Life would be a lot easier for San Diego State had placekicker Gabe Plascencia been granted an additional year of eligibility.
An appeal was made to the NCAA during the winter for Plascencia, the most accurate kicker in SDSU history, to receive an additional year of eligibility. The appeal was denied.
Plascencia and the Aztecs never pressed the matter in court. And anyway, the entire situation may be in limbo today given the back and forth of court rulings, appeals and stays.
SDSU moved on, and the search for Plascencia’s replacement began in earnest during the spring.
Sophomore Nick Clegg was the leading candidate for the job, was inconsistent during spring practice and left the team before the workouts had concluded.
Senior transfer Cooper DiLeva (Arkansas) was the leader coming out of spring camp, with junior transfer Lane Garner (Butte College) also competing. Over the summer, the Aztecs added senior transfer Noah Serna (Cal Poly) and freshman transfer Tyler Prasuhn (Arizona) to the competition.
Serna was listed first on the depth chart coming into preseason camp four weeks ago. He is the only one with Division 1 experience, going 24-for-32 over the past three seasons with a long of 51 yards.
San Diego State’s Cooper DiLeva (center) is among the candidates to succeed kicker Gabe Plascencia. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Then, a week or so ago, it looked like DiLeva again. Then not.
The kicking situation is as clear as mud.
“Nobody wants someone to clearly separate more than me, but nobody has broken away from the pack here,” SDSU special teams coordinator Zac Barton said. “That’s the problem. Everybody will have a good day and everybody will have a down day. We need somebody that’s going to be consistently good, not occasionally great.”
Added coach Sean Lewis: “We want to get as much body of evidence as possible, then when we make that decision, it will be the decision for right now. Those roles can constantly evolve as we’ve seen in the past a couple of years ago with Gabe.”
It took several weeks into the 2024 season before Plascencia established himself as the guy. Barton suggested SDSU coach narrow this year’s competition to two kickers and use both of them in the Sept. 5 season opener against Portland State.
“Which is not what you want,” Barton said. “We’ve got to find a guy who’s going to be the same guy every day and not have the ups and downs.”
To be continued …
Senior Tashi Dorje is bidding to become the next in lengthening line of standout San Diego State punters. (Justin Truong / SDSU Athletics)
Other specialists
The Aztecs expect a seamless transition at punter. Junior Tashi Dorje takes over for Hunter Green, who transferred to Washington over the winter.
Fans accustomed to seeing some punts carry 60 yards (or more) in recent years won’t be disappointed. Dorje has been booming punts since spring. He also has shown an ability for pinpointing his punts when the situation calls for it.
Dorje is eager to follow in the footsteps of guys like Matt Araiza, Jack Browning, Tyler Pastula and Green, who all ranked among the nation’s top punters over the past five years.
“What this place has been, what this place has had, at that position … That’s why he came here,” Barton said, “And he has the ability to be that.”
Dorje actually led the nation with a 50-yard punting average last season. On three punts.
“Let’s get a little bit bigger sample size there,” Barton laughed.
At long snapper, SDSU was all set with junior returner Luke Williams. But Williams suffered a torn ACL during a spring drill and was lost for the season while he recovers from surgery. Sophomore backup Connor Poulson has moved into the starting snapper role. Dorje will be the holder.
“I try to tell those guys all the time that if you’re No. 2, you don’t know when your number is going to be called,” Barton said. “His number just got called a lot sooner than we thought. He’s done a fantastic job, to the point where when we go out there I’m not worried about where the snap’s at. I’m worried about the (punt) protection.”
The return game is expected to be solid, with junior Jordan Napier paired on kickoffs with Nathan Acevedo. Napier and sophomore Javion Kinnard, an all-Mountain West punt return last season at Colorado State, are the top punt return candidates.
Others in the mix to return kicks include three others from the wide receivers room — senior Donovan Brown and sophomores Jaylon Hawkins and Parker Threatt.