SAN DIEGO- Controlling the line of scrimmage against Oregon St. will be the deciding factor come Saturday night. The Aztecs will look to contain a heavy Beaver run game that ran for 362 yards last week against the Idaho State Bengals.
The Bengals ran a 3-3-5 against the Beavers and found little to no success getting push with a three-man front. SDSU runs a 4-2-5 and will hope to plug more gaps and take away running lanes from the Oregon St. running backs Jamious Griffen and Anthony Hankerson.
The Beavers find most of their success in their two tight end personnel, running a mixture of inside and outside zones with a run-pass-option (RPO) attached.
Defensive back Deshawn McCuin will be vital in this week’s matchup. McCuin plays the stud position for the Aztecs, which provides an extra man in coverage and also an extra body in the run game. The stud will need to be disciplined while defending the RPO. Plenty of open field tackling opportunities will be present and need to be made to contain the two headed monster in the backfield.
SDSU ran lots of man coverage last week and it should be seen just as much this week. Man coverage is effective against the RPO, but makes the box weaker. Expect plenty of disguised coverages as well as rolling coverages to the RPO side.
Oregon St. quarterback Gevani McCoy only had ten passing attempts last week which mainly came from play action concepts. Taking away the run game will also take away the play action, forcing McCoy to sit in the pocket and make reads.
Offensively, the Aztecs fast offense should provide some challenges to the Beavers. Athletes can only practice against tempo so much, facing it in a game situation at game speed is a whole different animal.
Texas A&M Commerce came out the gate last week in plenty of cover one and cover zero looks, sending blitzes at true freshman quarterback Danny O’Neil in an attempt to make him as uncomfortable as possible in the pocket. Expect the same from an Oregon St. defense that had two sacks and four tackles for loss last week.
In response to the one-on-one matchups that SDSU saw last week, lots of deep balls were thrown early but were unsuccessful. Offensive coordinator Sean Lewis adjusted at half, scheming more man beaters and rub routes to increase O’Neil’s confidence and open the offense up.
The same formula should be followed in Saturday’s matchup to force the Oregon St defense to respect the passing game and open the running game. Oregon St. will definitely be game planning for running back Marquez Cooper after his performance last week. A defense can game plan all they want- they still need to stop him.
The Aztecs will need to find their groove much earlier this game against a better Oregon St. defense. Taking what the Beavers give them in the air and establishing the run game as early as possible will be crucial in Saturday night’s game.
The two teams will go head-to-head on Saturday, Sept 7 at Snapdragon stadium at 7:30 p.m.
