San Diego State Aztecs vs. California Golden Bears this Saturday, September 20th, at 7:30 PM PST. The Aztecs are +12.5 home dogs. Below give a complete read to all Sean Lewis had to say when he addressed the media this week in the official presser on campus.
Opening Statement
I was excited to be back in game week here. Guys handled the bye-week well. Had some good developmental time, some good early work. Obviously on a great opponent coming in here um as we go. Staff did an awesome job with the prep and getting out and doing some recruiting and everything over the weekend, but in a good place. Excited about some of the community engagement that we did as well.
Everything’s pointing towards a great crowd on Saturday. I know Cal’s going to bring some people down, but we also did an awesome job. you know, hats off to our support staff going out and and all of us kind of taking part in an effort and initiative to get out, get some tickets, engage with some different organizations and groups around the community.
So, have an additional just around 4,000 tickets that are out for create a good environment on Saturday night. So, need all of Aztec Nation to come out and support. Going to be a great one. All right. Went out and did some school last week during the bye. Got some chem class in, got some stats class in uh to encourage our students to come out as well. tickets on me and then also we’re giving away some sweet shades as well. So students, if you would come out, we can wear our shades and and have a good evening.
But again, excited for the opportunity to to be back home for a Saturday evening kick in front of our home crowds against a really good opponent that’s playing really well and is going to come in here. So the week of preparation is obviously important for us to do that the right way and to be at our best on Saturday night.
Since you mentioned the school, what did you major in?
Agricultural journalism. That’s because I took a stats class. I told the stats class this. I got a C in that stats class and a C in accounting class. And I quickly realized that that business degree was not going to be for me.
Chemistry this week as well. There’s a great lecture hall there. Over 500 kids. So able to go, you know, provide a little juice and uh you know, give a little life there.
Then back to what you’re supposed to be here doing?
This is all part of what I’m doing.
How was the week of practice? You mentioned last week we were here kind of really honing in on fundamentals?
Yeah. So front half of the week put a major emphasis on that as we went. And then you know again throughout the week we were ongoing some of obviously Cal and and the things that they were doing with the information that we had through the first two weeks of their opponents and then being able to refine the plan over this weekend with what we had seen from the Minnesota game and you know dotted the eyes, crossed the tees and we’ll get into those situational specifics of it all as we move through this week.
But guys did a great job. They responded properly. They’ve done that all along. We’re eager to get back to work. They did it the right way and looking forward to you know carrying that through this week of prep and doing our process better so that we can go earn you know better results.
With a bunch of college kids how much can you get done in a year?
I think a lot. You know I I think again like there’s opportunities each and every single day to improve and to compete and I think as long as you come in with the right mindset the way that the boys did—you can you can constantly be evolving you can constantly be growing and you continue to get better as you move through the year. You know we don’t want to plateau obviously at any point in time early in the season and you want to continue to grow, get better, and be playing your best ball week after week after week.
Cal likes to throw the ball a lot, and they have a stud, true freshman quarterback who likes to kind of throw it all around the yard. They total 807 passing yards on 109 attempts. How does your defense plan to limit their aerial?
Yeah, I mean, we got to do a great job winning the pre-snap process. You know, they they do a great job with their offensive minds and obviously the quarterback controlling all the little zest in the seasoning that they put on it where they move the people around. You know, because like they do a nice job putting skill in the back field to create easy completions and keep it, you know, as much as it’s window dressed up for him um to to be able to keep it simple as well, right?
So, with all the window dressing, they move pieces around about 60-65% of their normal down and distance snaps, right? We have to take great pride in urgently communicating in winning the pre-snap process. So we have our cleats in the ground. We’re all tied together and we’re not giving away any freebies.
So as they will most likely have a a lessened running attack. Do you put an emphasis on really trying to take those windows away in an effort to stop their running attack which shouldn’t be as potent?
It’s still pretty potent, right? I mean they still do a very good job running counter. They still do a very good job running inside zone. They’ve done a great job, you know, even though they lost some key pieces as you alluded to, right? They’ve done a nice job going and replacing those pieces as well. There’s a lot of new faces that we did not play particularly offensively, you know, on their roster, but again with the offensive minds, the way that they’ve come together, the way that the staff has put the pieces in place, we got to do a great job taking away the running game. So, it’s all equally important. They’re a dangerous team, you know, that has proven that they can beat teams in a multitude of ways and you got to go earn it each and every single snap.
