By Dan HayesAssistant Sports Editor
Editor’s note: This is the second of a five-part seriesspotlighting one of several key Aztecs who was lost for the seasonbecause of injury.
There was a brief period of time this season that you could seehim all over the football field. However, a freak accident cut hisseason short.
Literally.
It was just a few days after Akbar Gbaja-Biamila had his owncoming out party against Arizona State. In just his third careerstart, Gbaja-Biamila had seven tackles including two for losses andone sack.
More importantly, he motivated his teammates.
“I was fired up,” Gbaja-Biamila said. “That’s the kind of role Iwanted to play.”
But before he got another chance to step on the field again, hisseason was over. As he was riding his bicycle home from practice withteammate J.R. Tolver, Gbaja-Biamila’s back tire blew out, forcing himoff the sidewalk and onto the street. As he landed, his pedal camedown on his left foot, severing his Achilles tendon and ending hisseason.
Immediatelythe impact was felt throughout the team.
“The negative was that he had some versatility because he couldplay end and tackle,” said defensive coordinator Ken Delgado. “We hadto make some hard decisions on what we were going to do with ourpersonnel.”
Instead of having Gbaja-Biamila penciled in at end, Delgado nowwas faced with the prospect of playing guys who had no experience inan Aztecs uniform. Sophomores Ryan Iata, Amon Arnold and juniorcollege transfer Andrew Brigham would now be counted upon to takeover.
Jerome Haywood, the team’s only returning full-time starter, alsofelt the impact of Gbaja-Biamila’s injury. Instead of facingone-on-one match-ups, he now sees double and triple-teams. To boot,the injury meant Haywood was the only lineman with any true playingtime.
“We lost some of our experience,” Haywood said. “But as for me, Iwas crippled a little bit because when he was playing, he wasproducing a lot. (ASU) couldn’t focus as much on me.”
Without Gbaja-Biamila, the inexperienced line immediatelystruggled. The following week against Illinois, the Aztecs allowedtwo 100-yard rushing performances in a 49-13 blowout. The line hasalso struggled to pressure opposing quarterbacks, accounting for just10 of the team’s 15 sacks.
Coming into the season there had been serious questions aboutSDSU’s defense.
And why not? The team had a new defensive coordinator in Delgadoand 10 players were getting their shots at becoming full-timestarters.
One area of concern was the defensive line, which had lost threestarters: Gbaja-Biamila, Antwone Young and Scottie Nicholson.
SDSU coaches had been hoping that Gbaja-Biamila was ready to stepinto the starting lineup. After all, he had been on the varsity squadfor three years and had already logged two starts. “I had talked toCoach (Ted) Tollner and he told me it was time to grow up,”Gbaja-Biamila said. “I had been here for three years and hadn’tplayed a whole lot. I’ve worked harder in summers before, but thisone I worked out mentally harder than I’ve ever done before.”
The ASU performance had to bring a sigh of relief to coaches whowere desperately looking for another leader on the line to complimentHaywood.
“He came out and looked as good as his brother did,” Nicholsonsaid, who is now a student assistant defensive line coach. “He had alot of mistakes, but to have that type of game coming out … itlooked like he was going to be something special for us this year.”
As for his return, Gbaja-Biamila is facing a big challenge. Hewill have one year remaining if he graduates in May, and another yearif he gets a medical redshirt. Even so, the rehabilitation processwill take six to nine months and could be career ending.
“The injury is so frustrating,” Gbaja-Biamila said. “I’m almostthinking of retirement. It’s so frustrating to go out to practice andgames and not be able to do anything. I can’t wait to get back on thefield and play.”
Now the only place you can catch Gbaja-Biamila’s antics are at SanDiego State men’s basketball games cheering on his roommate, SDSUguard Al Faux.
He is teeming with so much Aztecs pride that Fox Sports shouldconsider getting him a microphone on him for their ‘Sounds of theGame’ segment.
“I’ve never been a vocal guy,” Gbaja-Biamila said. “But I do getcaught up in the moment.”
