While there was little intrigue involving Ryan Lindley's coronation as the starting quarterback, there remained ample mystery surrounding the offensive line yesterday when San Diego State released a revised two-deep chart.

The Aztecs, who projected two redshirt freshmen to start at the tackle spots at the conclusion of spring drills, are unlikely to open the season with either when the season begins Aug. 30 against Cal Poly.

With left tackle Mike Matamua facing season-ending foot surgery Friday and right tackle Kurtis Gunther failing to hold off senior Lance Louis in a training camp battle, the Aztecs will offer considerably more experience across the offensive front than originally anticipated.

The latest two-deep chart lists Louis, a converted tight end, and junior Peter Nelson, a converted defensive lineman, as No. 1 at the tackle spots. No less surprising, however, was the naming of junior Ikaika Aken-Moleta as the starter at right guard. A third-year player who missed spring drills last year because of academic issues, Aken-Moleta was awarded the assignment when Louis, who moved to guard last season, bested Gunther.

“He's come a long way since we've been here,” coach Chuck Long said of Aken-Moleta, one of 27 players left on the roster from the previous coaching regime of Tom Craft. “We weren't quite sure whether he was going to stay here or not. He got way overweight (in excess of 330 pounds), but he worked hard to slim down. Now he's just under 300 and he's done a great job. He kept plugging along, finally bought in to what we were asking of him, and now he's our right guard.”

Injury update

In addition to Matamua, it appears sophomore defensive tackle Neil Spencer will be lost for the season after suffering a severe shoulder injury this month.

Meanwhile, senior defensive tackle Siaosi Fifita (knee), who was listed as a starter on the revised two-deep chart, continues to walk with the aid of crutches. Long, who said it would be “pushing it” to expect Fifita to be ready for the opener, simultaneously acknowledged that backup Darias Jones, who has been in camp less than a week, is not ready to play.

In the event Fifita is unable to go, the team's starting defensive tackles would be junior Jonathan Soto and sophomore Ernie Lawson.

Extra point

Davion Mauldin, a player whose praises have been sung by Long since the beginning of camp, is expected to open the season as the team's punt returner. Mauldin, a junior who will also serve as the deep man on kickoffs, averaged 34.5 yards on kickoffs last season at Cerritos College.