On a day when former San Diego State football greats George Jones and Will Blackwell watched the NFL draft to learn of their new destinations, the current Aztecs worked out on the same field that enabled Jones and Blackwell to become NFL prospects.
On Saturday morning, the SDSU football team completed its second scrimmage of the spring football camp at the AzTrack in front of a lively crowd. Although the team’s overall performance was no Rembrandt, several individuals stood out.
“Overall, I thought that we made some plays with the pass,” head coach Ted Tollner said. “Taj Johnson, in particular, made some nice catches.”
After Az Hakim went out of the scrimmage due to a nagging hip-flexor, Johnson (last year’s University of Miami transfer) stepped up as the leading wide receiver, producing five catches for 87 yards and a touchdown.
Although his touchdown was only from three yards out, the catch was acrobatic as he extended his body to make a diving reception.
“Taj played well out there today,” offensive coordinator Dave Lay said. “He showed some good signs and made some nice catches.”
Delivering the ball was quarterback Kevin McKechnie. After a rough start, McKechnie finished with an impressive performance, completing nine of 13 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown.
“I played all right today,” McKechnie said. “I was moving the ball down the field, even though I had some early mental breakdowns. Overall, I thought I did all right, although there is still some room for improvement.”
The offensive surprise of the scrimmage was junior running back Tyrone Evans, who carried the ball five times for 46 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown and an impressive 40-yard scamper that eventually set up a touchdown.
Although there were some offensive standouts, the real story of the scrimmage was the defensive line. Coming off the ball with a fury, the defensive line ate up the offensive line and ran over any blockers who got in its way.
“I was disappointed with the performance of the offensive line,” Tollner said. “But by the same token, I was really impressed with the defensive line. They had some real highlights.”
Among the highlights was senior defensive lineman Cameron Chance, who registered two sacks in the scrimmage, including a tackle for a loss.
“The effort was good; the effort was definitely there,” Chance said. “Overall, we came out with a purpose, and we accomplished it.”
Complementing Chance on the defensive line was Darryl Jones. The Washington State transfer chipped in a sack as well and busted right up the middle on several occasions. His presence alone disrupted the Aztecs’ running game the entire morning.
The defensive line finished the day with six sacks and five tackles for losses, and it held running backs Justin Watson and Marty Graham to a mere 19 yards on 11 carries.
Even though defensive linemen are battling for starting positions, the players focused on the defensive line as a whole, rather than individual starting spots.
“It’s not as competitive in a cutthroat way. It’s a collective effort,” Jones said. “We have tremendous talent on both first and second teams.”
The rest of the defense had a commendable performance as well.
In special teams, punter Donald Copeland averaged just 39 yards on three punts, 12 yards shy of last week’s average. Place kicker Nate Tandberg connected on two of four field goals, including a 46-yarder.
Although spring drills are a rough indication of game-time performance, the Red and Black are showing some much needed defensive improvement.
“I think we’re on the road to learning this thing,” defensive coordinator Claude Gilbert said. “I’m really pleased with our progress, and, overall, the spring has been very good defensively. We’re learning to play on a more consistent and aggressive level.”
SDSU will wrap up spring practices on Friday when they complete their third and final inter-squad scrimmage.
