College Football Playoff: Which Top 25 teams are contenders, pretenders?
San Diego surprised many fans by finishing the 2016 season ranked in the AP Top-25. The Aztecs built their Mountain West-busting offense on the backs of a pair of prolific running backs,specifically all-time leading rusher Donnel Pumphrey and his backup Rashaad Penny.
While Pumphrey left the sunny beaches of southern California for the greener pastures of the NFL, Penny looks to build upon his 2016 season, and could also eclipse the 2,000-yard mark as the Aztec’s new lead back.
After amassing 1,018 rushing yards on 136 carries in 12 games last season, Penny has already recorded 716 rushing yards on only 91 carries in four games and is on pace to finish the season with 273 carries for 2,150 yards.
Penny’s powerful running style helped to will the Aztecs to a 20-17 victory over the then ranked Stanford Cardinals and is largely why the team remains undefeated so far into 2017.
The team’s ability to keep the clock moving on offense has greatly decreased the amount of time San Diego State’s defense spend on the field in any given game, and this abbreviated playing time has helped the Aztecs to field the 21st ranked defense in the nation.
As San Diego now looks ahead to their in-conference schedule for the remainder of the 2017 season, it is incredibly likely that the Aztecs will finish the season with a school best 12-0 record, but it could all be for not in the eyes of the College Football Playoff committees eyes.
In its short history, the playoff committee has never selected a non-power-5 team to compete in the playoffs, and even if San Diego State remains undefeated throughout the remainder of their season, it is incredibly unlikely that they will buck that trend after spending the majority of their season trapped in the Mountain West.