San Diego State is gearing up for another exciting season of college football in America’s finest city. The Aztecs return to Qualcomm this season as the Mountain West Co-Champions. None of the major publications are giving San Diego State a chance at winning the conference this season. San Diego State is being picked by many to finish in second place in the newly constructed West Division (Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State and UNLV).

Aztecs held a record of 3-2 against teams from the “West Division” last season. The two Aztec losses came against Fresno State and San Jose State. The biggest game of the 2013 will be against rival Fresno State. The team who wins that game will most likely win the West Division. We expect the record for the winning team to be 5-0.

The chart below shows predictions on whom will win the West Division. Athlon has San Diego State in third place behind San Jose State and Fresno State.

Publication	Link	Place	Record
Athlon	Link	3rd	7-5
Examiner	Link	2nd	NA
Scout	Link	2nd	9-4
Yard Barker (Fox)	Link	2nd	8-4

The following members of the Aztec football team have been named to national awards lists safety Nat Berhe (Jim Thorpe Award), running back Adam Muema (Maxwell Award) and linebacker Jake Fely (Bednarik Award).

Non- Conference Schedule
Aug. 31 — Eastern Illinois
Sept. 7 — at Ohio State (ESPN 2)
Sept. 21 — Oregon State (CBS Sports)
Sept. 28 — at New Mexico State

Conference Schedule:
Oct. 4^th – Nevada (ESPN)
Oct. 10^th – at Air Force (CBS Sports)
Oct. 26^th – Fresno State (ESPN Networks)
Nov. 2^nd – New Mexico
Nov. 9^th – at San Jose State (CBS Sports)
Nov. 16^th – at Hawaii (CBS Sports)
Nov. 23^rd – Boise State (CBS Sports)
Nov. 30^th – at UNLV (ESPN Networks)
Key Losses:

• Gavin Escobar (Drafted No. 47 Dallas Cowboys)
• Leon McFadden (Drafted No. 68 Cleveland Browns)
• Brice Butler (Drafted No. 209 Oakland Raiders).
• Nik Embernate (Signed NDFA by Pittsburgh Steelers)
• Ryan Katz (Signed NDFA by Denver Broncos)

Key Pick-Ups:

• QB Quinn Kaehler (Transfer): 309-511 with 4044 yards passing and 38 TD’s. He is a transfer from Diablo Valley Community College.
• OL Lenicio Noble (Transfer): Noble is six foot two and weighs 285 pounds. Second-team All-Western States Football League pick as a sophomore in 2012.

Key Returning Starters on Offensive:

• RB Adam Muema (Junior): 237 attempts for 1,458 yards and 16 touchdowns. Muema averaged 6.15 YPC (yards per carry) and 112 yards YPG (yards per-game) last season.
• QB Adam Dingwell (Junior): 93-144 for 939 yards and eight touchdowns.
• WR Ezell Ruffin (Junior): 17 receptions for 319 yards and zero touchdowns.
• WR Colin Lockett (Senior): 20 receptions for 293 yards and three touchdowns.

Key Returning Starters on Defense:

• S Nat Berhe (Senior): 94 tackles, two interceptions and five defended passes.
• LB Jake Fely (Senior): 90 tackles, seven sacks and two forced fumbles.
• LB Derek Largent (Junior): 61 tackles, six and a half sacks, two interceptions and one forced fumble.

Flying Under the Radar:

• LB Ryan Jack (red shirted last season)
• LB Micah Seau (red shirted last season)
• TE Aaron Boesch (transferred last season)
• TE/QB Darryl Richardson (Freshman)
• LB Dakota Turner (Freshman)
• WR Christian Cumberlander (Freshman)

Position Player Breakdowns:

• Quarterbacks (Link)
• Running Backs (Link)
• Wide Receivers (Link)
• Defense (Link)

PS: We love user comments please feel free to comment in the comment box! We will begin releasing position player articles next week. Please let us know if you liked this article!

Thank you for visiting our site!

Make sure you are following @SanDiego_Sports on Twitter and San Diego Sports Domination on Facebook for updates and information about San Diego Sports.