Pre Season Record: 14-17 Series Record: 10-5
End of Season Standing: 5th SouthWest Regionals eliminated in the 3rd place Semifinal by UC San Diego
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Coach: Cliff Smith (2008-Present), Ross Lenta (2006-Present), Steve Prodan (2010-Present), Will Griffin (2011)
2010 Recap: 2010 stated as a building year for San Diego State, but finished with one their best performances in memory. Presidents Day Invite 2010 saw SDSU beat Nationals qualifier California- Santa Barbara twice. The Federalis then made the cross country trip to Easterns finishing tied for 9th with UNCW. SDSU had a strong Southwest Regionals with a 9-10 loss to UCLA in the 2nd Place Bracket Semifinal and a 9-11 loss to UC San Diego in the 3rd Place Bracket Semifinal. A disheartening end to the season surely, as they were so close, but they certainly had a statement season.
Roster Turnover and Offseason Club Experience:
SDSU’s big loss is athletic 2nd Team All-Region Kyle “Splash” Gordon, who was a core part of San Diego State’s game plan. They will more than make up for his absence, however, with the addition of Justin “Bobble” Elliot, a 5th year player who captained 2010 Nationals qualifier California-San Diego.
Additionally, two players, Richard Prodan and Tim Gilligan, gained valuable experience with San Diego Streetgang, where they both played on the D line. Jackson Stearns and Dominic Leggio captained San Diego Seduction on which most of the other SDSU players competed at the club level.
Strategy:
San Diego State has a similar spread offense to that of UCSD, though SDSU’s version shows more hints of conservatism. Coach Prodan, of Streetgang’s huck-happy offensive line, is balanced by Coach Griffen, who is versed in classic Northwest possession offense.
It should be noted that SDSU is doing something right with its force middle box zone originally pioneered by UCSD: even the Air Squids (along with many other teams) find SDSU’s version particularly difficult to break due to its unpredictable variation of aggressiveness and conservativeness.
Fall 2010 Performance:
SDSU took second at Irvine Huckfest and won the re-scheduled SoCal Warmup. Ultimate fans should not take full stock of SDSU until hucker Justin Elliot begins to play with them.
Scheduled Regular Season Tournaments:
Santa Barbara Invite, Presidents Day Classic, Stanford Invite
2011 Outlook:
As much as the strength of SDSU’s top 5 players is impressive, observation of their play clearly shows that this year’s team is made up of players who have great chemistry due to their long careers with each other. “Yes, our top players are great, but there isn’t the drop off you’d expect in the rest of the roster” said Coach Cliff Smith.
While they do have experience playing together, the Feds do not have experience consistently winning big games together and, given their new region, every game this spring will be a big game. That being said, it should not be a surprise ifthis up and coming mid-major team beats the California incumbents and grabs a bid to Nationals.
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