By Mick McGrane, GoAztecs.com Senior Writer
(@MickOnTheMesa)
The tweet from Donnel Pumphrey Jr. arrived with an emoji suggesting perplexity. It also came with a recommendation:
Reignite the run game.
Tweeted Pumphrey: "I wake up in the UK & find out we lost to UNR. Interesting...& we threw the ball (41) times? Even more interesting lol. Get back to the roots."
In London for his team's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the current Philadelphia Eagles running back and former Aztec standout was part of an SDSU squad that in 2016 established school rushing records of 3,680 yards and 34 touchdowns. In the process, Pumphrey broke the NCAA career rushing record held by Wisconsin's Ron Dayne, finishing with 6,405 yards.
Yet Pumphrey's post from across the pond, while obviously delivered with good intentions, was absent of one minor detail:
Returning to your roots is far easier with an able-bodied roster.
The same team that in the last three years never finished lower than 12th in the nation in rushing yards per game took a different tact last week at Nevada. And while it should be noted that the Aztecs gained an eye-popping 3.7 yards before contact (per Football Focus), never had they attempted more passes in a game during associate head coach Jeff Horton's tenure as offensive coordinator.
Entering the 2018 season, SDSU averaged more than 19 pass attempts (19.1) per game only once in the past three years. In that same span, the Aztecs, who had their six-game losing streak snapped against the Wolf Pack, ran the ball an average of 46.2 times.
Although much of SDSU's approach against Nevada was out of respect for the Wolf Pack's rush defense, both Horton and head coach Rocky Long are fully aware of the team's need to regain its offensive identity.
"It's who we are," Horton said. "First and foremost, we still want to be able to run the football, be physical and control the ball. We had our chances when (Nevada) gave the ball back to us a couple of times and we didn't get it done. That's on me."
You can also pin it on a season marked by myriad mishaps.
Starting quarterback Christian Chapman has been out since the second quarter of the season's second game with a medial collateral knee sprain. Starting tailback Juwan Washington averaged 150.7 yards rushing in his first three games before being sidelined with a broken clavicle in Week 4. A neck injury has kept starting fullback Isaac Lessard out of the lineup for the past four games.
Injuries may not be an excuse, but neither are they imaginary. That the Aztecs were able to win six straight games without their entire starting backfield was extraordinary, but it also was an exercise in tightrope walking, hardly a surprise given the sudden influx of inexperience.
But now comes the return of Chapman, who is expected to play at least one series in Saturday's contest at New Mexico. The Aztecs also are hopeful of the return of Washington and Lessard.
After eight games, the Aztecs are 6-2, the same record they held at this point a year ago.
On the flip side, SDSU's average of 176.4 yards rushing per game is nearly 75 yards below its average of 2017.
"We've got to get back to doing what we do," Horton said. "And we've got to continue to do it as we go down the stretch here, because that's where games will be won and lost, being able to run and being able to control the ball.
"We threw the ball so much (against Nevada) because we knew going in that they had a pretty good run defense. We haven't been able to create long runs, so you have to find some way to get (big-yardage) plays. We've had our struggles on offense, and sometimes you have to find a way to create things. For awhile, I thought we were doing pretty well, but then it just kind of bottomed out.
"But the attitude that (our backups) have brought and the way they've hung in there has been awesome. It hasn't always been pretty, obviously, but the prettiest thing about it is the wins. When you count up the wins at the end of the year, there isn't going to be an asterisk attached to it because of the guys who played."
Nor will there be any question about the team's burgeoning tailback depth. Washington, remember, is a junior. In his stead, sophomore Chase Jasmin, who has fought through his own challenges (concussion), has carried 122 times for 545 yards and four touchdowns. Behind Jasmin, the Aztecs also have utilized redshirt freshman Chance Bell, redshirt freshman Kaegun Williams and true freshman Jordan Byrd.
Bell, in particular, has taken advantage of opportunity's knock, carrying 30 times for 159 yards (5.3 avg.) in two games.
"You hope that with your other guys getting some playing time that it'll make you stronger and increase competition," Horton said. "We have quite a few tailbacks now that have all had a chance to play. A guy like Chance Bell, these last two games are really the first opportunity he's gotten to show what he can do. I like that he's a downhill runner who's worked hard and has shown he can be physical. I think he's going to continue to get better and better. He's got a great attitude.
"You start getting Juwan back, now you've got Juwan, you've got Chase, you've got Chance, you've got Kaegun, you've got Jordan. It's only going to make us better."
Said head coach Rocky Long: "Going into (last week's) game, we thought (Nevada) would play hard at the line of scrimmage so we could use the play-action pass, and it worked very, very well. What we're not getting are big runs like we have in the past. In the past, we've been able to run the ball where we had some 60- or 70-yard gains. If we could get our backs into the secondary, they were capable of breaking it 50 or 60 yards for a touchdown."
Washington is clearly capable. So were players like Ronnie Hillman and Adam Muema. Like Chase Price and Rashaad Penny.
And like Donnel Pumphrey Jr.
"I wanted two touchdowns this year," junior tight end Parker Houston said last week. "I got my two. I'm good. Let's get our run game going."
And get back to winning.
"It's not like we're sitting here at 2-6 and out of the race; we're still in it," Horton said. "We don't have to be the best team in the country the next four weeks, we've just got to be the best team in the stadium."