We talked about their offensive trends, your guys’ offensive trends has been to kind of run the ball and establish the run early and often. Having a multi-faceted backfield like Jaden Denegal, like Lucky Sutton, and more—is your game plan to stay on the ground and if so, is an effort to kind of play keep away from their offense?
Yeah, I mean, not so much keep away, right? I mean, like I think this is going to be a four quarter fight and the way that we’re going to attack one another is probably going to be pretty similar in a lot of ways, right? We’re going to look for the soft spots. I think both of us know that we got to do a great job winning the one-on- ones. However you create that, whether it’s run or pass as you go with it, right? But, you know, again, for as you look at us as we’re evolving, you know, strength of who we are and what we’re doing is obviously running the ball. So, that’s a piece of who we want to be. We’re not going to shy away from that as we go. And you know, we’ll lean on the strength of our club as we continue to develop the other areas as well.
You only gave away one fumble last year and you guys haven’t turned the ball over yet. How much of an emphasis do you put on ball security and how do you see if your guys are able to continue your trend of ball security and limiting turnovers playing out this week?
Yeah, I mean the biggest thing that we always talk about when it comes to ball security, we have a simple phrase that ball security is job security, right? Like the kids and mine, right? It’s so important they name the game after it. So it’s always a priority for something that we do. Our kids have done a great job. Obviously making that a piece of who we are and over the long haul there’s a few, you know, key statistics that you can point to. Not to oversimplify, you know, this beautiful game, but like if you win the turnover margin over the course of the season, generally speaking, you’re going to have good success over the long haul, right? And that’s critically important in this game.
Very opportunistic defensively on their side, right? Generating turnovers. Number five, their corner does an unbelievable job. There’s been three games—he’s got three interceptions. He’s very ball aware and very opportunistic and when he gets his hands on it, he usually, you know, does a good job securing and finishing those, right? So, we got to do a good job within the run game, you know, obviously not fumbling it. Within the throw game, evaluating the timing and location of the throws so that we can win the turnover margin and and come out positive in that regard.
In what ways does playing them last year help you guys or is there so much change that?
I think there’s some validity to it, right? especially um defensively, there’s been some nuances and some changes probably at a granular level, right? But you can still tell that, you know, the style of ball that they want to play, particularly defensively, has consistently, kind of rang through and rang true, all the years that coach Wilcox has has been there. So that helps, right? But again, like it’s funny then you, you go back and you watch that and you see kind of the explosives that you hit or the explosives that you missed and that they’re working it and obviously we’re working it. And so there’s that familiarity almost like a conference foe, right? To where you got to have enough in the repertoire that protects your main concepts with the various compliments, but also not deviate and get too far away from who you are and the the concepts and the calls that you’ve accumulated a ton of reps on as you’ve gone with it.
What you’ve seen at their quarterback, what’s made him so good, especially to be so young?
He’s efficient. Um he throws on time and on target. You can tell he’s very decisive and he trusts the pieces that he’s playing with. So, he’s done a really good job to where again, as simple as it is, if if one’s open, he’s taken one. If one’s not and he progresses to two and two’s open, he’s he’s taken two. So, again, he’s just been consistent with his footwork. He’s been consistent with his decision making and he’s done a really nice job throwing on time and on target and playing catch with his guys.
When it comes to facing a young quarterback like they have, is there a benefit to playing them earlier in the season where he’s kind of still figuring things out or would it be more beneficial later on where we have more film?
I mean, based off the film I’ve seen, he’s got a lot of things figured out already, right? I mean, there’s a calm and there’s a composure to to what he’s doing. Again, I value the the game reps. He’s obviously mature beyond his years. But anytime you’re able to accumulate, more game reps, see more pictures, it’s only going to lead to greater confidence and greater conviction in the decision making, a greater familiarity with what they’re doing within their scheme. But man, he’s doing a great job with what they’re asking him to do and the way that he’s operating it, and you can tell each week as they go there’s not a situation where he doesn’t seem comfortable, where he doesn’t seem confident, and that they don’t have him operating at a high level. Just like should at the end of the first half, you know, this past week, they get an opportunity for him to go execute a end a half one minute drive and they they cut him loose and they come away with points, right? So, it’s like he’s he’s learning, he’s growing obviously on the job and he’s doing at a very very high level. So, we got to do a good job obviously making it really tough on him.
