SDSU's Siragusa Eager To Pave The Way

Chula Vista Native Is One of Three Senior Offensive Lineman Pushing The Pile

Many Division-1 schools use the spread offense to pass the ball all over the place but the Aztecs still lean the other way.

And that's one reason why they are the favorite to repeat in the Mountain West.

"You know coming out of high school to here (where we are) running the ball all the time - I didn't really come from an offense like that," explained senior offensive lineman Nico Siragusa. "So when you come here, there's fullbacks, two tight ends, it's fun and you get used to it.

"And honestly," continued the Mater Dei high school product, "if you're an offensive lineman I don't see why you wouldn't want to come (and play) to an offensive scheme like this."

The playbook will be thicker for Carlsbad's Christian Chapman, the sophomore who enters his first full season as the Aztecs starting quarterback.

But expect SDSU to keep grinding down opponents behind their three seniors on the O-Line.

The trio includes Siragusa, a Chula Vista native who was named as one of SDSU's five captains this year, as well as fellow classmates Arthur Flores and Ramona high school alum Kwayde Miller.

"All three of them give us great maturity, great leadership, great experience,” said SDSU head coach Rocky Long.

“We'd feel better if we had five of them,” Long cracked with a smile, “but three’s pretty good."

Last season, for the first time in school history the Aztecs had two players rush for over 1,000 yards: DJ Pumphrey (1,653) and Chase Price (1,008).

Pumphrey and Price each averaged 5.3 yards per carry which is remarkable and a testament to their talent.

It’s also a tribute to the blockers in front of them.

With so many weapons on offense, if the linemen do their jobs, the sky’s the limit, or perhaps we should say, the ground’s the limit for SDSU’s stable of running backs.

“I mean every back is different - like (Rashaad) Penny's a bigger back, but he's elusively fast," added Siragusa.

"Juwan Washington's really - he'll hit the hole and he'll juke everyone out. Pumph, all you have to do is give him the littlest of a seam and he's going to hit it for a big gainer."

"When you look up at that scoreboard and that stat sheet and you see 300+ yards rushing, 250+ yards rushing, and people know that you're going to rush the ball - and you still rush for that amount - as an O-Lineman, the feeling, that's what we take pride in."

Pumphrey enters his senior campaign just 318 yards shy of breaking Marshall Faulk’s school record for career rushing yards.

The first test comes Saturday when Siragusa and his teammates try to push the pile against the New Hampshire Wildcats. Kickoff at Qualcomm Stadium is set for 5:30 p.m. PT.

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