---- There may be no seniority system at San Diego State, but football coach Brady Hoke won't be changing the team's color to green anytime soon.
Experience will get the nod at almost every position when the Aztecs take the field against UCLA on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.
At running back, junior Brandon Sullivan will start over freshman Anthony Miller, although Miller figures to get his share of the carries. Likewise, senior Roberto Wallace (10 career starts) will start ahead of fellow seniors DeMarco Sampson (zero starts) and Mekell Wesley (eight starts) at wide receiver.
In fact, every starter on the offensive side of the ball has at least two prior starts to his credit.
Except on the offensive line.
While junior Trask Ioseffa (center) and senior Ikaika Aken-Moleta (right guard) return to the positions they manned every week last season, the rest of the men protecting quarterback Ryan Lindley are either new faces or in new places. Senior Peter Nelson will start his first game at right tackle Saturday, and on the left, guarding Lindley's blind side, sophomores Tommie Draheim and Mike Matamua will see the first game action of their Aztecs careers.
On the biggest stage of the season.
"It's up and down," Draheim said. "One day I'm kind of nervous, another day I just can't wait for it to happen."
At 4:45 p.m., the suspense will be over and the action underway. But how will the Aztecs' front five ---- a unit that struggled to block for the run or the pass a season ago ---- fare against a UCLA defensive line led by All-Pac-10 and second-team All-America tackle Brian Price?
"I'm extremely confident on the offensive side," Lindley said, "that the great coaches we have here have drawn up a game plan that's going to help us succeed."
That may be, but the success of the Aztecs' new offense, particularly the power running game, will depend heavily on how SDSU performs in the trenches. Offensive line coach Darrell Funk hopes to see something better than what the Aztecs managed in last year's opener: 27 rushing yards on 23 carries and two sacks allowed.
"It starts with the running game," Funk said. "(UCLA) is very good. They're real stout up front. At the same time, we also understand it's about us and how we execute. They'll win some battles and we'll win some, and it's about who wins the most battles."
Much of that will fall to Draheim and Matamua battling Price and defensive end Korey Bosworth, who notched a team-high 7 1/2 sacks in 2008.
"I know a lot about (Bosworth)," said Draheim, who will probably line up across from the Bruins' best quarterback-chaser for most of the game. "No matter who it is, even if somebody gets hurt, they're going to put somebody on the ball who can definitely provide problems for us.
"It's going to be a challenge, but we're going to embrace that challenge."
Speaking of challenges, a raucous Rose Bowl and a UCLA fan base starved for a winner might qualify. The Bruins drew more than 68,000 for last season's opener against Tennessee.
"It's going to be incredible," Draheim said. "The Rose Bowl's a real place to be as far as football. It's a great cathedral of the game, and there's nothing like it.
"I wasn't able to go to Notre Dame last year, but I can expect it's going to be more electrifying than that, even."
Funk says Draheim and Matamua were obvious choices to start, a year after they missed the 2008 season with shoulder and foot injuries, respectively.
"They're both very athletic," Funk said, "and we think that's good for the things we're going to be doing."
For his part, Hoke says he's comfortable with the youth movement up front, an area he has targeted for dramatic improvement this season.
"I've been a head coach and started two freshman tackles and a freshman center at Iowa, Auburn and Boston College, so it feels about the same," Hoke said. "I've got a lot of confidence in those guys."
That confidence will get its first test Saturday, when the Aztecs and their revamped offensive line face a UCLA team with a pass defense that ranked eighth in the nation last season.
Offensive coordinator Al Borges admits he'll find out as much about his own team and how they're grasping a new system as he will about the Bruins.
"Though there have been some growing pains, there have also been some flashes of brilliance," Borges said. "It's all in how it carries over to the game. I don't have any clue right now how that's going to be. There will be some things that come up in the game that didn't come up in practice, particularly with some of our inexperienced guys."
