Let’s finish up our previews of the San Diego State Aztecs by looking at the defense which Nico Iamaleava, Wayne Knight and the Bruins will be up against tomorrow night. First-year defensive coordinator Demetrius Sumler will be calling the Aztec defense tomorrow night, and he is using a 4-2-5 base defense.
Looking at the list of Aztec starters from last week and this week’s SDSU depth chart, it seems like SDSU will play four true defensive linemen, two linebackers, and five defensive backs. It doesn’t appear that the Aztecs will employ any kind of hybrid position like a lot of other defenses have chosen to employ. Of course, without studying hours worth of film, that’s not guaranteed and it also doesn’t mean that SDSU might not call a defensive play where, for instance, one of the edge rushers falls off into pass coverage. That could happen. Of course, if it does, it will result in a weaker pass rush and should equate to more time for Nico to find an open receiver or a chance to take off.
Let’s look at San Diego State’s defensive personnel.
Defensive Line
All four starting defensive linemen for the Aztecs are seniors. On the inside, Malachi Finau and Gavriel Lightfoot will start as the defensive tackles. Lightfoot was third on the team in tackles last week with six. He also had a TFL and a QB hurry while Finau registered just one tackle as well as a QB hurry. On the outside of the defensive line, Brady Nassar will start as the Field Edge while either Kai Wallin or Djibril Rahman will get the start as the Rush Edge.
Nassar only registered a quarterback hurry last week while his backup Nate Henrich had SDSU’s only sack last week along with a quarterback hurry. On the other side, Wallin only made one tackle and he had a quarterback hurry. Rahman’s only stat from last week was a QB hurry.
Linebackers
Senior Will linebacker Sione Hall joined the Aztecs this year after spending last season at Weber State and the previous three seasons at Boston College. He led SDSU in tackles last week with 11. He will be backed up by junior Cameron Cooper, who had six tackles last week.
Senior Tano Letuli will start at the Sam/Mike linebacker spot. Letuli was second on the team in tackles last week with seven. Sophomore Dean Harrington will back him up. While Harrington did play last week, he did not record any defensive statistics.
Secondary
Moving to the secondary, Mike Lindsay will start at right corner. The sophomore is a transfer who joined SDSU from Idaho State this year. In his Aztec debut, he made two tackles and intercepted a pass. His backup is Caleb Ricks, who made four tackles last week in addition to breaking up a pass.
On the left side, senior Jelani Whitmore will start and he will be backed up by senior Carsten Mamaril and sophomore Jamison Starks. Whitmore made three tackles against Portland State. Mamaril added six tackles, and while Starks did play, he didn’t records any stats last week.
Senior Josh Hunter is the starting free safety, and he made three tackles last week. Junior Isaiah Green, who made a tackle, picked off a pass and broke one up, will back Hunter up.
The starting strong safety, which SDSU sometimes calls the Bullet, will be sophomore Jelani McLaughlin. Senior Max Garrison and true freshman Tainoa Lave will come off the bench. Last week, McLaughlin made five tackles, broke up a pass and blocked a punt. Lave made one tackle last week while Garrison played but didn’t register any stats.
Finally, senior Josiah Cox will be the starting nickel. Cox made six tackles and had a quarterback hurry last week. When he’s not on the field, expect to see junior Jalen Thomeson. Thomeson made four tackles last week.
Outlook
After watching UCLA’s running game last week, I really like how the Bruin offense should match up against the Aztecs’ six-man defensive front. Having that fifth DB on the field should definitely help out the Bruins’ rushing attack.
If the Bruins can succeed at running the ball effectively in all four quarters like they did in the second and fourth quarters last week, it should be a convincing win in the Bruin home opener.
Go Bruins!!!
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