San Diego State
San Diego State

San Diego State Team Report

Updated: April 25, 2012 08:28 EST

The Aztecs may not yet be where coach Rocky Long wants them to be in terms of their physical presence. But they've traveled quite a distance from the finesse team they were dubbed as during most of last decade.

SDSU completed its spring session with an answer to one big question, a plan to address another and a continuance in transformation to a tough football team. The team held one of its scrimmages in the midst of a thunder and hail storm. Its top two quarterbacks combined to complete 7 of 31 passes and just one touchdown.

"I thought this was perfect," Long told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "In fact, when it was hailing or whatever it was, I wish that would've been like that the whole day. You've got to learn how to play when things aren't right. Around here, our weather is so nice, we hardly ever get to practice in something like that."

Something far more concerning to the SDSU program was how to replace four-year starting quarterback Ryan Lindley and two-time Mountain West rushing king Ronnie Hillman. Both left for the NFL (Hillman early), leaving the Aztecs two huge holes to fill.

The Aztecs, coming off back-to-back winning seasons with bowl games attached, may have found Lindley's replacement in Ryan Katz, a senior transfer from Oregon State. He was the starter there until he suffered a wrist injury and never got back in the lineup, even after he was healthy.

SDSU will have to use the committee approach to replace Hillman, who was able to leave after his sophomore season because he had been out of high school three years to satisfy NFL criteria for early entrance in the draft.

Sophomore Adam Muema and freshmen Chase Price, Brandon Wright and De'Saan Hardwick shared the load in the spring while senior Walter Kazee sat out with a knee injury.

Defensively, the big question mark is on the line, where the Aztecs lost five of their six top players and sophomore Dontrell Onuoha is suspended indefinitely for an off-field incident. SDSU also lost key contributors in OLB Miles Burris and CB Larry Parker, but Long likes his depth in the back end.

The key for the Aztecs could be how all the new pieces at critical positions mesh in time for the 2012 season.

--Starting DL Dontrell Onuoha has been suspended from the team after being booked on felony charges in late March. The charges stem from a Sept. 25 beating near the SDSU campus. The victim suffered an orbital fracture in his right eye. Onuoha was allowed to practice during the spring because charges had not yet been filed against him. He was on the first-team defensive line.

--According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, a San Diego jury has awarded former Aztecs DL Eric Ikonne $300,000 for past and future pain and suffering as a result of his collapse during a team workout in 2009. He sued a hospital and the doctor who treated him after his collapse. The doctor was found liable. Then-SDSU coach Brady Hoke said he and his staff were not aware that Ikonne carried the Sickle Cell trait.

--Army tried to get out of the return game with the Aztecs, but SDSU couldn't find a replacement, so the game will go on as scheduled on Sept. 8 at Qualcomm Stadium.

SPRING MOVERS:

LT Bryce Quigley -- After starting 10 games as a blocking tight end in 2011, he put on 25 pounds to get up to 280 and was one of the more impressive performers on the offensive line during spring camp.

WR Tim Vizzi -- The junior walk-on from Ventura College is the Aztecs' version of New England's Wes Welker. Vizzi is listed at 5-foot-10, 180 pounds but kept making plays during every SDSU scrimmage -- including a 36-yarder for the game's only score in the Red-Black spring game.

DE Frederick Trujillo -- He quit football last season because of a lingering back injury. Apparently, it stopped lingering. Trujillo, a senior, rejoined the program during the offseason and has elevated himself to a starting job. Aztecs coaches are hoping he can add a few more pounds to his 230-pound frame to make him more durable in the fall.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "The biggest challenge is replacing a quarterback that has been starter around here for four years and the last two years he has been very successful. The key to any offense is the quarterback. I think we have some talent at that position and I think we have a little experience at that position. I don't see it as a huge problem. I also think we have four or five really good young running backs in the program. Now I am not saying that they are Ronnie Hillman, but maybe three or four of them together can have the same production as Ronnie. That would be better because they are sharing the carries and they don't have the chance to get beat up or hurt as much."-- San Diego State coach Rocky Long.

2012 OUTLOOK: The Aztecs have a lot of question marks after losing a lot of key players from their back-to-back bowl teams of 2010 and 2011. But they seem to have found at least some potential answers. Oregon State transfer Ryan Katz will take over for four-year starter Ryan Lindley at QB, and the defense is trying to become a little more stout against the run. The Aztecs might need a couple of weeks to find their groove, but they should be able to contend for a Mountain West postseason berth in 2012.

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: The rushing game is suspect because of the loss of Ronnie Hillman as well as the fact that none of the five starters in 2011 practiced in the spring. Three graduated from the program and C Alec Johnson and OG Nick Embarnate were injured and could not play. That allowed the SDSU defense to dominate most of the team drills during spring camp. But new starting QB Ryan Katz should be a suitable replacement for Lindley, and the Aztecs have a star in WR Brice Butler. The team should be in a position to put points on the board.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: A strong showing by several LBs on this unit could help the SDSU defensive line that was decimated by injuries and a suspension to sophomore Dontrell Onuoha. CB Leon McFadden returns as the unit's most recognizable figure, but coach Rocky Long's defenses usually thrive more when he has multiple players who can make plays. SDSU got strong contributions from junior LB Jacob Driver and sophomore LB Josh Gavert that should help improve a defense that ranked just 78th against the rush last season by giving up 169.5 yards per game.

SCOUTING THE SPECIAL TEAMS: The Aztecs are starting over at both punter and kicker. Sophomore P Joel Alesi ended spring ball atop the depth chart, as did redshirt freshman K Zach Douglas. The returners still are up in the air.

TOP NEWCOMERS:

WR Brice Butler -- He gives the Aztecs the deep threat they used to have when Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson both started for the team in 2010. Butler, a transfer from USC who can play immediately because he graduated early, will have one year of eligibility remaining. He looked the part of a big-play receiver during spring practice, but he tore his labrum midway through. Because this is his last year, he has opted not to have surgery and to play through it.

QB Ryan Katz -- Was looking for a place to compete after losing his starting job at Oregon State when he suffered an injury. Katz, like Butler, graduated early and now has one year to give to the Aztecs. He is still technically battling sophomore Adam Dingwell for the starting job, but it should be Katz's to lose after the performance he had during the spring.

S Darius Guillory and S Tony Bell -- Both freshmen had strong springs, bolstering the secondary. Their emergence is critical to the success of the defense, which benefits from the use of fresh bodies to keep the Aztecs in attack mode.

ROSTER REPORT:

--RB Dillon Baxter, who transferred from USC at mid-semester, already has been dismissed from the team. Originally, a variety of incidents led coach Rocky Long to suspend him during spring practice, but Baxter then was forced out of the program entirely after a couple more weeks.

--TE Bryce Quigley moved to LT and thrived during spring ball, earning a shot to start in the fall at the most important position on the line.

--Other players who missed spring practice include RB Walter Kazee (knee), LB Rob Andrews (foot), NG Sam Meredith (shoulder) and DE Jordan Thomas (Achilles heel).

--WR Brice Butler, a transfer from USC, tore his labrum during spring practice but will not undergo surgery to repair it.

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