While four players continue to compete for the job of placekicker, Tashi Dorje has known since the final practice of spring drills that he's the No. 1 punter for the San Diego State Aztecs.
That's a big deal for the Aztecs, who find themselves in the rare position of replacing both their kicker and punter as they head into the first season of the reborn Pac-12 Conference. Having one specialist locked in for all of fall camp will give that unit a jump on getting ready for one of the most-anticipated seasons in school history.
Dorje is a senior from Brentwood who started his career by playing two seasons at College of San Mateo in Northern California. He punted 70 times in 23 games there, with an average of 42.6 yards and a long of 66 yards. He landed 30 punts inside the 20.
He transferred to SDSU last year and backed up Hunter Green, who earned second-team All-Mountain West honors before transferring to Washington . Dorje punted three times for a total of 150 yards, including a career-long 60-yarder in the rain at Hawaii.
"I just think it's about me going out there and doing my best every single rep," he said during camp. "I know I'm more than capable and I have all the talent, all the abilities to do it. Just putting it together and putting my team in the best place. I think that's one of the biggest things I've been trying to focus on. It is all about the team, the team, the team."
It remains to be seen whether Dorje can come close to replicating the success of Matt Araiza, aka the "Punt God," whose ability to flip the field with his strong leg was a big factor in SDSU going a school-best 12-2 in 2021. Araiza, now with the Kansas City Chiefs , won the Ray Guy Award and was a unanimous All-American.
But Dorje is going into the season with that mindset as the Aztecs look to build on last fall's 9-4 bounceback season under coach Sean Lewis.
"What can I do to help the team? What can I do to put us in a better field position so the defense can go out and get a safety? How can we be in better field position? How can I get us out of bad field position? It's just doing the little things right, focusing on how I can help my teammates," he said.
"I'm asking him to do a lot. We're asking him to do a lot of different stuff. We're changing the drop angle. He's being asked to hit a multitude of punts. He's just not going straight back and hitting a turnover," Barton said. "We're asking him to hit different sides of the ball. Sometimes I'm asking him to put it out of bounds and punters know that's not really easy. We're asking him to move around with new rules. We're asking him to move around quite a bit in the "A" gap to do some different things."
Having already won the starting job, the Aztecs are counting on Dorje to be the leader of the kicking units.
"He's gone from last year where he's the backup to a whole different scenario," Barton said. "Now he's the guy, and everybody knows he's the guy. Last year Gabe was the leader of that unit. That whole group knew Gabe was the leader. Now Tashi is that guy. So not only has he continued to get better, but he's also got to lead the group. Everybody's looking at him, me included, and he's done a fantastic job with that. That kid is obsessed with playing football. He's obsessed with it, and since camp started, he's gotten dramatically better, which is a huge testament to that kid's work ethic."
The Aztecs will have their 15th practice of fall camp on Friday. On Saturday, it'll be just two weeks before the season opener against Portland State at Snapdragon Stadium. After three more non-conference games, including James Madison at home and UCLA and Toledo on the road, SDSU will begin its Pac-12 era on Oct. 3 by hosting Texas State.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/san-diego-state as San Diego State's new punter has already been handed a major leadership role .