And then for yourself and your quarterback then having this early, what’s the benefit to that have, you know, being able to review some tape and have a little bit of a break early in the season to improve?
Yeah, I mean, just like you said, right, to have the extra time, which is invaluable to to learn from the two weeks that we’ve had and to, hey, really build off the the good that we’ve done, learn the hard lessons from, the areas where we’ve come up short. And he’s done an unbelievable job of again leaning into the work, being in the building, embracing the coaching showing the maturity to grow and to again take confidence from where he knows that he’s done a great job, right? A lot of his decision-m process for the vast majority of it has been spot-on. And now it’s a matter of, okay, hey, let’s dial in the details of the execution so that we can maximize the opportunities that we have each and every single play.
You saw Cal their plays last year given all the turnover in college football these days. Can you use that tape at all?
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely we can again, probably more so on the the defensive side of the ball because there’s been more continuity within the personnel and the way that they’re playing it. More so than the the offensive side of it. But again, like philosophically, you can tell there’s a brand of football that they want to play. And there’s a style in which they’re going to play it. Like they play the game the right way. They’re they’re a disciplined physical group and all three phases. And then it’s ironic because again, just with all the turnover like one of their most explosive playmakers is Jacob De Jesus, who was at UNLV. So, we didn’t play him in a Cal jersey last year, but I sure know who that character is, right? And he’s a dynamic playmaker. He’s continued to be that through three weeks. So, there’s familiarity of who the pieces are. And then again, like we’re at this point with a three-game sample size to where you can see how it’s coming together, right? And you can see some of the things obviously that they’re leaning, hanging their hat on, that they like to do. But yeah, anytime you get a chance to truly know, okay, hey, like this is who these characters are that you’ve played them and you’ve seen them there’s there’s probably a decided advantage to that.
Coach, I know we’ve talked about it a lot, but just one more thing about their offense. Their offensive coordinator, obviously, Brian Harson has been around the the block. How does his experience in play calling in your opinion kind of help along, like you said, more continuity on your guys’ defensive side, but the quarterback?
Yeah. I think like a quarterback who’s seen a ton of reps, right? Like as a play caller, that’s a skill as well, right? And so, not only do they have coach Harson who’s done it for a very long time and schemed up a lot of different defenses for a lot of different players and had a ton of success. He’s doing a fabulous job with it, they got coach Rolovich as well, right, who’s an elite play caller and a great offensive mind. And so again, there’s a wealth of knowledge that’s in that room. And you can tell they’re being very selective about what they’re implementing and going to execute and what they’re putting on the quarterback’s plate. But as much experience as they have, like that helps, right? Like they’ve they’ve been in it. They’ve seen a lot of different situations. And so again, like that that allows them to be at their best and to put their kids in a really good spot as well. And we need to match that as well as we go.
Coaches, they’ve only allowed 32 points defensively. What have you seen uh on film from them on the defensive side of the ball?
Yeah, they’re sound, they’re aggressive, they’re physical. They do a really good job playing with leverage and knowing where their help is. And they have really good fundamentals. They cover tight. Both their corners do a really good job in press man-to-man. They they catch and carry deliver through the vertical seams. And then they got two dynamic players that majority line up to the boundary in 43 and zero that have played a lot of football and are very disruptive. So yeah, I mean they’re averaging what just over 10 points a game, right? Like they they’ve slowed down some offenses that have put up points against other people. So I mean shoot, if I if I’m not mistaken, I think they’re number one offense or number one defense in the ACC right now, right? So we got to be at our best. It’s going to be a great opportunity. It’s going to be a great challenge and we got to answer the call.
What are you looking what are you expecting turnout wise? We’ve, you know, you mentioned it, we’ve seen you out last week recruiting, you know, people to come to the game. What are you expecting on Saturday?
