As a particularly robust August (Olympics!  Presidential races!  The Dark Knight rolling towards box office immortality!) reaches its midpoint, I imagine we in the Irish blogging business should begin looking ahead to this season's opponents.  When you go 3-9, you're not allowed to overlook anyone, so Michigan will be placed on the backburner – occasionally stirred, but not the focus of our attention - until the evening of September 6^th, when the first contest against San Diego State has been decided.

Coach Chuck Long, former Heisman Trophy runner-up, is in his third season, and despite a pledge to "Win now" way back in December 2005, his team has struggled mightily to do so since he took over.  The story linked above makes it seem as if there is limited pressure on Long, who is making slight progress in local recruiting and in the middle of a five-year, $700,000 per year (plus incentives) contract after time spent working under Bob Stoops at Oklahoma as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.  Unless that article is drastically underestimating the need for Long to start winning now in year three, there will be considerably more pressure on the sidelines in South Bend than in San Diego during the season, although there are dissenting opinions.

On paper, it doesn't appear as if Long has a whole lot to work with in 2008.  On offense, he lost his quarterback and top two receivers in the NFL draft, but the Aztecs were a below average offensive team last season with a future third round pick running things.  It's hard to say what will happen without some pro talent there to support things, but it appears as if freshman Ryan Tindley will be in charge of running Long's offense.  Things did not go particularly well for Tindley – or any of the quarterbacks, for that matter – in the spring game, where he went 2 for 7 with a pick.  Things certainly turned around in Saturday's spring game, where he was a crisply efficient 11 for 13 for 125 yards and three scores.  It's looking like it will be a committee at running back, with former quarterback Darren Mougey and sophomore Vincent Brown on the outside.  Bottom line for the San Diego State offense is that they're replacing the quarterback and wide receivers in an offense that wasn't good at running the ball last year, meaning there could be some big problems in producing points.

The defense has a slew of starters remaining, but it's debatable whether that is a good thing considering the Swiss cheese-like performance they turned in last season.  If trends continue from last season, it'll be a blessing for the much beleaguered Irish offensive line, since the Aztecs ranked 107^th in the country last year in sacks, registering only 1.25 per game.  The Robert Hughes (or James Aldridge) Show should also continue rolling on, as the fine gentlemen up front for SDSU gave up 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns – on a 6.5 per carry average – in the final four games alone.  Before he broke all of our hearts at SBN and departed for Yahoo, Sunday Morning QB Matt Hinton put together this handy chart of just how bad the Aztec defense was:

The one guy you really feel for in this whole mess is linebacker Russell Allen, the only guy on the team to have a hint of All-Mountain West honors last season and a pick in the preseason's All-MWC team.  The team is 12-24 in his time there, despite some amazing efforts from Allen, who averaged over ten tackles a game last season, highlighted by a 22 takedown effort against a very good Utah team.  This story makes him seem like the perfect player, teammate and representative for a university, and it seems safe to say that if one Aztec is making a consistent impact when the Irish are on offense, it'll be Allen.

Injuries have maimed the front line of San Diego State defense, and they're turning to a massive man with a sledgehammer, which I happen to think is a fantastic solution to any problem.  It's possible Darias Jones will be putting a little pressure on the Irish defense come September 6^th, but I doubt he'll be in too great of playing shape that early in the season.  Jones is probably more of a beacon of hope for a downtrodden unit than anything else, which makes him a perfectly good story but not a particularly important factor come the season opener.   

When things have been as dour as they were the past few years for the Aztecs (as dour as things can get in southern California), you need to get creative in both motivational tactics and training.  Coach Long chose to embrace the strong ties between the Navy and San Diego, taking his team to Marine boot camp at the start of the season and unearthing a 28-year old linebacker who is a Navy veteran.  Apparently the Chargers did this in 1963 and won the AFL Title, so it seems like a fool proof plan for dominance in 2008.  At the very least, since the Marines are under the Department of the Navy, they’ll learn how to leap over running backs trying to block you.  To the video: