Welcome to the eighth piece of our twelve-part series that hopefully makes the dead period go by a bit quicker. These articles aim to provide a detailed look at what each team has done thus far on the recruiting trail and what work still needs to be put in before NLI day in February. One team a day will be featured this year in alphabetical order. Today will look at San Diego State.
San Diego State:
San Diego State was boasting a new-look offense and were expected to be one of the top teams in the conference and potentially even compete for a conference championship. Instead, they put together their worst campaign since 2009. After beating Ohio and Idaho State to begin the year, the Aztecs suffered four straight losses, including two in conference play. They rebounded to beat Hawaii, but then had another four-game losing streak, including an embarrassing one to Nevada in which they went scoreless. Somehow, they beat Fresno State with one of their best games of the season, but it was too little, too late. An announcement was made that Brady Hoke would be retiring and SDSU was at a crossroads to end the season.
Sean Lewis was hired shortly after, and he kept most of the recruiting class intact and then had a great few weeks leading up to signing day, putting together a very strong class. Read why below.
The Road So Far:
San Diego State signed 25 players in the December signing period, the highest in the conference aside from Air Force. 16 play on offense, while 9 are coming to play defense. As usually, most of the signees come from California, although not as much as usual with 10 players this cycle. They also dipped into Washington, Arizona, Texas, Indiana, and even American Samoa. This class was a heavier than normal on transfers once Coach Lewis came in, with 9 plus a junior college player. The other ten are from high school.
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Starting with the offense, they signed both a high schooler, Danny O’Neil, and transfer, AJ Duffy, and both are talented enough to assume the starting role. Similar things hold true at running back where it’s hard to say who is more talented, Anthony McMillian, or Cincere Rhaney. The wide receiver room features a trio of talented but different high school players. Will Cianfrini possesses height and great hands, Isaiah Buxton is dynamic and can make big plays while Ben Scolari had a very productive high school career as someone who can do a bit of everything. This doesn’t even count the two transfers at the position, Nate Bennett and Ja’Shaun Poke. It’s safe to say the WR room will be very different next season. A similar influx of talent occurs at tight end, where Arthur Ban and Ryan Wolfer both have great size and Gabe Garretson from junior college will bring the experience. The offensive line boasts four signees, two high schoolers and two transfers. Kai Holec is as solid as they come for future tackles, while Saipale Fuimaono will be a bit raw as he adjusts to playing stateside. To help bridge the gap, transfers Brayden Bryant and Nate Williams are being brought in to play early.
Jumping over to the defense, Kodi Cornelius and transfer Marlem Louis will man the interior of the defensive line in both the immediate and not-too-distant future. Meanwhile, Ryan Gaea will play on the edge and has the prototypical size for that spot. Danny Niu is a quick linebacker, but the real focus by the coaching staff was defensive back, where they added six players. Prince Williams and Tayten Beyer should have no issue at the corner spots while the crown jewel of this class, Jason Mitchell II can play anywhere in the secondary but might thrive in the Aztec position if they continue that scheme. A trio of transfers fills out the defense, with Bryce Phillips, Zach Morris, and William Nimmo Jr all likely being penciled in for immediate playing time at different spots in the secondary.
Number who signed in December: 26
Number who will enroll early: 11
247 Composite Rankings:
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Overall: 81st
Recruiting: 79th
Transfer: 74th
The Road Ahead:
Top Targets Remaining: EDGE, LB
San Diego State did some tremendous work in the class of 2024, but some work still remains. They currently have one of the best classes in the Mountain West thanks to their work over the course of the year and the past few weeks, and have a nice balance of talented transfers and now look to finish things off.
There are a few positions that the Aztecs can add to between now and February, even though the bulk of the work is done. The offense is pretty much complete, although the team likely wouldn’t say no if the right transfer player at any position came along. However, the Aztecs are short on edge rushers in this class so far. Good defenses can never have enough players getting after the quarterback, so look for them to add one, or maybe two EDGE players in the transfer portal. Likewise, the class is noticeably light on linebackers and adding either a high school player or a transfer makes sense.
All in all, San Diego State has assembled a great class so far. While they do need additions to finish off the class, there is nothing wrong with the 25 signees at this point. The 2024 version of the Aztecs should be much improved from what was seen in 2023.
Boaters off San Diego on Saturday witnessed a rarely seen spectacle involving killer whales, or orcas, that are more comonly encountered much farther south in Mexico.
“Who needs SeaWorld when the greatest Orca show in the world is in the WILD!” Domenic Biagini, owner of Gone Whale Watching San Diego, exclaimed via Instagram.
The accomapnying footage, captured by the company’s Erica Sackrison, shows one orca ambushing a dolphin from below, sending the stunned mammal flying while launching at least 20 feet above the surface.
The Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas (ETPs), only show a few times a year off San Diego and it’s almost always to hunt common dolphins, which are abundant off Southern California.
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Biagini explained that the day’s excitement began with the sighting of a surface-feeding humpback whale and hundreds of dolphins.
