Sept. 2, 2015
#BeatUSD
Monday
SDSU Begins 2015 Campaign Saturday vs. USD
Tickets Available for SDSU-USD Football Game
Tuesday
Coach Long, Slater, Whittaker & Brunskill Press Conference
Past Mick McGrane 2014-15 football features
2014
Kaehler: A Thinking Man's Game (Aug. 5)
Whittaker: Long Time Gone, Never Forgotten (Aug. 6)
Life in the Weight Room: Hall's Strong Suit (Aug. 15)
Roberts: A Career Comes Full Circle (Aug. 21)
The Season's in Session, Take Your Seats (Aug. 29)
How Quickly we Forget (Sept. 7)
Looks can be Deceiving (Sept. 19)
O-Line has Aztecs' Running Game in High Gear (Oct. 23)
Falling Short is no Longer an Option for Aztec Football (Nov. 29)
Winds of Change: "Rise To 25" Fuels New Direction for Football (Dec. 23)
Pumphrey in Need of a Playing Partner (Dec. 24)
2015
Football no Longer Needs Sun to Sell Itself (Feb. 4)
Aztec Football is Flush with Experience in 2015 (Feb. 20)
Regardless of Road, Whittaker's Future is Flush with Success (July 23)
Gordon no Longer Wrestling with Football Future (July 30)
Kazee has the Corner Covered in Aztec D (Aug. 5)
Hageman has Given Boot to Aztec Kicking Woes (Aug. 14)
Life is a Snap for Aztecs' Overbaugh (Aug. 21)
Munson Shines upon Emering From Shadows (Aug. 28)
McGrane: Pumphrey Prioritizes Winning in Rush to Stardom
By Mick McGrane, @GoAztecs Senior Writer (@MickOnTheMesa)
Donnel Pumphrey was in his second day of fall camp in 2013 when former San Diego State and current New York Giant Nat Berhe introduced himself.
To be certain, it was far less a hi-how-are-you than a head-on collision, a scout team freshman running back meeting a menacing senior strong safety with little but mayhem on his mind.
"He gave me a pretty good lick and knocked my mouthpiece out," Pumphrey said. "But he was a guy who never gave less than 100 percent in practice, and it just made me want to succeed even more. After that, they put me with the starters."
Good move.
For all of the notoriety, the preseason all-world watch lists, statistics stacked too high to total, the All-American mentions and the potential to make the Mountain West his personal playground, Donnel (DJ) Pumphrey has little regard for recognition.
He has been affixed with his own hashtag (#Pumphitup), consumes enough print in a press guide to be subject to permanent ink stain and could be in line to be crowned the best on a list not short of notable names.
All of which would be greatly gratifying if Pumphrey remotely cared.
"I'm not really the kind of guy who's looking to be in the spotlight," he said. "I'm still the same guy I've always been, and I'm truly blessed to have my name up there with all of the great (running backs at SDSU).
"I met Marshall Faulk my freshman year, but he really didn't know who I was. Last year, he came to a game to watch me play, and it was a lot different when I talked to him. He knew who I was and it was really special. He told me to just keep grinding, that this wasn't the end for me, that it was only the beginning."
As the Aztecs prepare for this week's season opener against USD, Pumphrey does so having established a single-season school record last season with 1,867 yards. His average of 143.6 yards per game ranked fourth in the country, while his 20 rushing touchdowns ranked ninth nationally and represented the third-highest total in SDSU history. He was one of only two players nationally last season (the other was Chargers' first-round pick Melvin Gordon) to rank among the top 10 in rushing yards per game, all-purpose yards per game, rushing touchdowns and rushing yards per carry (6.76). And if it still matters that he stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 180 pounds (allegedly), reserve your place in line. SDSU has an extremely competent staff of a team doctors waiting to serve you.
"He is a very physical runner," said associate head coach and offensive coordinator Jeff Horton, who also oversees the team's running backs. "He plays like he's a 200-pound guy; he just explodes on you. "I don't know why anyone would even say (he's too small) anymore. He's proven what he can do. If you look at the load he's carried here the last two years, he's carried the ball a lot (401 rushing attempts). He plays every week and he's ready to come back for more. But that's part of who he is. He has that chip on his shoulder, and that's what makes him so special."
To wit: On 29 carries inside SDSU's 20-yard line, a place where space becomes increasingly sparse and ground is given with particular stubbornness, Pumphrey has amassed 297 career yards, an average of 10.2 yards per rush.
Asked if he might be considered the best back in America if he were 6-foot-1 and weighed 215, Pumphrey didn't hesitate.
"Yes, sir, because I know I'm one of the best right now. I don't fear anything. You have to be a dog to play this game. It's the most physical game there is. I have pads to protect me; I lift weights throughout the entire offseason to get stronger.
"I've always played with a chip on my shoulder, because people have always said that I was too small, that I would never play Division I. I love the doubters, because it just motivates me even more. I've always had the work ethic and I've always had coaches who have pushed me until they couldn't push me any harder."
Including Coach Rocky Long, a man not easily given to singing a player's praises.
"He's small, but he's also a guy who runs between the tackles really well," Long said. "We compare him to (former SDSU standout and current Denver Broncos running back) Ronnie Hillman, because when you look at somebody like Adam Muema (more than 1,300 yards rushing in 2012 and '13), you're talking about a guy who was 205 pounds.
"I think Ronnie is probably faster than Donnel. If you're talking about getting them the ball in space, they're very similar, because both of them are really good at making people miss. DJ catches the ball better than Ronnie. He pass-protects better than Ronnie. And he runs between the tackles a lot better than Ronnie. If things looked like they were plugged up in the middle, Ronnie was going to bounce it outside and see if he could outrun you. DJ will run it in there and run over people. At (180 pounds), I have absolutely no idea how he does it, but I'm really glad that he does."
And yet Pumphrey's contributions go well beyond taking on tacklers twice his size. He's also an accomplished receiver, one of just four players in the country to rush for at least 2,500 yards and have 350-plus receiving yards since 2013. Last season, he finished as SDSU's third-leading receiver, a feat not lost on Horton who admits to losing sleep while thinking of more ways to get the ball in Pumphrey's hands.
"He gets the ball a lot, so we have to be creative in getting it to him in different ways," Horton said of Pumphrey, who carried the ball 276 times last season. "He could be one of our starting receivers right now. He runs great routes, has good hands, but the thing about Donnel is that he understands football. You only have to tell him one time and he gets it. He has that God-given ability that makes him what he is.
"For him, it all starts with his work ethic. When one of your best players is also you're hardest worker, that's where it all starts. He busts his tail, whether it's in the weight room, on the practice field or in meetings watching film. He is the consummate player. He's always doing the little things that are going to parlay into success on the field."
Success that in Pumphrey's mind has little to do individual fanfare. His focus, first and foremost, is rectifying a 2014 season that saw SDSU fall a game short of playing for the Mountain West championship and, in turn, a trip to the Fiesta Bowl.
Having one's personal hashtag is all and well and good, but it's not easy finding peace of mind in a pound sign.
"Individually, last year was special, but it wasn't special enough," he said. "We reached one of our goals in getting to a bowl game, but the season didn't end the way we wanted, because we lost our last game.
"I want to be able to do everything I did last year, but I also want to be able to go for 2,000 yards and 20-plus touchdowns. I never want to get to the point where I'm satisfied. Our goal is to win a Mountain West championship. We want to go undefeated, and I really think we have a special team here. We have a lot of talented guys back and I think we have the team to go the distance."
They certainly have a running back that can.