Spring ends with scrimmage; Morrison and defense shine in 90plays, Friday
The Utah State Aggies football team wrapped up their spring practices on Friday at Romney Stadium with a team scrimmage that consisted of about 90 total plays.
The home team, comprised of the first-team offense and second-team defense, came out victorious by a score of 14-10 over the visiting team made up of the second-team offense and first-team defense, with several players switching sides over the course of the scrimmage.
Senior Sean Setzer, who was given the starting nod at quarterback for the home team, got off to a slow start in the game against the Aggies’ first-team defense. After an early penalty set the Aggies’ offense back to a second-and-19 situation, sophomore cornerback Chris Randle laid a thunderous hit on running back Curtis Marsh to break up Setzer’s first pass attempt of the game. On the ensuing third-and-19 , Randle was the playmaker again as he picked off Setzer’s pass attempt for a 24-yard return into the red zone.
“There were some ups and downs,” Setzer said.
The two incomplete attempts to start the game appeared to be the only downs however, as Setzer completed every one of his pass attempts over the remainder of the game to finish 10-of-12 for 86 yards.
Following the Randle interception, the Aggies second defensive unit kept the offense out of the end zone, limiting the visiting team a to 30-yard field goal by Chris Ulinski.
Despite the defensive play to hold the offense to only a field goal, Guy is hopeful that his offense will more often find the end zone on scoring opportunities like the one set up by the Randle interception.
“One thing we saw happen today that happened a little bit last year was we got a quick turnover in the red zone, got three points and didn’t get seven points,” Guy said. “Those are things that we’re constantly talking about and working on.”
The first team defense kept a stranglehold on the offense for a majority of the game, particularly against the running game. The defense held the first team offense to just 3.4 yards per carry on the day, while limiting Marsh, the starter at running back for the home team, to 32 yards rushing on 10 carries.
For the visiting team, the running game was the strength of their offensive unit behind the running of senior Derrick Cumbee.
Cumbee, who was converted from linebacker to running back this spring, led all rushers in the game with 69 yards on nine attempts. Highlighting Cumbee’s performance in his debut as a running back was a 28-yard touchdown run that capped off a 15-play, 80-yard scoring drive to give the visiting team a 10-0 lead over the home team.
“I just saw the hole and ran,” Cumbee said.
Guy was pleased with Cumbee’s performance as well, saying, “I think he finally just got comfortable and stopped thinking and started running.”
The home team finally broke through on a scoring drive led by junior quarterback Jase McCormick and redshirt freshman wide receiver Stanley Morrison. McCormick engineered the 14-play, 56-yard scoring drive by converting on several third down plays, including a 16-yard run on a third-and-11 play. McCormick converted on third down for a fourth and final time in the scoring drive by hooking up for an 11-yard touchdown pass to Morrison to bring the game to a 10-7 score.
“I had a little bit to prove that I could get out there and make some plays,” Morrison said. “I think I proved that this spring.”
Morrison found the end zone once more to bring the home team to a 14-10 lead, this time on a drive with Setzer back in the game at quarterback to lead the 73-yard, go-ahead scoring drive. The 11-play drive was capped off by a 14-yard touchdown reception by Morrison. Morrison finished the game with four receptions for 58 yards and two touchdowns.
“We finished strong when we needed it,” Setzer said.
After the game, Guy expressed his excitement with the progress that the program has made to the point of having an actual game format in the spring. Talking about his first spring as head coach, Guy said, “We had 56 total players out here and only had seven offensive linemen. We could have not done anything like this. This is the first time we had the format, the ability to really play what would look like a game.”
Despite Setzer starting the game with the first team offense, he has not been named as the team’s starting quarterback.
“I think only good comes out of a competition,” Setzer said. “Of course it’d be cool to be named the starter, but everybody is pushing each other and it just makes you play that much harder every play.” Guy confirmed that a decision has not yet been made on a starting quarterback for when the Aggies next take the field Aug. 30 on the road at UNLV.
-matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu