SDSU defends handling of Araiza gang rape allegation inquiry

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
0 Comments

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State football coach Brady Hoke said Monday he didn’t know star punter Matt Arazia had been accused of participating in the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at an off-campus party in October until a civil lawsuit was filed last week.

Hoke’s boss, athletic director John David Wicker, defended the school administration’s decision to obey the San Diego Police Department’s request to delay a campus-led inquiry into the alleged gang rape until authorities finish their criminal investigation. The incident happened on Oct. 17 at a Halloween party at a home where Araiza had been living.

Araiza, nicknamed the “Punt God” and honored as a consensus All-American for his booming kicks that helped SDSU to a school-best 12-2 season, was cut by the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, two days after the civil lawsuit containing graphic details was filed against him and former teammates Zaver Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko. Leonard and Ewaliko are no longer with the team, Wicker said.

The school’s decision to accede to the SDPD was criticized by rape survivor and public speaker Brenda Tracy, who was brought in by SDSU to speak to the football team and other male athletes nearly three weeks after the alleged assault. Tracy said in a statement posted on Twitter on Sunday night that she had been told by an SDSU staff member “that there was an incident that had happened.”

Tracy added that as she learns more details, “it is becoming more obvious that SDSU did not do the right thing. Institutions should not defer to police investigations. Title IX and criminal cases can run concurrently. … Even without the victim directly reporting to the school, her father did, and the school could have reached out to him. Anonymous tips, one of which included a name, should have been followed up on immediately.”

Wicker confirmed that Tracy had been brought to campus.

“It is absolutely not true that we swept this under the rug because it was football, because we were having a successful season,” Wicker said. “That is not who we are and that is not who I am. That calls into question my morals and my ethics and that’s not true.”

Wicker and Hoke tried to avoid questions about the alleged gang rape at a news conference Monday. They read short statements and offered to answer questions about Saturday’s game against Arizona that will open SDSU’s new Snapdragon Stadium. When reporters continued to ask about the case, Wicker and Hoke walked out.

However, Wicker returned several minutes later and began answering questions.

“I still firmly believe that allowing SDPD to handle the investigation of this was the right way to go,” Wicker said. “SDPD asked us not to investigate because they felt like it would impede or potentially impact negatively their investigation, so we chose to do that.”

Wicker said that included even an informal investigation such as a coach asking a player if he had heard anything.

“SDPD asked us not to investigate. If we start asking questions you can tip someone off, and we’re not going to investigate,” Wicker said.

No arrests have been made and police have not publicly identified any suspects. The results of the police investigation are in the hands of the district attorney, although there is no timeline for a decision on whether charges will be filed. SDSU said it was cleared by the SDPD on July 22 to begin a campus investigation.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit is now 18. She is identified in the complaint as “Jane Doe” because she was underage at the time.

Attorney Kerry Armstrong, who represents Araiza in the criminal investigation, called the allegations untrue based on the findings of an investigator he hired.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that Araiza’s name surfaced in connection with the rape allegation within days of the party in at least one report made by student-athletes to San Diego State officials through an anonymous reporting system.

Asked if he knew about that anonymous report, Hoke said: “I was not aware.”

Asked at what point he first heard Araiza’s name mentioned, Wicker said: “We did not receive confirmation from anyone that was party to the event until the civil lawsuit dropped.”

Meanwhile, the Bills say they have moved on from Araiza.

“We’re already past it. It’s over with,” offensive lineman Dion Dawkins said after the Bills returned to practice Monday, two days after the team announced Araiza’s release. “He’s not here. It’s not our problem. Done.”

Dawkins acknowledged he was he was troubled by the allegations made against Araiza in the lawsuit.

“The thoughts always come, but you’ve just got to try to keep your mind right and not think about stuff that you can’t really control,” Dawkins said. “Because if you think about all the rest of the messed-up stuff that goes on in the world, you’ll literally malfunction.”

Before practice, coach Sean McDermott addressed the players about Araiza’s release, which was announced more than two hours after the team completed practice on Saturday. Team officials, including McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane, were first made aware of the allegations when they were told in late July that Araiza was one of a number of San Diego State players targeted in a police investigation.

Araiza was set to become Buffalo’s punter when the team released Matt Haack last week, but the Bills then reversed course. Center Mitch Morse defended the team’s handling of the situation.

“I think they’ve handled it admirably because I don’t envy those situations,” he said. “In the end, I do think they made the right decision.”

San Diego State players get first look at Snapdragon Stadium

Boise State v San Diego State
Getty Images
1 Comment

SAN DIEGO – After playing home games in a Los Angeles suburb the last two seasons, San Diego State’s football players loaded into buses Wednesday afternoon for the 10-minute drive to their new stadium.

