Aug. 19, 2000
SAN DIEGO - Working against a patch-work offensive line, the San Diego State defense dominated the early goings of the Aztecs' first scrimmage before seeing the offense rebound with a pair of late touchdown drives in front of an estimated Family Day crowd of 3,500 fans at Tony Gwynn Stadium Saturday.
"Overall today was a good effort," said head coach Ted Tollner, whose Aztecs will open the season in less that two weeks against Arizona State. "There were good things and bad things, but overall I think it was a good starting point."
The defense began flexing its muscles from the opening play from scrimmage, as junior strong safety Will Demps picked off a Jack Hawley pass, returning it seven yards before being run out of bounds. In all, the black-shirted Aztec defense would go on to force a total of four turnovers, including a fumble forced by walk-on cornerback Dante Gamble, who is making a strong push for starting duties opposite Ricky Sharpe. Defensive end Akbar Gbaja-Biamila also recovered a fumble, while linebacker Mac Cleary recorded SDSU's other interception.
"The defense is causing some havoc, turnover-wise, which makes it exciting for them," Tollner added. "We are a blitzing team and we like to move our linebackers around, which can be tough for a young offensive team to cope with at this point of the season."
The offense finally got untracked on its fourth possession, driving to the 10-yard-line. Sophomore quarterback Lon Sheriff, who completed 8-of-11 attempts for 88 yards, directed the Aztecs on their first scoring drive of the session, marching the offense 70 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Deric Martin. The drive, however, was keyed by three Sheriff to Thomas Howard hook-ups. Howard finished the workout with a scrimmage-high five receptions.
Not to be outdone, Hawley directed the Aztecs on field goal and touchdown drives of 70 yards each. The senior finished the scrimmage 10-of-19 passing for 171 yards, including a 62-yard strike to tight end Gray McNeill.
Junior James Truvillion led the Aztec rushing corps with 36 yards on nine carries, including a two-yard touchdown run and bursts of 14 and 20 yards. Sophomore Garric Simmons pitched in with 16 yards on five attempts, while freshman Justin Green totaled nine yards on four carries.
"We have to learn from today and correct our mistakes," Tollner concluded. "But that's were you would expect to be at this point with a young team."
San Diego State returns to the practice field for a light 1 p.m. practice on Sunday, before returning to its two-a-day schedule on Monday with workouts at 8:40 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. The Aztecs' final scrimmage of the fall will take place on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.
SCORING PLAYS
Deric Martin 20-yard pass from Lon Sheriff (Nate Tandberg PAT)
Nate Tandberg 27-yard field goal
James Truvillion 2-yard run (Tandberg PAT)
OFFENSIVE STATISTICS
Rushing - James Truvillion 9-36, Garric Simmons 5-16, Justin Green 4-9.
Receiving - Gray McNeill 3-87, Thomas Howard 5-58, Deric Martin 2-39, Brian Gelt 1-25, J.R. Tolver 2-22, Derrick Lewis 1-10, Sean Pierce 1-9, Craig Mitchell 1-6, Justin Stewart 1-4.
Passing - Jack Hawley 10-19-1-171, Lon Sheriff 8-11-1-88, Danny Armstrong 0-1-0-0, Jon Stoner 0-1-0-0.
DEFENSIVE STATISTICS
Tackles (Total-Solo) - Brian Russell 6-2, Ross Marchbanks 4-3, Stephen Larsen 4-1, Beau Trickey 3-2, Andrew Brigham 3-2, Akbar Gbaja-Biamila 3-2, Jared Ritter 3-1, Ricky Sharpe 3-1,Dante Gamble 3-1, Jay Kos 3-0, Greg Taylor 2-2, Garret Pavelko 2-2, Brian Berg 2-1, Jomar Butler 2-1, John Kent 2-1, DeAngelo Nedd 2-0, George Heather 1-1, Jerome Haywood 1-1, Chris Brooker 1-1, Anthony Foli 1-1, Will Demps 1-0, Dylan Robles 1-0, Ryan Iata 1-0, Marviel Underwood 1-0.
Tackles For Loss - Beau Trickey 1-(-5), Ross Marchbanks 1-(-3), Stephen Larsen 1/2-(-1), Dylan Robles 1/2-(-1), Akbar Gbaja-Biamila 1/2-(-1), Amon Arnold 1/2-(-1).
Fumbles Recovered-Yards - Brian Russell 1-0.
Fumbles Forced - Dante Gamble 1, Akbar Gbaja-Biamila 1.
Pass Interceptions-Yards - Will Demps 1-12, Mac Cleary 1-2.
Passes Broken Up - Amon Arnold 2, Brian Berg 1.
Sacks-Yards Lost - Andrew Brigham 2 1/2-(-21), DeAngelo Nedd 1 1/2-(-10), Akbar Gbaja-Biamila 1-(-9), Jomar Butler 1-(-7), Anthony Foli 1-(-7), Jerome Haywood 1-(-6), Ross Marchbanks 1-(-4).
KICKING
Punting - Justin Sisco 4-151-37.8, Brian Simnjanovski 4-170-42.5.
FG - Nate Tandberg 1-2, 27 yards.