Aug. 8, 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)
McGrane: Peer Pressure? Not for Christian Chapman
By Mick McGrane, @GoAztecs Senior Writer (@MickOnTheMesa)
Three games, three wins, zero discussion.
Oh. And a sophomore quarterback whose apparent idea of fun is to shatter your will and stomp out every last spark of your spirit.
If San Diego State has entered fall camp in recent seasons staging quarterback derbies to ferret out a starter, consider this year's competition closed. The keys belong to Christian Chapman, and any additional debate will heretofore be conducted in silence.
Said head coach Rocky Long: "He's our quarterback; it's not a competition."
While it might be said that former Aztec quarterback Quinn Kaehler enjoyed similar standing in 2013-14, affirmation of his starting status was not necessarily accompanied by acclaim. Fact is, it could well be argued that not since Ryan Lindley concluded his run as a three-year starter in 2011 has SDSU opened a season with more confidence in its quarterback.
"I think he realizes that he has a chance to just get better and better," said associate head coach/offensive coordinator/running backs coach Jeff Horton. "Really, after having played in only three true games, he hasn't even touched the tip of the iceberg.
"I was just so impressed with his demeanor last year and how he handled things. For a young guy who had hardly played, he never seemed flustered, and he's carried that over from spring into the summer. His leadership and his command of things, he's very humble and a great young man. He's got tremendous work ethic and you can tell how important it is for him to be the (starter) now."
You can tell by a mannerism that speaks as much to conviction as it does coolness. While Chapman is far from reserved, he is much more about resolve, his expression suggestive of a person and player whose impression of obstacles is largely to reduce them to rubble.
And why not? After guiding the Aztecs to a win in a relief of injured starter Maxwell Smith in the 2015 regular-season finale against Nevada, Chapman merely proceeded to be named the Offensive MVP of the Mountain West championship game against Air Force. Three times the Aztecs trailed and three times Chapman led them back, directing the team to a 27-24 win in advance of its 42-7 rout of Cincinnati in the Hawaii Bowl.
This after having appeared in only six of SDSU's first 11 games, his appointed duty being to hold a lead or hand-off in an attempt to hasten the close of a game otherwise out of reach.
But if Chapman had wearied of signaling plays from the sideline or cleaning up at closing time, he cut it loose against Air Force. Having missed on just three of nine attempts in three-plus quarters the previous week against Nevada, he completed 9-of-14 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown in the title game. He also rushed six times for 32 yards and posted a quarterback rating of 209.66, the second-highest mark in SDSU history among freshmen making their first start (Kevin McKechnie 291.82 in 1997).
Chapman, who calls it "the best night of my life," had never won a championship. The closest he'd come was as a high school senior, when his alma mater, Carlsbad, was beaten by San Pasqual in the CIF-San Diego Section semifinals. As with Air Force, San Pasqual utilized a triple-option offense, denying Carlsbad a trip to the title game at Qualcomm Stadium.
Not that Chapman chuckles at the irony.
"I knew I was going to start after Maxwell got hurt, but everything just happened so fast," he said. "Of course, you always want to be the starter, but you never want it to happen that way. I just wanted to finish what Maxwell had started (Smith had led the Aztecs to seven straight wins) and not let anyone down.
"I'd done the best I could to be prepared to play. I was a little more nervous than usual early in the week, but I felt like I knew everything that I had to know going into the game. We went with the same game plan we would have used if Maxwell would have started. We really didn't simplify anything at all. Of course, we leaned on the running game the way we always do, but in the passing game we did the same things we'd always done. I knew I couldn't be nervous, because nerves are only going to lead to mistakes. After that first snap, I just locked in."
Chapman's 203 passing yards would prove to be an Aztec season-high and the most by an SDSU quarterback since Kaehler's 326-yard performance against Air Force the previous year. Of Chapman's 49 passes in 2015, only one was intercepted. He did not throw an interception in his final 39 attempts.
"What we saw was a player that played above our expectation level," Long said. "To me, that means the kid has talent and belief in his ability. The whole time he wasn't playing he was getting better, because he wanted to get better and his attitude was such that he didn't worry about not being a starter but tried to prepare himself to be a starter somewhere down the road. It just happened a little bit sooner than we thought it would.
"Obviously, he had the right attitude the whole year. The way he played in the last three games shows that he is going to be a really good quarterback."
On a team that has the potential to be even better. The Aztecs, whose 10 straight wins last season matched a mark not duplicated by the program in 46 years, have been mentioned as a candidate for the season's inaugural Top 25. Only one team --- defending national champion Alabama --- boasts a longer active win streak (12).
Three games, three wins, zero pressure?
"It feels good knowing that I'm the starter and that I have a leadership role that I have to take hold of now, but that's not going to change anything in the way I work," Chapman said. "(The preseason recognition) is all motivation to us. But we also have to know that this is a new team and that we haven't done anything yet.
"We have to be able to feed off of what our seniors did last year and be able to grow into our own team. When you're finally getting recognized and you're getting publicity, it brings expectation. We have a sign that says "Top 25 Team" that we hit every time before we go into the weight room. And even though this team hasn't done anything yet, we're anxious to prove ourselves. I'm just excited to have the opportunity to continue to build on what we did last year, and that's winning games and playing football, the game I love."