The Red and Black are flecked with green this fall. Under the Pasadena sun, they hope it will blend in with the grass.
Experience will get the nod at almost every position when the Aztecs take the field against UCLA on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.
At running back, junior Brandon Sullivan will start over freshman Anthony Miller, although Miller figures to get his share of the carries. Likewise, senior Roberto Wallace (10 career starts) will start ahead of fellow seniors DeMarco Sampson (zero starts) and Mekell Wesley (eight starts) at wide receiver.
In fact, every starter on the offensive side of the ball has at least two prior starts to his credit.
Except on the offensive line.
While junior Trask Ioseffa (center) and senior Ikaika Aken-Moleta (right guard) return to the positions they manned every week last season, the rest of the men protecting quarterback Ryan Lindley are either new faces or in new places. Senior Peter Nelson will start his first game at right tackle Saturday, and on the left, guarding Lindley's blind side, sophomores Tommie Draheim and Mike Matamua will see the first game action of their Aztecs careers.
On the biggest stage of the season.
"It's up and down," Draheim said. "One day I'm kind of nervous, another day I just can't wait for it to happen."
At 4:45 p.m., the suspense will be over and the action underway. But how will the Aztecs' front five ---- a unit that struggled to block for the run or the pass a season ago ---- fare against a UCLA defensive line led by All-Pac-10 and second-team All-America tackle Brian Price?
"I'm extremely confident on the offensive side," Lindley said, "that the great coaches we have here have drawn up a game plan that's going to help us succeed."
That may be, but the success of the Aztecs' new offense, particularly the power running game, will depend heavily on how SDSU performs in the trenches. Offensive line coach Darrell Funk hopes to see something better than what the Aztecs managed in last year's opener: 27 rushing yards on 23 carries and two sacks allowed.
"It starts with the running game," Funk said. "(UCLA) is very good. They're real stout up front. At the same time, we also understand it's about us and how we execute. They'll win some battles and we'll win some, and it's about who wins the most battles."
Much of that will fall to Draheim and Matamua battling Price and defensive end Korey Bosworth, who notched a team-high 7 1/2 sacks in 2008.
"I know a lot about (Bosworth)," said Draheim, who will probably line up across from the Bruins' best quarterback-chaser for most of the game. "No matter who it is, even if somebody gets hurt, they're going to put somebody on the ball who can definitely provide problems for us.
"It's going to be a challenge, but we're going to embrace that challenge."
Speaking of challenges, a raucous Rose Bowl and a UCLA fan base starved for a winner might qualify. The Bruins drew more than 68,000 for last season's opener against Tennessee.
"It's going to be incredible," Draheim said. "The Rose Bowl's a real place to be as far as football. It's a great cathedral of the game, and there's nothing like it.
"I wasn't able to go to Notre Dame last year, but I can expect it's going to be more electrifying than that, even."
Funk says Draheim and Matamua were obvious choices to start, a year after they missed the 2008 season with shoulder and foot injuries, respectively.
"They're both very athletic," Funk said, "and we think that's good for the things we're going to be doing."
For his part, Hoke says he's comfortable with the youth movement up front, an area he has targeted for dramatic improvement this season.
"I've been a head coach and started two freshman tackles and a freshman center at Iowa, Auburn and Boston College, so it feels about the same," Hoke said. "I've got a lot of confidence in those guys."
That confidence will get its first test Saturday, when the Aztecs and their revamped offensive line face a UCLA team with a pass defense that ranked eighth in the nation last season.
Offensive coordinator Al Borges admits he'll find out as much about his own team and how they're grasping a new system as he will about the Bruins.
"Though there have been some growing pains, there have also been some flashes of brilliance," Borges said. "It's all in how it carries over to the game. I don't have any clue right now how that's going to be. There will be some things that come up in the game that didn't come up in practice, particularly with some of our inexperienced guys."
The Red and Black are flecked with green this fall. Under the Pasadena sun, they hope it will blend in with the grass.
