The San Diego State football team (1-1, 0-0 Mountain West) suffered one of its toughest losses in recent memory when they gave up a 21-7 lead to then-No. 21 University of North Carolina. SDSU eventually fell 31-27.
The Aztecs got last week off and will now head to Corvallis, Oregon to face off against the Oregon State University Beavers (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) — serving as a rematch to the 34-30 loss the Aztecs suffered just last year.
The overall series between these two teams is tied at 2-2, but let’s take a look at how both squads stack up against each other this year.
OFFENSE
To make matters worse after the tragic loss to UNC, it was discovered that senior wide receiever Ezell Ruffin — who led the team in receiving last year— broke his collarbone, and is expected to miss six to eight weeks.
“You think about those guys like Jake (Fely) and Ezell (Ruffin) and how bad they want to be out there, it makes you want to work harder,” senior fullback Adam Roberts said.
Losing Ruffin for any amount of time takes out a huge factor of the SDSU offense, but the game plan is expected to remain the same as the Aztecs will look to feed sophomore running back Donnel Pumphrey the ball early and often.
“Our game plan every week is that we want to be able to run the ball, our offense is built on running the ball,” Roberts said.
Senior quarterback Quinn Kaehler threw for a career-high 341 yards against UNC. But he also threw three interceptions, one of which went for a touchdown. If you remember last year, Kaehler also threw a pick-six against Oregon State, which ended up being the deciding factor of the game.
For Oregon State, it’s all about senior quarterback Sean Mannion, who tore up the SDSU defense last year.
“He’s able to deliver the ball from the pocket better than most other quarterbacks I’ve seen,” Roberts said.
The Beavers also have a presence in the running game thanks to a dual threat consisting of sophomore running back Stormy Woods and senior running back Terron Ward, both of whom are averaging more than six yards a carry this season.
Edge: Beavers
DEFENSE
The Aztecs defense will have its hands full this week going up against one of the most experienced quarterbacks in all of college football, Mannion, who threw for more than 300 yards and had three touchdowns in last year’s meeting.
“He’s a great quarterback with great pocket presence, it will be our job to get after him and get back in coverage,” safeties coach Danny Gonzales said.
Last week the defense went up against one of the more dynamic quarterbacks in the country in junior Marquise Williams of UNC who beat SDSU with his feet and his arm. They now face Mannion who is more of a traditional pocket passer.
“We don’t really ever change our style,” Gonzales said. “We’re going to come after him and blitz him; we believe we can get pressure on the quarterback.”
The Beavers barely snuffed out a win against the University of Hawaii last week, a game in which they gave up 30 points.
Their defense has given up six touchdowns this year, all of which have been rushing. This is good news for a SDSU team that predicates itself on running the ball and has two talented backs in Pumphrey and junior Chase Price.
When these two teams met last year, the Beavers collected six sacks and two interceptions, compared to just one sack and no interceptions for SDSU.
“If we get to (Mannion) before he throws the ball then it will show up on the stat sheet, but either way we need to put pressure on him and make him feel uncomfortable,” said Gonzales.
Edge: Aztecs
PREDICTION
The key to this game will be whether or not Donell Pumphrey is able to exploit a weak Oregon State run defense. Kaehler will also need to find a new favorite target, possibly sophomore wide receiver Eric Judge. Yes, Mannion is of the best quarterbacks in college football, but Oregon State’s inability to stop the run automatically makes the Aztecs the favorite.
SDSU 35 – Oregon State 32
