Nothing like an old-fashioned beat-down to a lowly team to realize just how big a rebuilding project is ahead of you. San Diego State's 34-20 setback at Idaho, a team the Aztecs crushed a year ago, was unfortunately a display of just how much work first-year coach Brady Hoke has ahead of him -- and us fans.
When I wrote my reaction piece last week after the win over Southern Utah, I was not pleased with how the team looked and hoped that game was an anomaly, that the game effort the previous week at UCLA would be more the rule. No such luck. If anything, the Thunderbirds gave a quality coaching staff at Idaho -- and the coaches of the remaining nine opponents, I fear -- a lesson in how to beat the Aztecs: they can be manhandled at the line of scrimmage and the quarterback will have no problem connecting on short passes. That the Vandals stretched the definition of short passes to longer than 15 yards on too many occasions was very distressing.
When Tom Craft took over at the helm earlier this decade, he went into the Kibbie Dome and lost 38-34, a mistake-prone disaster marked by poor effort and SDSU still had a chance to win. This year, the Vandals throttled SDSU's running game, allowed just one long pass completion, mostly kept their QB upright and were able to move the ball on the ground. Idaho simply beat up the Aztecs physically and there never was a chance to win. As bad as that first loss to Idaho was, this was worse.
Here's a quick rundown of the problems I see:
1. Hoke immediately put the offensive line on a program to lose weight. That they did, but they have not had time to take the next step, which is to build those bodies back up the right way. They couldn't get any push on SUU or Idaho. They might be able to match up with New Mexico State in a couple weeks, but the Aztecs won't average 100 yards rushing in the Mountain West. In fact, if they run for more than 100 yards against more than one MWC opponent, I'll be stunned. This is no indictment of Hoke or the kids. They did what they felt they had to do. It's just that it takes time to tear down and rebuild the bodies of these big guys. Next year will be a different story and kids will have playing experience.
2. QB Ryan Lindley clearly is close enough to WR Vincent Brown to consider marriage, but he and his other receivers are still not on the same page after three outings. It's the first year of coordinator Al Borges' offense, and the growing pains are evident.
3. Just as there are growing pains on offense, the defense is struggling as badly. For a defense built around putting heat on the passer, both QBs the past two weeks have looked far too comfortable. That puts pressure on a young secondary that we knew wouldn't be very good, and isn't.
The news isn't all bad, however. In fact, Idaho can be a bit of a guiding light. The Vandals are in the third year of coach Rob Akey's regime, and you can see a team that is much improved over 2008. They beat NMSU handily in Las Cruces and, by all accounts, played well in Seattle in falling to Washington -- which just beat USC. I don't know how many games they'll win this year, but they're better than they have been.
The Aztecs will be better, too, when the coaching staff gets farther along in building the linemen's bodies, installing their systems and recruiting to their styles of play. It doesn't happen overnight in most circumstances and it won't in this case.
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