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San Diego State Gameday: Three Keys to Victory against Eastern Michigan
San Diego State (2-1) hosts MAC opponent Eastern Michigan (2-1) Saturday night as 13-point favorites.
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San Diego State faces Eastern Michigan for the first time.
San Diego State (2-1) hosts MAC opponent Eastern Michigan (2-1) Saturday night as 13-point favorites.
San Diego State coming off a victory against Arizona State looks to defend home turf again a formidable team on both sides of the ball. Eastern Michigan upset a bad Purdue team in week 2 and looks to upset San Diego State. Eastern Michigan also put up 28 points in a loss to the MAC-leading Buffalo Bulls. However, the Aztecs are 12-0-1 all-time against the current iteration of the MAC and have not loss to any MAC teams in the Rocky Long era.
San Diego State is hungry to erase some mistakes made last week, and looking forward to unleashing Juwan Washington and Chase Jazmin. Let’s take a look at the three keys to victory for the San Diego State Aztecs.
1. Win the Turnover Game
Coming into week 4, San Diego State has not yet gone positive in turnovers. As a team, they are -3 in the turnover game, and almost lost the game on a fumble by Jasmin. The 2017 Aztecs were tough to beat when they made turnovers, going went 5-0 when they were positive in turnovers, and 2-1 when they broke even. For the Aztecs, they must protect the ball on offense and be aggressive on defense.
2. Shore up the defense
Bluntly, the Aztecs are vulnerable in the secondary. Stanford took advantage in Week 1 and Arizona State took take shots downfield. The Aztecs play stingy and tough within 10 yards of scrimmage. The team rallies to the ball at that level, and aim for negative plays, but the corners and safeties are giving a lot of real estate past 10 yards. The secondary hasn’t been stellar yet and Trenton Thompson will be out for the first half because of his targeting penalty last week. Eastern Michigan will do their best to keep burning the secondary.
3. Ryan Agnew’s Arm
Through week 3, the Aztecs knew that Washington was going to get fed and the offensive line is going to push these bulky Pac-12 guys around. The o-line works so well, Jazmin emerged early as the left hook to Washington’s right jab. However, it’s going to come down to how Ryan Agnew steps up in the spotlight again and how will he lead his team. The Aztecs will struggle to cover the spread at -13 with their potent backfield, so it’s going to be up to Ryan Agnew by the second half.