Then, in the distance, dolphins began to stampede in a panic. A crewman noticed a splash from a larger mammal, indicating that a killer whale hunting party was present.
“Our initial thought was that a Humpback had done something surface active; when suddenly the unmistakeable shape of a Killer Whale exploded into the air!” Biagini wrote.
The orca in the footage is a previous visitor nicknamed Top Notch, because of distinctive markings. Biagini joked that Top Notch was “channeling his inner ‘Top Gun’ by rocketing 20-plus feet into the air in pursuit of a common dolphin breakfast.”
SAN DIEGO, CA — The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a boat carrying 36 people who were attempting to enter the country illegally on Saturday, military officials said.
The crew aboard the Coast Guard’s Sea Otter spotted the 33-foot boat about seven nautical miles off Point Loma. It was operating without navigation lights, officials said.
“The Sea Otter’s boarding team, along with members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection boarded the vessel and discovered the 37 migrants aboard,” the Coast Guard said in a release.
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The 37 people were taken to the Ballast Point Coast Guard base before being transferred to Customs and Border Protection, officials said.
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Of those people, 30 were Mexican nationals, two were Salvadoran, three were Guatemalan, and one was Colombian. The operator of the boat was a U.S. citizen, officials said.
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Three thoughts after San Diego State’s 41-20 loss to Utah State on Saturday afternoon at Maverik Stadium.
1. Historically slow starts
Slow starts have plagued SDSU’s “AztecFAST” offense. The Aztecs have not scored on their opening drive in any of their 11 games this season.
Only three times have they had a drive of more than five plays. The shortest possession was two weeks ago, when quarterback Danny O’Neil was intercepted on the second play.
Only twice have they had a drive of more than 20 yards. Both of those possessions ended with the ball turned over on downs following failed fourth-down plays.
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Eight possessions ended with punts. Average drive: five plays, 16 yards.
The opening-drive drought looked like it was going to end against the Aggies. SDSU reached the red zone in four plays. O’Neil, who has been slowed by a knee injury most of the season, made the biggest play with his legs. A 34-yard rush up the middle marks his longest carry of the season.
There was something else unusual about the drive — it included three passes to tight end Mikey Harrison, who had not been targeted that many times in eight of 10 games, let alone one drive, this season.
SDSU had a first-and-goal at the 10-yard line, then moved back 10 yards because of a holding penalty. Two passes advanced the ball to the 2-yard line. Running back Marquez Cooper got one yard on third-and-2. On fourth down, O’Neil threw a screen pass to Harrison that lost three yards.
And the Aztecs came up empty. Again.
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“(O’Neil) got us off to a good start,” SDSU coach Sean Lewis said. “Obviously, we didn’t finish down there at the goal line. Again, that’s been an Achilles’ heel for us, to be able to punch the ball in in those short-yardage situations.
“We’ve got to do a better job there as we continue to move forward.”
Saturday night’s game against Air Force represents the last chance for the Aztecs to score on their first possession. In an online search dating back 25 years, SDSU never went an entire season without scoring on its opening drive.
2. Flags flying
The Aztecs are a game away from being the most penalized team in the nation, a distinction they currently share with Mountain West peer New Mexico.
Both schools have been whistled for 103 penalties, an average of 9.4 per game.
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It all began with 16 infractions in the season opener against Texas A&M-Commerce. There have been eight or nine penalties in five games this season, with SDSU avoiding double digits since making 12 penalties in Week 3 at Cal.
Then came another dozen at Utah State. Included were five false starts, something that usually works itself out well before this stage of the season.
“A majority of them were on the offensive line, where we’ve been banged up,” Lewis said of a unit where half a dozen players have been hobbled. “There’s a lot of people there playing in different spots as we’re rolling through it. So, again, there’s got to be continuity, there’s got to be consistency within that group up front, so that you can have confidence that you can play together.
“When there’s any sort of doubt … it leads to hesitation. When you’re playing hesitant and you’re not playing confident, you’re not tied together.”
It was the fourth time this season SDSU has been penalized more than 100 yards in a game. UTSA (945 penalty yards) is the only team in the country with more penalty yards than the Aztecs (933).
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3. ‘We aren’t doing our jobs’
Cooper was in no mood to celebrate after the game, despite becoming the 23rd player in NCAA history to go over 5,000 career rushing yards.
The Aztecs squandering a 13-point lead and allowing 41 unanswered points had something to do with that.
“I can’t be jumping with joy because we just got whooped,” Cooper said after the game.
With less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter, Utah State was being being shut out. Somehow, the Aggies had a 14-13 lead at halftime. They added four more TDs after intermission to win convincingly.
What changed?
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“They didn’t do anything differently, honestly,” said Cooper, adding, “Guys got to do their jobs. We aren’t doing our jobs. That’s been the case all season long. The coaches tell us something, and we’ll do the opposite thing. That’s unfortunate. It isn’t the coaches’ fault. It’s 100 percent on the players. We’ve got to do our job.”
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