Sept. 4, 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)
Penny is Worth Every Cent to Aztecs (Aug. 18)
Football has Never Been More Fun for Nico Siragusa (Aug. 19) Nobody is Perfect, but Alex Barrett is Closing Fast (Aug. 28) Aztecs Force Future with a Premium on Past (Sept. 1)
McGrane: Chapman Earns More than Passing Grade
By Mick McGrane, @GoAztecs Senior Writer (@MickOnTheMesa)
The schedule will grow more arduous, the throwing lanes more congested and the expectations of perfection more demanding with every pass.
And Christian Chapman, with less than four full collegiate games under his belt, will stare it down like a grizzled skipper in a storm, dare it to do it damnedest and defy it throw him off course.
Moreover, he's going to be doing it for an awfully long time.
Chapman, whose work in 11-plus quarters at quarterback last season seemed more fairytale than formal announcement, served notice Saturday night that the next quarterback audition at SDSU likely will be staged sometime in the spring of 2019.
The redshirt sophomore from Carlsbad High, who won all three games in which he appeared last season after taking over for injured starter Maxwell Smith, completed 16-of-25 passes for a career-high 283 yards and two touchdowns as the Aztecs brushed aside New Hampshire 31-0 in their 2016 season opener.
In the four games in which Chapman has played, including starts against Air Force in last year's Mountain West championship game and Cincinnati in the Hawaii Bowl, the Aztecs have outscored the opposition 131-45. That's less a trend than a sizable trouncing.
And while run-first SDSU is more about throwing body shots than taking shots downfield, make no mistake: Chapman is taking charge, a study in sturdy that one can argue --- with ample conviction --- has been absent since the days of Ryan Lindley.
"He's a lot better than he was last year," said head coach Rocky Long. "What you saw is what he did in the last two games (against Air Force and Cincinnati) last year. In the last two games last year, he threw the ball well, he was accurate with the football and he could get out of trouble and make yards himself. He did that again tonight. I think he's a lot more adept at knowing our offense, and he can change some things at the line of scrimmage that he couldn't last year. I thought he had a really good first game."
Frequently given to failing to navigate learning curves, young quarterbacks are seldom asked to shoulder cumbersome loads. It's about playing it safe, presenting easy targets and reducing the game to its simplest terms. At SDSU, of course, such an approach is already part of the daily diet, a place where running backs have long eased the burden borne by any quarterback.
Yet Chapman, while recognizing the benefits afforded him by the likes Donnel Pumphrey and Rashaad Penny, is no less determined to prove that the forward pass can still be a feature of an offense that last year broke the school record for rushing yards in a season with 3,266.
"We're a run-first team," said Chapman, who has yet to throw an interception in his three starts. "We're going to punch you in the mouth until it hurts."
Or, failing that, take to the air.
With the Aztecs' formidable running game having produced a paltry six yards on the team's first three possessions of the game, their fourth drive consumed all of 11 seconds when Chapman threw an 86-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Mikah Holder. It was SDSU's longest pass play for a touchdown since Lindley connected with Vincent Brown on a 90-yarder in 2010.
"Once we hit the (the touchdown pass to Holder), we got rolling a little bit," Chapman said. "We were able to hit some (passes) underneath, because I think they may have been a little afraid of the deep ball."
Imagine. As if opponents didn't have enough to concern themselves with, facing a rushing offense that ranked 14th in the nation last season (233.3 yards per game), now comes Chapman, who threw to seven different receivers Saturday night. Senior wideout Eric Judge had a team-high five receptions, but it was Holder, fast becoming a bonafide playmaker in his own right, who finished with four catches for a career-high 160 yards. He also had a 14-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter that gave the Aztecs a 21-0 lead.
"I think this is a precursor to what the season could be," Holder said of his work with Chapman. "We have really good chemistry in practice. I'll get in his ear and let him know when I'm open on certain plays.
"I expect him to have good games, because I know what type of player he is, and he's a very good player. I felt that he picked up right where he left off from last year."
Last season, after missing on just three of nine attempts against Nevada in relief of the injured Smith, Chapman completed 9-of-14 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown in the MW championship and was named the game's most valuable offensive player. 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).
In his three starts, Chapman has completed 33-of-50 passes (66.0 percent) for 599 yards with four touchdowns. He adds another threat with his running ability, having rushed for 108 yards since taking over for Smith in the Nevada game.
"I think he has a natural feel that, when nobody's open, he can find a gap and get some positive yards," Long said. "When you recruit, you look for that natural ability.
"But he's getting better. And it's nice to have a good quarterback who's only a redshirt sophomore. If we can keep him healthy, that means that for the next few years we're going to have a good quarterback."
They certainly appear to have one at the moment.