SDSU FOOTBALL: HEAD COACH SEAN LEWIS GAME PREVIEW

here on the Sha Lewis show San Diego Sports 760 again for our listeners get there Saturday incredible weather Great scene for San Diego State Texas A&M Commerce the Lions Saturday at 5: first 10,000 fans and attendance will get a San Diego State Hawaiian shirt tickets are available right now at go aex.com let's talk about Texas A&M Commerce program that's only their third year of FCS they are returning a quarterback that missed 20123 in Eric Rodriguez you've watched film on Rodriguez on the lions from a year ago what are you seeing from their program and what could pose challenges for your team on Saturday yeah I mean dangerous club right you know and with Rodriguez coming back he he's got some dual threat ability he's got the ability to extend plays they went out and got four transfer wide receivers again so we're watching their tape from previous spots and everything and you know explosive playmakers that that have ability that that have a big catch radius and they love to run the football so you got to kind of commit extra hats to to stop the run and then they're going to take big vertical shots down the field right and so they present some problems offensively with that um defensively right they got a preseason All-American um in their safety number seven EPS that you know had his hands on numerous balls last year has generated numerous interceptions I mean the secondary last year had 15 interceptions if I'm not mistaken right and forced quite a few more fumbles so very opportunistic in that way um they got a left Edge number 91 that that does a really good job he got good bend right and so they they they pose enough problems right that keeps you keep you up at night right and then again just my own individual history and Aztec fans know this right like being on the sideline as the FCS team that came in you know to to San Diego and and pulled one of those upsets like this is their Super Bowl right like they got their quarterback back they've made some staff changes they got new play callers right they probably feel like they're in a good spot as they continue to transition to FCS and they're going to come off the bus guns of Blazing right and we got to be able to to weather that storm and to throw the first punch and to respond appropriately to both The Good the Bad and the Ugly that's going to come like we've kind of seen some of these weak zero games right that as as we settle in and get to know our club this is a very very dangerous and capable club that that's coming in you know that that's going to take the field at Snapdragon you've been through this before as a head coach going into your first week with a new team what's the level of nerves like when you're getting prepared for a season I mean I know you've done it before but it's a new one here yeah I mean it the nerves and the the anxiety never go away right like you just want to get to you want to get to kickoff and as a player I was equated to to like you just want to take the first hit right like you take the first hit you get settled in you're like all right ball is ball we're balling like let's go right and so yeah like at this point in time like I've told some people this week like this feels like the longest week of the year right like we we've done all this prep we've done all this work and you just want to you're so excited for the opportunity for our team and the work that they've put in and I'm very confident um you know because of that work of of what we've done right but again we have a very dangerous team that's coming in here a and we got a lot of guys that have increased role on our team that I'm excited to see how they respond right to the training that they've gotten and um the opportunities that are going to be there but yeah until we get going until we we see exactly what we have I think I know what we have but you don't know until you know right and so eager for that on Saturday to to get going and to have that opportunity um to really learn about our team and to help them grow you're in one of the uh the great venues in college football I would say in Snapdragon for its size it's just spectacular and being in San Diego and the way it just plays and sits in the city with palm trees and peers and you know and the the alumni and the support of San Diego State in general it it kind of changes right when you get that when you just fill it all in from practice to all of a sudden there's fans in the stands the lights are on it's at night how what do you hope to see from your team as they adapt to that for the first time this year I I really hope and we talked about this this morning right like the the venue is going to be amazing a and it's really cool how our community is going to Rally around our club and all the changes that have happened right but I'm hoping to see our team you know when they step between those white lines for it to be as crisp as it's ever been because they were doing it for each other right that they're just that they're happens to be fans in the stands right which we're really excited that they're there right but for us in our little football bubble if we've done this the right way and we were talking about it earlier right to where practice Gap practice repetition is Game reality right there shouldn't be a change in demeanor in our club right if the character of our club is right if the character of our club is where I believe it is right with our competitive maturity it should look like the best practice on game day that we've ever had and the guy sees that moment they seiz that opportunity they're having fun they're playing with great fundamentals they're playing physical they're they're celebrating with one another after a big play and then the lights happen to go off and you know the fans happen to be cheering and there happens to be 33,000 of our closest friends and family that are there sh sharing in this Joy of Aztec football Aztec fast football on a Saturday night you you perfectly phrased it when you said you got to get that first hit out of the way and then you're you realize oh we're playing football right what is the coaching equivalent of getting the first hit out of the way um it's probably making the first good in-game adjustment right to where like okay hey we think this is going to happen and all right it is what we thought they were or o that's new that's a Nuance right and being able to get the guys back to the boundary or in the moment right know what the next right call is to what you're