With the possibility of still making the
postseason a reality, the San Diego State Aztecs try their luck this week
against sixth-ranked TCU in a Mountain West Conference clash at Qualcomm
Stadium.
Under the direction of first-year head coach Brady Hoke, the Aztecs had some
trouble in the early going this season with three loses in four tries, but the
squad has reversed its fortunes and has won two straight and three of the last
four heading into a tough stretch of games.
On Saturday San Diego State was tested, but still managed to keep New Mexico
winless on the season by posting a 23-20 win at home.
"A win is good to have, and to get a league win and get it at home, is
important," said coach Hoke after the triumph. "How you do it sometimes is
something that can be a little scary and this one was a little scary.
With four games still remaining on the schedule the thought of making it to a
postseason bowl is not completely out of the question for the Aztecs, but two
of those games come against nationally-ranked MWC members in TCU and Utah.
With four wins this season, SDSU has now matched or exceeded the program's win
totals from each of the last three seasons.
As for the Horned Frogs, still sixth in the BCS Rankings, they've won 10
straight games dating back to last season. Sporting the fourth-longest win
streak in the nation this week, TCU has outscored the last three opponents by
a combined 123-13 score, thanks in part to a 41-0 romp over a hapless UNLV
squad.
A year ago TCU posted a 41-7 victory at home in Fort Worth, a week after the
team was demoralized by second-ranked Oklahoma in Norman, 35-10. TCU now leads
the all-time series by a count of 4-0.
"We are excited about the win," said head coach Gary Patterson after the Frogs
dismissed UNLV rather easily. "I liked the way we did things. For some reason,
we keep turning the ball over early in the game at home, which I wish we would
get over. I like the shutout thats hard to do, and now its time to get ready
for San Diego State."
Getting ready for the Aztecs might not be as hard as coach Patterson lets on,
especially with how well Andy Dalton has been playing for TCU this season.
Against the Rebels, the quarterback converted 12-of-21 passes for 178 yards
and three touchdowns but, more importantly, the TCU running game appeared as a
finely-tuned machine with 390 yards on 48 attempts.
The defense for the Horned Frogs, now ranked first in the entire nation with
just 235.8 ypg allowed, mystified the Rebels at every turn over the weekend,
limiting the visitors to just 118 yards on the ground and a pitiful 42 yards
passing. Twice this season TCU has held an opponent to less than 60 yards
passing, but the other foe was run-happy Air Force, which is why the effort
against UNLV was so much more impressive.
"It feels really good to pitch a shutout against a talented UNLV team that has
a lot of offensive talent," said TCU safety Tejay Johnson after the triumph.
"I think our defensive line deserves a lot of the credit because their
quarterbacks didn't get a chance to pass much with the pressure that we were
able to have."
Now ranked second in the conference and sixth in the country, the pass defense
for the Horned Frogs is giving up a mere 146.4 ypg and the run defense checks
in as the top unit in the MWC and eighth in the country with a mere 89.4 ypg
allowed.
From an offensive standpoint, Dalton is making this team move with his 63.1
percent accuracy and 14 touchdowns, against just three interceptions on 187
attempts. However, opposing teams will still focus on trying to stop one of
the most aggressive and well-rounded run attacks in the country, one that is
averaging 233.4 ypg (seventh nationally) and has already generated 20 scores.
Joseph Turner has done the most damage with his 499 yards and eight TDs, but
TCU's run game is so much more than Turner because there are four players with
at least 297 yards on the ground thus far, which means a team like San Diego
State has to plan for quite a number of sets.
The SDSU offense stalled in the first quarter of the meeting with New Mexico
last weekend, but then the team came up big when it counted, with Ryan Lindley
hitting DeMarco Sampson with the game-winning touchdown pass. The quarterback
finished the contest 22-of-38 for 253 yards and three touchdowns, which means
the signal-caller has now tossed an astounding 12 TDs in the last three
outings. Just as important, Lindley has also now gone beyond the 2,000-yard
passing plateau for the season, making him the first SDSU QB in more than a
decade to have back-to-back seasons of at least 2,000 yards through the air.
Also having a strong second half to the season is Sampson who has seven
touchdown catches in the last three outings as well.
"DeMarco [Sampson] really is just turning into a force and I don't know
anything else you could say," Lindley made mention after the UNLV win. "He's a
mismatch. They double-teamed him in the end zone. We still put it up and he
got [it]. That's just the kind of plays he makes. It's exciting when you've
got a guy like that on your team."
While the passing attack has been reaching new heights in recent weeks, the
running game for the Aztecs has been slumping over and over again. Now, after
eight games, the squad ranks second-to-last among all 120 FBS programs with a
mere 66.5 ypg on the ground. Yet, as bad as the run game has been for the
Aztecs, the fact remains that the team is still a respectable fifth in the
conference in scoring with 26.3 ppg.
Limiting a team like New Mexico to just 20 points really isn't that much of a
feat these days, seeing as how the Lobos are still winless this season and
have tallied more than 20 points only one other time in 2009. At this point
the Aztecs have a scoring defense that is ranked sixth in the conference and
78th nationally with 26.9 ppg allowed. Against opponents like TCU and Utah, an
effort such as that will be put to the test and likely exceeded by those foes.
Although he's made just 19 tackles over the course of his eight games this
season, a player like Leon McFadden is someone that the Horned Frogs have to
be aware of, given that he has an interception and a pair of blocked kicks
this year.
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