They liked what they saw of 35,000-seat Snapdragon Stadium so much that they were already looking forward to what it will be like having a home-field advantage again when it opens Sept. 3 with a game against Arizona.

Linebacker Caden McDonald said getting to open a new stadium in the school’s 100th season of football was a big reason why he came back for his senior season.

“My last two seasons, I’ve been in Carson. I haven’t been able to play San Diego football in San Diego,” McDonald said. “We’ve been in Carson. So, this is truly going to be a blessing to be able to play in front of San Diego fans in San Diego.”

The Aztecs haven’t played in San Diego since 2019. Due to the pandemic affecting the 2020 schedule, the school decided to move up demolition of 70,000-seat SDCCU Stadium earlier than originally planned to help expedite construction of Snapdragon Stadium. The stadium is the first phase of a campus expansion in Mission Valley.

The Aztecs went 12-2 last year for the best season in school history. But because they played 116 miles from campus in Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, many of their fans didn’t see them in person. SDSU went 6-2 in Carson, including a thrilling three-overtime win over Utah of the Pac-12 and a victory against Boise State that clinched the Mountain West Conference’s West Division title. That meant making one more trip up the freeway for the conference championship game, which the Aztecs lost 46-13 to Utah State.

SDSU bounced back with a Frisco Bowl win over UTSA to finish No. 25 in The Associated Press poll.

“Having the convenience of being 10 minutes from the campus is going to be a game-changer for sure,” McDonald said after the seniors were the first group of players to tour the stadium, which is still under construction. “This is what it’s about. This is how college football is supposed to be, not playing 14 away games a year. Now we actually get a home-field advantage. This will definitely be one of the best home-field advantages in college football this season.”

The Aztecs said the first thing that jumped out at them is how steep the stands are and how close they are to the field.

“I’m not a design guy, but I tell you, the fans are going to be right on top of you and it’s going to be a great atmosphere,” said coach Hoke, who has been to the new stadium a few times. “When it’s your home place, it’s great, believe me. I think it makes a difference, especially if you’re playing well.”

Athletic director J.D. Wicker said all of Snapdragon Stadium, other than the top of the west side upper deck, would have fit inside the field-level seating at SDCCU Stadium. “It’s very intimate and that’s what we were going for,” Wicker said. “We’ve got a great example in a basketball arena on campus of an intimate facility that’s steep and is a lot of excitement and that’s what we’re going to have here.”

Snapdragon Stadium is going up just west of where SDCCU Stadium stood since 1967. After the NFL’s Chargers bolted for Los Angeles following the 2016 season, San Diego State won a ballot measure that gave it the right to buy the majority of the Mission Valley site for a campus expansion and new football stadium.

Senior wide receiver Jesse Matthews, who grew up in San Diego, voted for that ballot measure in November 2018. Now he gets to play in the stadium.

“That’s cool how it all came full circle,” he said. “I wasn’t sure when they were going to get it done. But it’s a perfect storm, our 100th season, my senior year, being back home after being on the road for two years, it’s incredible.”

The Aztecs have sold 11,500 season tickets with a goal of 18,000, Wicker said.

The ground-up concrete from SDCCU Stadium is in a massive pile about 150 yards east of Snapdragon Stadium. It will be used as fill at the campus expansion site.

Georgia No. 1 in AP poll for second time, with Alabama No. 2

enna Watson/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK
0 Comments

INDIANAPOLIS- Georgia is No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll, earning their second national title by beating Alabama on Monday night.

The Bulldogs received all 61 first-place votes to be a unanimous No. 1 for the ninth time this season. Georgia’s only other time finishing No. 1 was 1980.

The Tide finished No. 2, giving the Southeastern Conference the top two teams in the final rankings for the third time since 2011.

Michigan was No. 3, the Wolverines best final ranking since winning the national championship in 1997 and their first top-10 finish since 2006.

No. 4 Cincinnati, which became the first team from outside the Power Five conferences to reach the playoff, finished with its best final ranking.

As did No. 5 Baylor. The Bears previous best finish in the AP poll was No. 7 in 2014.

Ohio State was No. 6 and Oklahoma State finished seventh. The Cowboys had their best finish in the poll since they were third in 2011.

Notre Dame was eighth, Michigan State was ninth and Oklahoma was 10th, giving the Big 12 three top 10 teams.

For Michigan State, its the Spartans first top-10 finish since a string of three straight from 2013-15. The two Big Ten schools from the state of Michigan last both finished the season ranked in the top 10 in 1999.

Utah was No. 12, BYU was 19th and Utah State was No. 24, marking the first time the Beehive State has had all three of its major college football teams finish the season ranked.

Clemson finished 14th, snapping a string of six straight seasons in which the Tigers were no worse than fourth in the final Top 25.