seeing and then like that game of chess starts to play out that's how it always in my mind from a coaching standpoint it does feel like it's a chess board absolutely you're you're looking at it from a 30,000 ft up and you're just moving pieces around how frustrating is it when and and you know the expectation is for all of your chest pieces to be perfect for you guys to use attack that way you win the game by a thousand but how frustrating is when you you get into a situation where you're like gosh you know I I don't know how to counter this yet and and it starts befuddling you heading into the locker room at halftime or whatever how how do you get over that or how do you steer away from that feeling to continue success you guide and you coach right I mean like so the biggest thing right those those those pieces on the board are people and players right and so you need to know again like how are they going to respond in each one of these moments in each one of these calls so that you can put them in the best position to be successful and that's our job as a coach right if if someone for whatever reason right like is maybe slightly off their game on that night like okay hey well maybe you need to be a little bit more goose and less Maverick right on this call in this deal or change the Personnel grouping right change the pressure path so that we can get the right guys in the right places but you know there's there's not a ton of frustration with it because there's an opportunity then you know to to create right and to make sure that again like we stress all the time that it's not so much about memorizing plays for us in any phase of the game it's having great conceptual understanding so as the pieces on the board start playing out it's like oh wait well if we're in 12 personnel and they're going to respond that way to this Movement we have to be able get to this concept right and so the kids knowing and understanding how that concept fits and where they fit within that concept so we can exploit what we're seeing right from the defense and that's where it gets really fun and really exciting and the benefit of moving fast way you do offensively with Tempo and getting to line of scrimmage trying to snap the ball under 20 seconds each play Bang Bang bang and I know there will be moments where you huddle and you'll take your time and you'll got to have some different pitches besides a fastball right yeah exactly but but when you do that like you were pointing out you could get a defense stuck in something maybe maybe they have success against a certain play in that defensive formation or Personnel grouping but all of a sudden you go oh they just tip their hand so all of a sudden we can come back with this counter shot and it is wide open if we get hats on hats you know maybe you run a passing play and it's not where but hey we can counter with this run that we know is going to work out the back door sure and so boom so is that some of what you fans can expect to see from a sha Lewis Le offense on Saturday yeah I think the beauty of of playing Tech fast right is that it's another stress point that we can put on the defense right like conceptually we're we're pretty complex and the way that we present it right and then you have to have the um the added layer of communicating defensively right getting your cleats in the ground at the pace at which we want to play and again it's a lifestyle for us it's what we do each and every single day um and to prepare for that you know it's it's a unique challenge all in its own right and so by you know going at the speed that we do you know the benefit the years has been that we get some pretty vanilla looks that we know then how to exploit and attack and our kids know the answers to the problems that they're seeing and then you know it's our job all collectively together to go get an A on that test and solve the problems consistently play after play after play so is it all offensively it's predicated on what you're shown defensively or is is anything scripted out of the gate like to start the game some of this is scripted out of the gate or some of it is but some of it's obviously basically what you're shown is what then you can take advantage of yeah we want to take what the defense gives us right and so we obviously have different ways to create different stress points and you know kind of find the players that are looking to serve two masters right and then put them in Conflict by what we're doing whether that be with you know route Concepts or some of our RPO based stuff right all those different factors um so yeah there'll be some things that you know early on formally or or motions and trades and shifts and the way that we you know operate and get in and out of the Huddle and things like that like all right H how are you guys handling all these different pitches that we're throwing at you and then once we see that right then we'll we'll have a good answer you know what we need to get to so that we can take advantage of what we're seeing Sean final one before you go Aztec link I know they've been doing this 100 yard challenge trying to raise funds for the collective can you speak to the importance of that and what that means for your football progr yeah I mean the work that uh the collective has been doing through Aztec link and and Jr and Mike Coleman and the whole Board of Trustees have been doing a tremendous job you know with that so yeah Aztec link is is running the 100 yard challenge right now it's our goal by the end of the weekend to to raise $100,000 we've passed the uh the 30 yard line um obviously in this day and age of of college football you know we need that piece we need the support you know so whether it's $55,000 or $5 whatever that you can give however you can help we really appreciate it we're very very thankful you know and all that is going to go directly back to to benefiting the student athletes the community and the opportunities here so that we can you know have a championship level team year in and year out azte link.com by the way every $500 raised through this initiative is going to go to an hour of volunteerism for the lucky duck Lucky Duck Foundation which supports of course um those that are homeless in our Comm Community Sean thank you awesome this we'll do it again next week Rich appreciate it looking forward to being on the call absolutely this weekend again San Diego State Texas A&M Commerce Saturday at 5: our pregame coverage will begin at 3 this has been the Sha Lewis show on San Diego Sports 760