March 21, 2016
Past Mick McGrane 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 Emerging From Shadows (Aug. 28)
Pumphrey Prioritizes Winning in Rush to Stardom (Sept. 2)
Aztecs Positioned to Take Next Step in '15 (Sept. 4)
Aztecs Look to Get Offense in Gear (Sept. 6)
Penny's Stock Rising on Rate of Returns (Sept. 7)
Sorry, No Apologies Forthcoming (Sept. 11)
Seeking a Solution at Quarterback (Sept. 18)
Aztecs, Hauck Have Something Special (Oct. 2)
Aztecs Positioned to Make Statement (Oct. 22)
Aztecs Deliver Message to MW (Oct. 24)
Aztecs' O-Line Removing All Doubt (Oct. 30)
Aztecs' Offense in High Gear (Nov. 15)
Long has Razed, Resurrected Aztecs (Nov. 20)
Aztecs Have Taken the Long Way Home (Nov. 27)
Aztecs Roll with Punches --- and Pumphrey (Nov. 29)
A Future Flush with Fortune (Dec. 2)
A New Dark Side Dawns at SDSU (Dec. 4)
SDSU's Potential Packed with Promise (Dec. 6)
For Aztec Fans, the Fun has Just Begun (Dec. 12)
2016
Continuity Makes a Comeback (Jan. 15)
SDSU Hits Its Stride in Recruiting Race (Feb. 4)
Aztecs Knock Down Doors on Recruiting Trail (Feb. 9)
Ernie Lawson Comes Home to New World (March 17)
Juwan Washington now has Room to Roam
By Mick McGrane, @GoAztecs.com Senior Writer (@MickOnTheMesa)
As a rule, patience runs counter to every instinct inherent to a running back. He who hesitates is not only lost, but frequently left to view the world from an ear hole.
Yet as a member of a team whose running back corps in recent seasons has grown deeper than an abyss, San Diego State's Juwan Washington last season had little to do but practice patience. When Saturdays rolled around, he had nowhere to run. He was a redshirt freshman doing what redshirt freshman do, providing a preview of the week's coming opponent.
The scout team player.
It's not employment for the fragile or the reluctant. Scout teams are little more than smorgasbords for starting players into which to sink their teeth, a wide variety of tempting morsels to mash.
Rather than present himself as a tasty tidbit, however, Juwan Washington was soon ruining appetites. Assigned to carry the ball against a defense that has established itself as one of the nation's best, Washington made it clear that it if someone had designs on turning him into tackling dummy they'd first have to catch him.
And so it was on the third play of the Aztecs' annual Spring Game on Saturday that Washington, his scout team days done forever, skipped outside and raced 48 yards for the day's lone touchdown on just the third play. He finished with 111 yards on 13 carries.
"It's good having a guy on your scout team who makes your defense work," said Coach Rocky Long. "It's not surprising to see what he did out here today, because he used to do it on the scout team all the time."
Not that he'll be doing it all the time when the Aztecs reconvene for fall camp in August, however. Washington, who in three seasons rushed for 5,139 yards and 75 touchdowns at Kennedale High in Kennedale, Texas, is far from the front of the line. SDSU, which last season ranked 14th in the nation in rushing offense, returns the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year in senior Donnel Pumphrey, as well as junior running back Rashaad Penny, who was tabbed the MW Special Teams Player of the Year. Add junior Marcus Stamps to the mix, and the 5-foot-7, 175-pound Washington is facing a tall order.
"All four of them will be used in different situations," said Long, "but it will be based on the game plan and who we're playing."
Which is just fine with Washington, who opted to attend SDSU after drawing interest from the likes of Baylor, BYU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, TCU and USC.
"Last year, I was going up against one of the top defenses in the nation, so going against them every day helped me get better and helped them get better," Washington said. "I just tried to watch and learn. That's really how I spent the whole fall, just trying to take it all in and learn what (the other running backs) were doing and seeing what I needed to do to get better."
During his prep career, Washington, who might be SDSU's fastest player, averaged 9.5 yards per carry. As a senior, he scored 39 touchdowns while rushing for 2,695 yards. In 24 career games, he rushed for more than 300 yards five times.
"I'm going to do anything I can to help this team win," Washington said. "The only thing that matters is getting another (championship) ring on our finger. I'll play special teams, it really doesn't matter to me."
Particularly when playing in the shadow of Pumphrey, who is positioned to become the school's all-time leading rusher this season, Needing 318 yards to surpass former Aztec and NFL Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk. Washington says Pumphrey, who trails only Faulk in rushing yards (4,589/4,272) 100-yard games (23/22), rushing touchdowns (57/45), all-purpose yards (5,595/5,145) and touchdowns(62/50) has been a strong supporter during the sophomore running back's ascent from scout team to joining one of the deepest running back corps in the country.
"He's helped me out a lot," Washington said. "When I get a chance to get in there for a few plays, if I miss a hole or something, as soon as I get back to the sideline he tells me what I could've done to maybe break loose. And whenever he's in there, I'm always watching to see how he runs and what holes he hits. I just try and do the same thing.
"When you look at all the different things our (backs) can do, I don't know what other teams are going to do when they try and game-plan against us. There are so many different styles of running backs that we have. It's going to be really hard for other teams."
And a lot easier for an SDSU defense no longer tormented by a scout team player.