San Diego State opens its 89th season of intercollegiate football, its 43rd at the Division I level and first under head coach Rocky Long on Saturday night against Cal Poly at Qualcomm Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT and will mark the first regular-season game played at Qualcomm Stadium in 2011.
When the Aztecs last left Qualcomm Stadium, 254 days ago on gameday, they were putting the finishing touches on a magical season by comfortably defeating Navy, 35-14, in the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl. The bowl game victory, the school’s first since 1969, capped a nine-win season, its’ most victories since the 1977 campaign.
Shortly after the completion of the season, the Aztecs named Long as the school’s 18th head coach. Long served the previous two seasons on Montezuma Mesa as the defensive coordinator and ushered in the program’s dramatic turnaround on that side of the ball.
Joining Long are 37 returning letter winners, including 14 returning starters, from the 2010 squad. Among that group are four student-athletes who appear on national watch lists – senior linebacker Miles Burris, sophomore running back Ronnie Hillman, senior quarterback Ryan Lindley and senior place-kicker Abelardo Perez. Additionally, senior cornerback Leon McFadden and senior punter Brian Stahovich were preseason all-conference selections as voted on by the league’s media.
San Diego State owns a 13-11 lead in the series with Cal Poly, but the Mustangs have won the last two games – 16-14 on Oct. 28, 2006 and 29-27 on Aug. 30, 2008. Although the Aztecs have won seven of the last nine, Saturday will mark 16,044 days since SDSU’s last victory over the Mustangs (26-20, Sept. 30, 1967). The No. 1 song in the country that day was The Letter by The Box Tops.
