Aug. 18, 2016
2016 Mick McGrane Features
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 (March 21)
Peer Pressure? Not for Christian Chapman (Aug. 8)
McGrane: Penny is Worth Every Cent to Aztecs
By Mick McGrane, @GoAztecs Senior Writer (@MickOnTheMesa)
There largely are three things standing between Rashaad Penny and the end zone:
Coverage teams foolish enough to think they can catch him on kickoff returns; linebackers silly enough to believe they can shadow him on passing downs; and a guy named Donnel Pumphrey who is 318 yards removed from becoming the most celebrated running back in San Diego State history.
Said Penny: "Everyone knows that Donnel is the guy."
Everyone also knows that Rashaad Penny, while immeasurably humble, need not fear touting his own accomplishments.
Eight months removed from becoming the first Aztec player to ever be named the Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year, Penny enters his junior year fueling no less fanfare than accorded him in 2015.
Already tabbed the MW preseason Special Teams POY, Penny, the man of a million faces, also has been dubbed a second-team All-American as a kick returner by CBS Sports and Athlon Sports and a first-team all-league pick by no fewer than five national media outlets.
It's what happens when you set a single-season school record for touchdowns on kickoff returns. It's what happens when you rank second in the nation in kickoff return average and tie for second in kicks returned for touchdowns. It's what happens when you enter your sophomore year ranked third on the depth chart at running back and lead the team with an average of 6.0 yards per carry.
It's what happens when you combine myriad talents with the ability brush aside an accolade as though it were one, last desperate defender.
Rashaad Penny is a storehouse of blessings ever ready to relinquish reverence.
"At the end of the day, it's not about what I did, it's about what we did as a team," he said. "This game isn't about individuals. For me to have the success I did, it took everyone playing together as a group. It was great to win the (Special Teams Player of the Year) award, but it was also great just being nominated."
If not a bit odd. Despite earning first-team all-state honors as a prep star at Norwalk (Calif.) High School, Penny did not regularly return kickoffs. He was a terror as a running back, rushing for 2,504 yards with 41 touchdowns as a senior and scoring every 5.2 times he ran the ball. But kickoff returns were not routine, at least not until he received a call from Aztecs' cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator Tony White.
"He called and asked if I would be interested in doing it," Penny said. "I tried it out, but it took a while. It really took most of my freshman year before I really felt comfortable. But then you start to get this feeling like you just know something big is about to happen. When I see that one crease open up it's like, 'Man, there it is; they gave it to me!' It's the same when you're a running back. When you see that seam you better hit it.
"There were some nerves between my freshman and sophomore season, but now it just seems really natural. Things aren't moving so fast."
With the exception of Penny, of course, who continues to lay claim --- arguments from fellow running back Juwan Washington aside --- to title of the team's fastest player. His three kickoff returns for touchdowns in 2015 covered 97, 100 and 100 yards, respectively, the latter coming on the opening kickoff in SDSU's 42-7 rout of Cincinnati in the Hawaii Bowl.
"I really think special teams are the most important part of the game," said Penny, whose average of 29.63 yards ranks first in the nation among active players with at least 24 kickoff returns. "If you're struggling offensively or defensively, you can always rely on special teams. You can create a spark that can set the tone for the game.
"If you look at the kickoff return we had against Cincinnati, I think it gave us a lot of momentum and let them know right away that they were up against a really good team."
A team that with fewer than three weeks remaining before the season opener already finds itself slotted in the Top 25 by a number of major publications. A win over New Hampshire at home on Sept. 3 would mark SDSU's 11th-straight victory, a feat matched only twice in school history when the Aztecs finished 11-0 in 1966 and '69. With 18 returning starters, few faces have changed and neither has the approach, which when facing the Aztecs' running game is only slightly less appealing than addressing a headache with a hammer.
As though the prospect of corralling Pumphrey and Penny weren't challenging enough, now comes Washington, a redshirt freshman who as a scout team player last season gave fits to a defense that finished No. 5 in the nation.
"When you have as much talent as we do (at running back)," said Penny, "I think it's something special to be able to share the ball the way we do. We all know Donnel is going to be the featured back, but we all get along so well that it's really a special deal for us. I love it when Pump gets the ball. I've learned so much from him just standing on the sideline, the way he hits the hole, the way he blocks. We're brothers and we love each other and we're always going to compete. With so much talent back there, Coach (offensive coordinator/running backs/associate head coach Jeff) Horton has done a great job putting us in different formations or packages to let us excel at our position."
Which, in the weeks ahead, will mean emerging as a suitable replacement to Chase Price, whose 1,008 rushing yards last season ranked second to Pumphrey's 1,653.
"What we need is for somebody to step up and be the No. 2 guy like Chase was last year, because he was a great player in his own right," Horton said. "I think Rashaad Penny is a guy who can step up. He filled a very vital role for us last year in being a multi-dimensional guy."
Translation: a guy far too valuable to be occupying space on a sideline.
"I just want to be able to do anything to help this team win, to help us get to where we need to be and meet our expectations," said Penny, who in addition to returning 24 kickoffs for 804 yards last season also rushed 61 times for 368 yards and four touchdowns while catching eight passes for 120 yards and another score. "Obviously, I want to develop into the best running back I can be, but I'm also willing to do anything the coaches want me to do.
"We're just staying focused on our goal, and that's to win another championship and get into a New Year's bowl game. We're not worried about personal goals or individual awards or all of the buzz that's going on. Right now, we're 0-0 and we've got New Hampshire the first week. We're never going to underestimate a single opponent. We want to win a championship, and we've got the coaches and the players on this team to get it done."