San Diego State University’s football team will hold its annual FanFest Saturday, Aug. 17, at SDCCU Stadium. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. for fans; the team will take the field for an intrasquad scrimmage at 5:30 p.m.
Castle Park High School alumnus Luq Barcoo is entering his second year with the Aztecs. He feels he’s ready to contribute and become a team leader his senior season.
His goal has always been, in his words, “just being a leader, being an all-around guy.”
Barcoo graduated from Castle Park in 2016 and has striven to overcome adversity and obstacles in the way of his path to success, including poverty as a child.
Through his struggles over the years, he has become someone in the community to look up to, a role model for younger people who might find themselves in the same circumstances in which he found himself.
“I started there from the bottom my freshman year and moved to the top,” Barcoo recalled of his days as a Trojan. “I worked my way up to being the go-to guy, the leader, a team captain. That was my most pleasurable moment.”
Barcoo earned three letters while at Castle Park and did a little bit of everything with the Trojans. He rushed for 472 yards (8.4 average) and six touchdowns over his final two seasons while catching 71 passes for 1,314 yards and 15 touchdowns. On defense, me made 74 tackles, including 52 solo stops, four tackles for a loss, five interceptions, nine pass break-ups and blocked a field goal attempt.
The Trojans finished 8-4 in 2014 and advanced to the San Diego Section Division IV semifinals. Barcoo finished second on the team with 899 all-purpose yards as the team won the Metro-Pacific League championship.
Castle Park finished 7-5 in 2015 and advanced to the Division IV quarterfinals while once again winning the league title. Barcoo led the team with 1,087 all-purpose yards and 12 touchdowns, including 804 yards and 10 touchdowns as a receiver.
He subsequently played two seasons at Grossmont College, earning a scholarship to SDSU after his sophomore season with the Griffins.
He played both sides of the ball at Grossmont College, where he was an all-conference selection.
He caught 35 passes for 767 yards (21.9 average) and seven touchdowns his sophomore year while finishing his community college career with three interceptions on defense.
“It was good,” Barcoo summed up. “It was similar to my Castle Park experience. I started at the bottom. The second year I had a deep talk with the coach and we had a good season. I wound up as a team captain and led the team in receptions and touchdowns. I played both ways.
He said the highlight of his experience with the Griffins was earning a scholarship to SDSU.
“The crazy part is that I had always wanted to play at SDSU since my freshman year in high school,” he said. “It was a dream come true.”
Barcoo appeared in 11 games off the bench for SDSU last season, logging 20 tackles, one interception, four pass break-ups and a quarterback hurry.
He played 359 snaps last year — the most by an Aztec on either side of the ball without a start.
Single-game bests included six tackles against San Jose State, one interception against New Mexico and two pass break-ups against Boise State.
“Just like Castle Park and Grossmont, I felt like I started at the bottom and worked my way up,” Barcoo related. “This year I want to kill it. I have familiarized myself with the playbook. I want to show what I can do.”
He is expected to start opposite Darren Hall this season after finding his way into the Aztec two-deep last year. He may also see some playing time on special teams.
After playing on both sides of the line of scrimmage, how does the offense and defense stack up in his mind?
“I like receiver, scoring touchdowns,” he said. “But I like defense because of the challenge. Playing corner is one of the hardest positions to play. There’s a lot of mental challenges, mental responsibility that comes with it. That’s the challenge I like to win.
“I know I can be a dominant player at the position. I want to be a lock-down corner.
“That’s my ultimate goal. I know I have to be patient and work hard.”
Extra points
Barcoo is among four South County prep products on the current SDSU roster, joining junior offensive lineman Dominic Gudino (Olympian), redshirt freshman offensive lineman William Dunkle (Eastlake) and junior running back Greg Bell (Bonita Vista), a transfer from the University of Nebraska.
Gudino started eight games in 2018 while battling through various leg injuries. Overall, he played in 10 of the Aztecs’ 13 games last season, starting five games at center and three at right guard.
The six-foot-three, 300-pound former Eagle standout is projected as the back-up center to two-time all-Mountain West performer Keith Ismael.
Gudino played in eight games with six starts as a true freshman in 2017. Eight of his 10 career starts have come at center and four at right guard.
Gudino earned three varsity letters at Olympian, recording 97 tackles, including 71 unassisted tackles and 12 tackles for a loss.
While an Eagle, he earned first team all-league and first-team all-CIF honors and was a Blue-Grey All-American. He served as Olympian team captain for two years.
Despite not having played in a college game, Dunkle (6-5, 300), a three-time all-league selection and all-CIF honoree, is projected to start at right guard.
He was a member of Eastlake’s 2017 CIF runner-up team.
School of hard knocks
Bell, the No. 2-rated junior college running back in the 2018 class, suffered a non-football injury during the offseason and is not expected to play this season, according to SDSU head coach Rocky Long.
Bell has undergone surgery and is not expected to return to active status this season. He has one year of eligibility left unless the team seeks a medical redshirt to preserve an additional season.
A first team JC All-American in each of his two seasons at Arizona Western Community College, Bell amassed 2,404 rushing yards while drawing scholarship offers from Nebraska, Boise State, Arizona State, Arizona and Louisville.
Preseason picks
The Aztecs are picked to finish second in the Mountain West’s West Division behind Fresno State this season.
SDSU finished 7-6 last year en route to claiming the program’s ninth consecutive bowl bid. The Aztecs lost, 27-0, to the Ohio Bobcats in the Frisco Bowl.
SDSU kicks off the 2019 regular season with an Aug. 31 non-conference game against Weber State at SDCCU Stadium before travelling to UCLA on Sept. 7 and New Mexico State on Sept. 21.
The Aztecs open MW play with a Sept. 21 game against Utah State at SDCCU Stadium.
