The San Diego State Aztecs are a quarter into their first season under new head coach Sean Lewis.

They are sitting at 1-2 going into their bye week. The extra time off will allow SDSU’s staff to evaluate key areas and attempt to correct glaring issues.

“Obviously, some things that need to be cleaned as we go forward with it,” Lewis explained at his weekly press conference on Monday. “Bright spots that need to be magnified and multiplied. But again, the self-inflicted wounds, kind of the story and theme of the year thus far, we have to rectify those wrongs so we can be in a better position to control the controllable.”

Three games in, the newly touted Aztec Fast offense has been in the slow lane. It can’t seem to make the necessary lane changes to get into the fast lane. Along with the offensive struggles, there has been an avalanche of flags over the first three games, 39 total for 349 yards, to be exact.

The offense had a seesaw first game where they failed to get anything going in the first half but had a great second half where they scored four touchdowns to get their first win under Lewis. The team struggled with 16 penalties in the first game, and that pattern flowed into the next two losses as well.

After a 21-0 loss at home against Oregon State, the team hit the road for the first time this season and headed upstate to play Cal. Danny O’Neil earned the starting job at quarterback but suffered an injury in the team’s loss against the Beavers. Javance Tupou’ata-Johnson filled in for the true freshman. The defense again played with physicality but could only bend and not break for so long before giving up 24 points in the second half in the team’s 31-10 loss.

Entering the bye week, Lewis and his staff will be busy evaluating positions such as O-line, quarterback, and more as they prepare the whole team for the remainder of the season. The Aztecs have nine games left, five away and four at Snapdragon Stadium. The next opponent, Central Michigan, is the farthest the squad will travel this season.

The team’s three main areas of focus this bye week are mental mistakes, quarterback play, and stopping the run. SDSU’s schedule sets up well for them this season. After this bye week, the Aztecs play the second quarter of their season before another off week. What happens over the next three contests will determine the shape of the second bye.

Mental Mistakes

In all three games, an abundance of penalties and other mental errors have been a cancer to the overall success of the team. It started in week one when they were penalized 16 times.

The next week against Oregon State the same problems occurred. Mental errors on offense, such as missed blocks and miscommunication on play calls, led to SDSU being shut out. Last Saturday, against Cal, the team continued the trend with 15 penalties and an interception return for a touchdown, which was called back for a block in the back.

“There are lessons to be learned through all of it,” Lewis described as what the film showed with penalties. “The ones that are completely in our control, where our emotions are getting the better of us, our lack of situational understanding, there’s great lessons to be learned from that and well grow from those lessons, and as we move forward, the number of penalties will go down and well put ourselves in a better position to be successful.”

This bye week will be a good time for the team to catch its breath and review what exactly has been going wrong in this area of the game. If they can eliminate half of the mental errors, they can set themselves up for success in the coming weeks.

They now have three games worth of film to review for longer than a typical week. This team has a new coaching staff, a mesh of players, and new systems on both sides of the ball. The game experience should allow the players to make improvements during the time off.

If they fail to take advantage of this bye week and the mental errors continue, their confidence could be hindered. It could affect them as they get into Mountain West play with back-to-back games against Hawaii on October 5 and Wyoming on October 12.

Quarterback

The offense has many areas that can be improved. Chief among them is the O-line playing with better consistency. Another focus should be taking advantage of opportunities given by the defense.

“Doing the basic things at an elite level and making the routine a routine,” Lewis alluded to what he can do for the offense this week to set them up for the rest of the season. “Identification on the front, being on the same page communication-wise, making sure that our guys have a clear and concise understanding of the conceptual calls so that when calls are being made, they’re seeing it the same way that we are coaching it and then when the opportunities present themselves we do that.”

On August 19, O’Neil was officially named the starting quarterback and won his debut on The Mesa against TAMCU. Despite a rocky first half of that game, he picked it up in the second half, and his starting position didn’t seem to waver even after a shut-out loss the next week until an injury limited him. With O’Neil’s injury, his ability to compete for the job was up in the air until Lewis’ press conference on Monday.

“He’ll be good,” Lewis revealed of O’Neil’s availability to practice. “He’ll be able to get good reps this week.”

Now, with the bye week and film from Tupou’ata-Johnson in a game this season, the coaching staff has plenty of time to evaluate the position and make sure they put forward the quarterback that can give them the best chance to win games.

Through the first two games, O’Neil was 33 for 57 with 321 yards and two touchdowns. Until a fumble on the goalline in week two, he had not turned the ball over and has yet to throw an interception. Tupou’ata-Johnson struggled against a tough Cal defense as he went 13 for 29 for 156 yards and one touchdown.

Both players have their advantages. O’Neil has great knowledge of the game and takes calculated risks. Tupou’ata-Johnson has the upper hand with athleticism and can make the throws needed.

The coaching staff will use this week to see who they want to move forward with and prepare the offense for their next opponent.

Stopping the run

The Aztecs’ defense has been helping the team hang around in the last two losses. With that being said, they are not without their faults.

In both contests, the defense gave up over 200 rushing yards, Oregon State mustered 237, and Cal a staggering 275. The Beavers and Bears found success on the ground by attacking the EDGE.

Eric Schmidt and Lewis could take advantage of the bye week by scheming to counter what the offenses have been able to do. In a game where technology is a weapon, teams now have the blueprint on how to strike against the Red and Black.

One way they can counter that is by keeping up their level of physicality from start to finish. They have done well to set the tone early but let up as games have progressed.

“I think it’s important to instill a message into their offense,” Trey White said postgame against Cal. “We’re going to be on them all day from the jump, so I feel like that kind of changes their game plan, so the quarterback is not going to sit there and dink and dunk all day when we have pressure coming at him.”

White, who was voted a captain, has had a stellar year. He has accumulated 15 total tackles (second on the team), three sacks (leads the team) and one forced fumble. But, there were moments against Cal where he did not hold up well at the point of attack. It led to big runs.

Opponents have rushed 127 times against SDSU. Before the defeat at Cal, the EDGE had done a good job containing the run, as no rushes had gone for more than 20 yards. In the Cal game, though, two different Cal players had rushes of over 50 yards. RB Jaivian Thomas had a long of 57 yards, and RB Kadarius Calloway had a long of 60 yards.

The main focus for EDGE coach Rob Aurich should be how to counter those rushing attacks against his position group.  If SDSU can slow down the opponents’ rushing attack, it would force them to throw the ball against a hard-hitting talented secondary.

The next game will be another road trip for Lewis and his squad. They will face Central Michigan, who is 1-2 going into a game this Saturday against Ball State.

Coming out of the bye week, the Aztecs could look like a refreshed team if they address certain areas. If not, they could continue to struggle through the rest of the season. Only time will tell.

Johnny Olivieri

Johnny is born and raised in San Diego and a diehard fan of all his hometown teams. He is an avid collector of sports memorabilia that help paint a picture of the history of sports in San Diego. He spends a lot of his time attending sports games across San Diego county and enjoys studying the history and spreading knowledge of San Diego’s diverse sports.