Yeah, I mean hoping for ASAC Nation to respond the same way our team’s going to respond, right? And the feedback’s been great. I mean, we’ve again like 4,000 extra tickets that have gone out because of the initiative through the, you know, work of ticketing, marketing, our support staff going out, like I know those numbers to be true. Obviously getting out on campus and knowing understanding that every single student can come for free. I was champion with the students. I mean, the stadium can hold just over 32,000 people. We have 35,000 students that go to school here, right? That should be standing room only like it was in that chemistry class that I went to where there was only 500 student or 500 seats but there was over 500 students in that building in that classroom. I just think as for the students in particular right, like I think part of the collegian experience is going to the athletic events right and being tied together as a community rallying around the Aztecs and that party should start you know at Snapdragon in the fall and then it should transfer to Viejas (arena) in the wintertime and then down to you know the Aquaplex and the softball diamond and the baseball diamond in the spring. It should just be a non-stop party that rolls, right? Wherever the marquee matchups are. Shoot, Peterson Gym as well for volleyball, right? Like that should just be a part of the experience. And I’m grateful for all the people who have shown up. But I think that we can again obviously pour some more people in. We got to play better so that more people are interested. But, you know, shoot there’s some great things that are going on like the giveaway, like the fan engagements, the DJ, the in-game atmosphere, the new traditions that we need everyone to come and be a part of so we can make that pretty special.
Did you guys head out for the 4,000 tickets that were distributed?
We were all over the place. We were downtown, we were Pacific Beach, we were up in North County. We targeted youth events. So really all over the place to be able to get some opportunities for youth events, for military, for educators to be able to come and to have an experience. You know, we wanted to create an opportunity where for a lot of people if it was their first time coming, that was going to be on us. And then the second time when they have a good experience that that’s going to be on them to be able to draw them in and to continue to build off that momentum as we go.
Were there any particular moments that stood out on your mind the other engaging with the military kids?
Yeah, I mean we we the sports have did an awesome job going to a flag football organization where I think that one event, you know, there was probably close to a thousand tickets that were passed out at that event, right? To where hey you got groups of families that are obviously interested in in football and there’s young kids and there’s an opportunity to have them be Aztec fans forever you know and start them young in that regard. So presented an opportunity to them. It was really well received and you know I’m hoping that we got enough notice to them that on the 20th here this Saturday there’ll be a bunch of people that will come out and and be a part of the evening with us.
Where was that?
That was up in Rancho Bernardo. Yep.
Is this something you did at Kent State as well? Kind of get out in the community hand out some tickets?
Yeah absolutely. Yep. I mean like part of the community, right? Like a part of it. There’s numerous hats and caps that I get to wear in this role. And but again, like everything that happens in the realm of Aztec football, like falls to me, which is great. Love that. Right. And so, hey, want to create a great environment and empowered our staff and others to to be a part of it with us and and wanted to get out and engage to to make it happen.
With these extra people going to be there, how much do you feel like we got to put a show on for make them want to come back?
I mean the standard and the expectation to perform at a high level is there each and every single day. It was there today on a Monday when there was no one watching, right? The only difference happens to be that there’ll be more people and they get to see us work and game day is supposed to be fun. And again, a lot’s been made about the few opportunities that we get that truly count. There’s only 10 that are left. And so this opportunity is critically important that we need to maximize. And yeah, if there’s more eyeballs there and they have a great game day experience because what we’re doing between the white lines is done at an elite level and the fan engagement and the experience that they have by everyone involved from parking services to the concessions and you know the the experience that they get to have in a first class stadium that that’s at an elite level then yeah not only do they want to come back but they want to bring their friends and we turn Snapdragon into you know one of the best game day atmospheres in the whole country.
Obviously the fans can hear you on social media and these press conferences and things like that, but when you’re there you know on the ground with them face to face, what’s kind of your sales pitch as you’re giving out these tickets or sort of your way?
Yeah, I mean at the end of the day, we’re San Diego’s football team, right? And so come support us. Come be a part of this. And again, like with all that there is to do, there’s some great options, to be able to come and participate and and be a part of building and creating a new legacy and something special as we, you know, make Snapdragon the place to be. Saturdays in the fall.
Tano (Letuli) do you expect him to be able to start this week or at least be available?
I think he’ll be available. Yep. We’ll kind of see how he continues to progress throughout the course of the week, but Tano’s a warrior and I’m sure he’s going to go.
How does that work when you’re facing an opposing conference? Do both are they both supposed to release their availabilities or is it just for the Mountain West games?
The availability report is going to be for conference games only where we’re going to be mandated to to do that. When it’s a non-conference foe, you’re not really, you know, beholden to anything in that regard.
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