and he looked much more comfortable there than he did as a LB during bowl week practices last season.

LBs

Just in case anybody is wondering about Calvin Munson: even though he doesn't take many reps, he sure is a difference maker when he's on the field.

Looking forward to watching more of the linebacker group next week when full contact should be allowed.

DBs

Another observation I had today was CB Derek Babiash and WAR Fred Trevillion might need to wait to see significant playing time for quite a while but both are very, very fast and instictual players. They haven't shown the best coverage or tackling skills, but both could be big playmakers in two or so seasons.
Na'Im McGee had a very good practice and was frequently colliding with running backs near the line of scrimmage during red zone periods.



This post was edited on 2/25 11:13 PM by RubenMeza

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2377024-maryland-terrapins-students-impress-with-flash-mob-during-showdown-vs-wisconsin

Not bad! Pretty cool.

Confirmed Danny Gonzales will be acting as defensive coordinator this spring, including scrimmages. Rocky will be DC once again during the fall.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

Spring Roster
no updated weights

PDFhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/sdsu/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2014-15/misc_non_event/2015SpringRoster.pdf

spring roster

Will Rivals ever rate Savea or add the 2nd 4* recruit to our national class rankings? Had Savea committed to a P5 team he'd be rated a 5.6 3* but he remains unrated because he committed to SDSU. How much trouble is it to add him and the 2nd 4* recruit to the national database? It would certainly move the Aztecs up the national chart. Frustrating...

Left practice with a lower back injury. Sergio Phillips, Ryan Krum and Arthur Flores played center behind him.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

I'm wondering where he is going to end up in all the runningback competition. In 2016 we only lose Chase, and then we have all the rest come back, unless DJ goes to the NFL. What have you seen of him in practice.

Story on Kwayde Miller and QBs working on fundamental read-option stuff.

Planning to post video and a Q&A with Coach Cooper soon too. I will be allowed at practice again on Wednesday.

https://sandiegostate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1

San Diego State has offered 2016 RB Sean Riley from Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne high. Tony White always recruits a kid or two from that school each year.

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/4028572/highlights/171

I know we still got an open scholarship in this class, just wondering if we're really done on the recruiting front for 2015 or is there room to add an explosive scoring PG like Marcus LoVett? I really liked him and not sure if we just cooled on him or what. He played high school ball out here for three years before he moved out east. I know Cal and Kansas have shown interest lately but have yet to offer him. He would have two years in before a player like Jaylen Hands could potentially show up on campus, so I don't think a commit from Marcus should hurt us much on that front.

His senior year: VIDEO

His junior year: VIDEO

Just got back from practice. Luckily didn't encounter any rain so it was a nice day to watch.

Before I get into it, I can say with confidence that the new coaching additions have definitely sped up the pace of practices. More energy, more whistleblowing, more corrections more player excitement and chemistry with each other. I should also say that since there aren't any pads and little physical contact, I didn't focus too much on the defensive side of the ball today. I'll be able to report more of my thoughts on the defense as spring goes on but for now, there's not much to report.

The biggest note teamwise out of today was I think that the offense will legitimately run the read-option, more so than I thought previously. Whenever they went through individual drills, all the QBs practiced the slow-paced, dragging handoff technique that you always see in read-option offenses. When it came to skellies and live action, SDSU's quarterbacks stuck with the traditional pro-set looks.

Since Jeff Horton isn't looking to completely overhaul the offense, I think it's a good idea to make the QBs slowly get used to the read-option looks so that once the season arrives, they'll be ready to show another dimension/wrinkle. Chapman and Rodrigues looked most comfortable with the handoff technique.

QBs

First off, here's how I'd rank the six QBs today:

Tier I
Maxwell Smith, Christian Chapman
Tier II
Jake Rodrigues, Nick Bawden
Tier III
Adam Wood, Drew Anderson

Chapman is easily the most improved QB of the guys who returned. His patience in the pocket really stood out. He scans the field much, much better and takes just the right amount of time once gets his feet set. He was probably the most accurate passer today too.

Smith is what I expected. Big, strong guy that already seems to have solid timing with the receivers. He was the second most accurate passer of the day but I think he completed more deep balls than the rest of the QBs.

Rodrigues was just average - he's had better days. Had poor accuracy and a lot of his throws were mainly low and uncatchable. Solid scambler and can extend plays but he was just off today. Bawden didn't really show what he's capable of and threw a TON of checkdowns throughout practice so it was a little hard for me to get a feel for him. It's the first practice so I'm sure he'll show more as the practices move on but he was definitely conservative today (perhaps by design).

RBs

This group is just ridiculously deep. Pumphrey and Price both looked great as expected, and Stamps was his typical self too (he'll be more effective when the pads come on). The biggest guy that made an impression today was Rashaad Penny. That shouldn't come as a surprise to you guys. He's the best pure runner in space not named Pumphrey. He also had the most explosive play out of the backfield today on a running back screen, avoiding Pierre Romain than cutting back inside to make Brandon Porter miss for a touchdown up the middle.

It seemed like the RBs and FBs all seemed like reliable pass catchers today too.

WRs

First things first, I can't describe to you how much of different practice is for the wide receivers under Coach Cooper. He's constantly on them and is willing to have them repeat their reps as long as it takes. He runs around, yells, does everything with so much energy and focus and it's easy to see how well the receivers respond to him.

Take Jemond Hazely for example. He's a guy that's always been regarded as a high-level talent below the shoulders and that's about it. He's mistake-prone: running bad routes, running the wrong routes and lining up wrong. Today, during 7-on-7, he jumped off the line early. False starts like that never happen during 7-on-7s, but Hazely doing that is just another example of his issues.

