After San Diego State lost defensive coordinator Eric Schmidt, to return to his alma mater as head coach of North Dakota, it seemed inevitable that they may take a step backwards. Though not dominant, the Aztecs put together a gritty performance despite so much change in 2024. In Thursday’s season opener against Stony Brook, they looked as though they’ve taken a step-forward instead.
For the first time since 2019 SDSU shut an opposing offense down so bad—holding Stony Brook scoreless. Granted they are an FCS team—they were a Top-25 FCS team in the nation coming into this season. By the way that 2019 Aztecs defense led by All MW Linebacker Kyahva Tezino, pretty spectacular bunch.
So what is the team saying about first year defensive coordinator at SDSU, Rob Aurich?
“Proud of the leadership for Aurich.” says head coach Sean Lewis. “It’s pretty neat for him, for the boys to rally around him and get a shutout as DC for the first opportunity here with the Aztecs.”
With the large majority of defenders being returning players Aurich was the obvious first choice from inside the locker room. Although the staff did their formality of inquiring outside of the building, ultimately Aurich was the clear choice.
“To our standard in the way we want to do things, anytime you put a goose-egg up there is a big deal.”
Aurich, having been a defensive coordinator previously at the University of Idaho—coincidentally the team last to play against Washington State, SDSU’s next opponent—everywhere he’s gone improvement has been soon to follow. Lewis has recognized this and so far it’s soo good.
“We’ve got amazing energy & amazing communication on the field,” echoed junior linebacker Owen Chambliss. “We rally around each other every time, even when things go south.”
Elite communication and elite trust. It’s been the theme all off season long. But that’s internal—between players. What about the outside communication? Preseason Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Trey White has been the central talk when it comes to the SDSU defense. His accolades are well earned and rightfully given.
But what has also come with that talk has been the heightened expectations on the rest of the unit to step up. White will be the subject of each opposing team’s offense to double-team, chip block, run away from, or do whatever it takes to evade his pressure on the QB.
With those strategies, it’s crucial the Aztecs defense yield results coming from other places around the line of scrimmage, when most of the focus is central to Trey. With the defense so familiar with each other, that enhanced communication has allowed others to step in and immediately make an impact.
“We love August man, he’s a high motor, high energy guy.” Chambliss continued when asked about Salvati the Junior transfer from FAU after his two sack night against Stony Brook. “He cannot be blocked—He cannot be blocked. So that wasn’t really any surprise. I loved everything I saw from him.”
The language this team uses about what they’re trying to build, about their coaches and most importantly about their teammates is really starting to mimic their coach in the best of ways. Speaking that belief in each other goes a long ways when multiple players come together under one common goal.
Chambliss who has battled through his own adversity of injuries last season, knows it’s only the beginning of what this defense can do. His unit continued to play with an intensity that didn’t relent well into the 4th quarter.—whether it was the first team or reserve players checking in to the game. “We wanted to keep that zero on the board … we’re still needing reps as a defense to keep getting better.”
The only bad checkmark one could have after such a dominating performance was the lack of creating any turnovers. It is a sticking point of emphasis for this year and must happen this weekend if they are to earn a victory in a hostile environment.
When asked about taking on Washington State and what it would take to get a victory on the road against a shaken Cougars team, Owens was laser focused on the fundamentals. “We’ve got to tackle better. The first game gotta get out the tackle jitters. We’ve just got to communicate—fly around like we did tonight and have a great week of practice. We have an amazing week of practice everyday and I think we’ll handle our business when we go up there.”
The Aztecs (1-0) next face Washington State (1-0) on the road in Pullman, Washington after the Cougars narrowly slipped by Idaho 13-10. Game time is set for 7:15pm PST and will be televised on the CW channel. More to come about this matchup!
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