AZTECS ARE READY FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE

By Liz Alper

Player photo from left to right:  Christian Chapman, Calvin Munson and Nico Siragusa

August 30, 2016 (San Diego) - San Diego State football head coach Rocky Long and redshirt sophomore quarterback Christian Chapman, linebacker Calvin Munson and offensive lineman Nico Siragusa held a press conference today at SDSU.  They talked about Saturday's upcoming season opener against the University of New Hampshire.

“I’m pretty sure we’re excited about playing on Saturday," Long opened.  "We’re pretty healthy. We’ve only had one serious injury during camp to a backup offensive lineman so we’re healthy going into the game. All of the players have continued to get better. I think that we anticipate playing well."

This season will be Chapman's first as a starting quarterback.  Coach Long said that the coaching staff was cautious about putting Chapman in at the end of last season and in the championship game.  That isn't the case anymore. "He took the reins through spring practice and the offseason and all of that. He understands the whole offense. There’s no restrictions on what we can or want to do with him. He seems to embrace it. He never seems nervous or uptight. He seems confident in his ability. I think he understands the offense much better than when he was thrown in there last year."

Long mentioned the similarities on defense between SDSU and UNH.  "They play four d-linemen and we only play three, but we line up in a four down look all the time. They play five defensive backs the whole time, as we do...we’re complete opposites on offense. We’re going to line up with a tight end or two tight ends, or we’re going to line up in the I formation, or we’re going to run the ball and use the play action pass. Well, they’re going to spread you from sideline to sideline, they’re going to snap the ball every 15 to 18 seconds, the quarterback is going back to throw 60 or 70 times in a game."  Long mentioned that UNH's starting quarterback, like Chapman, is a scrambler and likes to run the ball.

For the second conference in a row, the Aztecs were asked about their Top 25 preseason ranking by Sports Illustrated. "I think it’s cool that we’re ranked. but at the same time, it’s just a preseason ranking," said Munson. "We haven’t done anything yet this season. We haven't done anything yet as a team."

Munson and Siragusa talked about maintaining focus going into Saturday's game. "I think we worked very hard during this offseason and this camp," Munson said. "We just have to keep preparing as best as we can and give it our all. I have 100 percent confidence in our team that if we go out and play our (style of) football, we’re going to be happy with the results.  Like any other week, you have to go out there and play your best. You can’t have a bad quarter or a bad snap. You just have to play the best you can.”

“This group of guys is really focused on (the concept of) ‘one week at a time,’" said Siragusa. "We know we can’t look forward to Cal, we can’t look forward to Northern Illinois, we can’t look forward to anything. But to accomplish our goal, we have go undefeated every week, which is win one game at a time. And this group of guys really understands (how) not to look forward to anything.”

Chapman is taking his new starting role seriously and working with receivers more often.  "...one-on-ones with Mikah (Holder), Eric Judge and guys like that. Even after workouts, we’d go out and throw. In time, I’d get into offensive one-snaps with them, getting the reps and timing down. It’s helped a lot. I feel like I know most of the receivers now and what their speeds are. It’s helped a lot coming into this season.”

SDSU's home opener against New Hampshire is Saturday at 5:30 p.m.