PASADENA \u2014 Sean Lewis did a fine job, although I have a few quibbles.<\/p>\n
The man can coach.<\/p>\n
On San Diego State football\u2019s biggest stage under Lewis, the 40-year-old head man and his players did a lot right Saturday, enabling the Aztecs to play favored UCLA to a scoreless first-half tie in the toasty Rose Bowl.<\/p>\n
San Diego State tackled and punted well. It shut down UCLA\u2019s passing game. The offense called by Lewis established a decent inside ground game, setting up a pair of downfield passes that could\u2019ve worked but didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
UCLA responded by asserting its superiority in speed, size and depth, scoring four touchdowns for a 28-10 victory.<\/p>\n
So it goes. The Bruins now lead the series, 23-1-1.<\/p>\n
The biggest difference in the second half?<\/p>\n
Talent.<\/p>\n
Several Bruins standouts made big plays, giving NFL scouts a few things to jot down.<\/p>\n
Aztecs defenders found senior quarterback Nico Iamaleava much harder to tackle after halftime.<\/p>\n
UCLA\u2019s pass rushers, returners, defensive backs and entire offense kicked into a faster gear.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-5, 215-pound senior eluded Aztecs linebackers and defensive backs, running for key gains that fueled a pair of long touchdown drives and set up completions of 20 yards and 13 yards.<\/p>\n
I never felt SDSU could win this game, even at halftime.<\/p>\n
In football, superior talent and depth is awfully tough to overcome.<\/p>\n
Money was an underlying factor. UCLA has a lot more of it to spend on football since the school\u2019s move into the Big Ten two years ago. With UCLA donors stepping up, too, the Bruins seem headed toward better times. They signed hot young coach Bob Chesney last winter to a five-year contract worth $33.75 million. Last year, Chesney led tiny James Madison into the College Football Playoffs.<\/p>\n
So, let\u2019s assume the Bruins are now more formidable than when Rocky Long\u2019s Aztecs earned SDSU\u2019s lone win over Chip Kelly\u2019s vulnerable Bruins, six years ago in Pasadena.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know if Lewis can match Long. A great coach, Long was brilliant at selecting for and developing toughness and physicality.<\/p>\n
But Lewis and the Aztecs checked several boxes Saturday.<\/p>\n
Clearly, Aztecs fitness coaches and players did their jobs well in summer workouts.<\/p>\n
SDSU\u2019s defense showed explosiveness and stamina throughout the first half before the attrition (and lack of depth) took a toll.<\/p>\n
Defensive coordinator Demetrius Sumler\u2019s players showed good tackling form in the first half, rather than exhibiting the typical early-season rust.<\/p>\n
The defensive front made plays against a large, deep Bruins line. Seniors Brady Nassar and Amari Comier batted down passes.<\/p>\n
Sumler\u2019s secondary was even better. Cornerback Mike Lindsay picked off a pass in the end zone, punishing Iamaleava\u2019s poor decision to lob a ball against the grain. Safety Josh Hunter made two sharp open-field tackles, one of which created a punt, and he recovered an Aztec punt returner\u2019s fumble near SDSU\u2019s 10.<\/p>\n
The quibbles?<\/p>\n
SDSU lacked an intermediate passing game. It may have tried a few too many long passes, finishing with 45 yards passing. UCLA cranked up its blitz game in the second half, and the Aztecs allowed several of those blitzers to run free.<\/p>\n
The coaching staff came up with a well-timed wrinkle, a \u201cPhilly Special\u201d-esque pass, producing a fourth-quarter TD.<\/p>\n
Lewis said he came up short by not preparing the Aztecs well enough in practice.<\/p>\n
He said he\u2019s also to blame for the offense not showing better fundamentals and technique.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot of work to do, especially with James Madison, the next opponent, coming off an 87-3 win over Wagner.<\/p>\n
But the Aztecs (1-1) got a few things accomplished Saturday, opposite a 12 1\/2 point favorite (2-0) that appears more capable than its 13th-place projection in the Big Ten.<\/p>\n
Marshall Faulk wouldn\u2019t disagree. In SDSU\u2019s three games against UCLA with Faulk, the Bruins won all three by a blowout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PASADENA \u2014 Sean Lewis did a fine job, although I have a few quibbles. The man can coach.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1327,181,74,76,75,305,127,1696],"class_list":["post-462277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-college-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-sdsu-aztecs","tag-sports","tag-top-stories-sdut"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}