Both Rocky and Hunkie got on Hazely immediately, and like magic, Hazely ran a perfect route on the very next play which just so happened to set up a perfect pass over the middle for another receiver that led to a big gain. Overall I thought Hazely had a solid day.

As I reported earlier, Lloyd Mills will miss spring ball. Who's going to shine now that he's gone? Mikah Holder - no doubt.

Holder is going to be special and I'd be shocked if he isn't. Of course it's just one practice but I've been watching him since his junior year of high school and he just keeps getting better (it's hard to find a ceiling for him). He's the most natural receiver out of the bunch, runs routes very hard and catches everything. He makes it look easy in ways that potential NFL guys I've watched here in the past do. Ezell Ruffin was the only WR I said last spring that had a legitimate shot at the NFL and Holder is the closest to that as it stands now. He's really elusive running his routes and knows how to bait his defender to get him off balance. I haven't gone through the film yet but I'm sure he'll stick out to you guys. With the right quarterback, he'll be an all-conference type guy.

Eric Judge obviously stood out because of his speed and quickness but he didn't make too many highlight grabs today.

I should say that the WR unit is probably the youngest it has been in years but the overall amount of drops from the group was minimal. I'm betting Horton is putting an emphasis on that part of the passing game this year and it's showing. Even the walk-ons did their part and made solid catches.

The best catch of the day was probably Paul Pitts III who ran a streak and caught a pass in the endzone that nobody thought he'd be able to get to and/or reach. His extra gear showed up and I think that trait has been missing ever since he returned from injury earlier in his career.

TE

Really focused on David Wells and Darryl Richardson out of the tight ends so here our my main thoughts. Wells has really worked on his body and has added a lot more muscle. Easily the best he has looked since he arrived. He's also really improved on tracking the ball and attacking it - his biggest knock last season. I don't recall him dropping any balls either.

Richardson is the more dynamic player and he's improved on his route running. He's starting to show more of his athleticism and use it more to his advantage. I think out of all the TEs, he's the guy other teams would have to worry about in terms of yards after the catch. His cuts are very impressive for his size and he's not stiff at all. Speaking of which, he showed of a tough stiff arm today while on the move.

OL

Not much news other than Sergio Phillips looks solid at center and should give Austin Maass a run for his money. Kwayde Miller indeed started at LT today and looked as good as I remember. I talked with Miller afterward and will do a story on him. The most noteworthy thing he mentioned is that if his back acts up again (he's had two surgeries) and he needs surgery again, his career will likely be over. He's not too concerned about it as of now though and he's definitely ready to step up and hold onto the starting job.

Ryan Pope looks good physically but will take him some time since he's still pretty new to football. Coach Schmidt was on him a lot today.

Note: For whatever reason, Paul Rodriguez watched practice today. He was permanently dismissed by Long this winter.

##

On defense the standouts were JJ Whittaker, Trey Lomax and Malik Smith (again, consider today was mainly seven on seven action). It's worth noting that Fred Melifonwu worked a bit with the defensive line today, probably to help prepare him for Cody Galea's role last year as a standup end.

Jake Fely was jogging at practice with Adam Hall today and it's clear that he's added some bad weight to his body. From behind, I honestly thought he was Kenny Galea'i at first glance. He has six months to get back in football shape though, and Hall made him run a bunch of laps today.

Also, there was some emphasis on special teams today, more so than has been the case last fall and spring.

To end practice, Donald Hageman was good from 26, 36 and 46 yards but missed on his two attempts from 51 yards out (one short, the other wide right).

This post was edited on 2/23 8:12 PM by RubenMeza

This post was edited on 2/23 8:15 PM by RubenMeza

Found out some new names added to the roster along with some new numbers today.

QB Maxwell Smith - No. 17
QB Adam Wood - No. 18
OL Ryan Pope - No. 77
WR Curtis Anderson III - No. 97
P Tanner Blain - No. 91
WR Brandon Fitzpatrick - No. 80
LB Jessie Klein - No. 50
OL Ryan Krum - No. 64
WR Michael McCafferty - No. 48
OL Sean O' Grady - No. 53

SDSU offer WR Phillip Patterson

https://twitter.com/JAYHEAD_MARIO5/status/570019402940346370

Rivals - http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Phillip-Patterson-168330

Video - http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2713437/highlights/184448378/v2

He'll miss spring camp.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

The Aztec should go after Charger season ticket holders if they move.

I would have to think if accuracy s the most important thing at QB that Maxwell has an edge he has proven he can toss the ball in the SEC. However if a running QB is important then he might be last on the list. I am very curious to see the young linebackers and what shapes up in the interior oline. I expect a battle royal at wr, but I am guessing the wr will be good size guys adn we will see Wells and Richardson there a lot,as well as the bubble screen. Will you be allowed at all practices Ruben?

Everyone knows about Jake Fely and Alex Barrett missing this spring, but today Rocky said LB/DB Tyler Morris will likely miss camp.

Also, WR Lloyd Mills recently injured himself (probably while weight lifting) and injured his groin. May be significant but too early to tell.

San Diego State's to lose?

Big opportunity for the university and athletic programs on the horizon.

This post was edited on 2/19 8:32 PM by RubenMeza

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-nfl-stadium-20

Just noticed that Pesi Savea as added recently on our LOI list. Looks like we beat some good competition for his commit. Was the timing a result of the recent losses?

THX