LARAMIE, Wyo. — It was like a time bomb waiting to happen. It hadto occur someday. There was just too much potential for it not too.He has the size. He has the skill. He has the opportunity.
Saturday was J.R. Tolver’s coming out party. And he arrived in abig way.
The sophomore made seven receptions for 129 yards — 101 of themin the second quarter — to help an anemic passing game get off theground. Though none of his catches went for touchdowns, they wereinstrumental in setting up scores.
Such a performance was in stark contrast to the Oregon State game,when he dropped what would have been a 38-yard touchdown pass fromquarterback Lon Sheriff.
Tolver said in the two weeks leading up to Saturday, the drop wason his mind, acting as motivation.
“I remember that,” Tolver said. “Thirty-eight yard touchdown passand I dropped it. You can’t dwell on it, but you got to remember itto make you play better.”
Looks like it did.
Game within the game
Of course Derrick Lewis thought his 40-yard touchdown was special.But what made it even better, was that it came against an old foe.Sidney Lewis, the man assigned to cover Derrick Lewis, used to battleit out with him in the junior college ranks.
“It felt good to score on him,” Derrick Lewis said. “There was alot of trash talking out there tonight.”
Listen to your elders
After the blowout loss against OSU, junior defensive tackle JeromeHaywood said he was tired of losing and would do something about it.He said he was going to get on everybody — especially the defense.
He did. And they responded.
“At our first practice last Sunday, I said, ‘Hey, we’re going topractice hard. This scout team won’t get any yards,'” he said. “Theydidn’t get any yards. At practice on Tuesday, it was the same thing.On Wednesday, same thing. On Thursday, same thing.
“Before tonight’s game I told them, ‘Don’t give Wyoming anyyards.’ We gave them a few yards, but not very much.
“The numbers speak for themselves.”
Doingit for Monty
There they were after the game, belting out a stirring renditionof the “Aztecs Fight Song.” It had been November when they last sangit, so participation and volume were at a peak.
Tradition dictates SDSU singing its fight song after every win.With the controversy over the Aztecs nickname, safety Brian Russelltook extra pleasure in the experience.
“We won as Aztecs,” Russell said. “I wish the student body andadministration could see just how much pride we take in beingAztecs.”
Maybe a little too cold for Jerome
Last year, in the snow of Fort Collins, Colo., Haywood had thegame of his life, finishing with eight tackles. Afterward he said herelished being able to roll around in the snow and play in the coldweather. He reiterated the same point earlier in the week saying hehoped it snowed and wanted to see cold weather.
Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for. At the game’send the temperature — with wind chill factor — was eight degrees.
“It was hard,” Haywood said. “I like the cold but I ‘aint neverbeen this cold. But we came out on top. If it has to be like this forevery game, then so be it.”
Pitching a doughnut
To get a shutout is difficult. To get it with a bunch of backupsis even tougher. Even so, the Aztecs were able to do just that, aftersubstituting in the fourth quarter.
“We were pleased that we were able to empty our bench and do itwith our backup guys,” said defensive coordinator Ken Delgado. “It’simportant to get guys some experience, so we weren’t thinking aboutsaving the shutout. But we were happy when they did.”
Another thing coaches and players were happy with was that therewere almost no defensive lapses.
“We knew if we played four complete quarters, we could do goodthings,” said linebacker Ross Marchbanks. “The offense was clickingand that pumped us up a lot. It’s great playing defense with a lead.Our backups played great. They showed a lot of pride, keeping thatgoose egg up there.”
Said Haywood: “We said before the game, ‘If they can’t score, theycan’t win.’ We were due for a shutout and we got one.”
Turning point
In the first quarter, Wyoming quarterback lofted a pass right intothe hands of SDSU cornerback Donte Gamble. The Aztecs only got afield goal in the ensuing drive, but it was enough, as the Aztecsrolled.
Quotables
“We’re not dead yet, but our hearts are barely ticking.”
— Wyoming head coach Vic Koenning.
“Both of us had real good practices, so we flipped for it to seewho would start. I picked heads. It was tails”.
–Sophomore defensive end Amon Arnold on being replaced by AndrewBrigham in the starting lineup.
MWC Standings
1. SDSU 2. Colorado State 3. Air Force 4. UNLV 5. New Mexico 6. Brigham Young 7. Utah 8. Wyoming Conf. 1-0 1-0 2- 1-1 1-1 1-1 0-1 1 0-2 Overall 1-4 4-1 4-1 3-2 3-4 2-4 1-4 1-5
By the numbers
0.9 — Wyoming’s rushing average
4 — Kickoffs it took SDSU’s Brian Simnjanovski to reach the endzone in the 7,220-foot War Memorial Stadium
5 — Consecutive quarters the Aztecs have held their opponentsscoreless
41.3 — Aztecs net punting average
74 — Sean Pierce’s new career-high in receiving yards
129 — Tolver’s new career-high in receiving yards
147 — Minutes the Aztecs had gone without scoring before LarryNed’s two-yard touchdown run with 2:49 left in the first quarter.
