Anderson shuffles positions for 2011
Anyone who was in Romney Stadium on Oct. 1, 2010 remembers that night well. The feeling in the air as the Aggies dominated the Cougars of Brigham Young University has carried on in our lives and made for lasting memories.
Count 2010 starting wide receiver Dontel Watkins, who led the Aggies in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown receptions that season, among those having poured massive amounts of salt into a glaring Cougar wound commonly known as a defensive backfield on that evening, a 31-16 Aggie victory.
It started with a 9-yard rush to perpetuate a drive to give the Aggies a 24-3 lead. Minutes later, a 16-yard pass from graduating senior Diondre Borel to the Cougar 17-yard line gave the Aggies a first down, the continuance of a 12-play march to build a four-touchdown lead.
You might say Watkins was among those who did it all for the Aggies on a night many on campus and beyond have only described as magical. Watkins, who will be a junior by the time his team opens their campaign at Auburn this fall, compiled 37 total yards through the ground and air last October.
Fast forward to Monday’s spring scrimmage, at the same stadium – less packed, with much of the same personnel and the same color scheme – and Watkins is witnessing three quarterbacks, all of whom are currently vying for Borel’s vacated throne, go 8-12, 7-11 and 5-8 for a combined 296 yards and two TDs.
Only this time, the former offensive star isn’t happy about it.
Since the completion of USU’s 4-8 season, Watkins has switched sides of the ball in an effort to shore up the Aggies’ defensive backfield, especially in light of the departures of Curtis Marsh and Chris Randle.
Watkins accents a quad of Aggies who have switched positions since last season, a group that also includes sophomore D.J. Tialavea (defensive tackle to tight end), sophomore Rashard Stewart (nickelback to slot receiver), and redshirt freshman Keegan Andersen, who has experienced the most vast shuffle of them all. Since August, Andersen has seen two weeks each at receiver and safety before having played as a scout linebacker the remainder of the season. This spring, Andersen is back on the offensive as a tight end behind Kellen Bartlett and Tarren Lloyd.
As the headliner of the shufflers, Watkins said he has yet to feel comfortable with his novel responsibility.
“My effort was not what it should have been,” Watkins said following his team’s 90-minute scrimmage. “It could have been better. I mean, I’ve got to get better. I haven’t played the position that long, so I need to take better strides than where I am now.”
The Nashville, Tenn., native, who played two years for Butler Community College before taking his 6-foot-2, 189-pound frame to Logan, sat down with Aggie coach Gary Andersen to talk about what changes would be best.
“It was my decision,” Watkins said. “Me and Coach A sat down and we decided, but he gave me my decision. I think it will be best fit for the team and for myself.”
“A shutdown corner is so, so important to a football program, and to a defense, to have those edges taken care of,” Andersen said. “He’s also a very tough-minded kid. Not everyone that plays receiver can go out there and play corner. So no, we didn’t have any reservations at all in switching his role. I thought he kind of wondered about the switch for a while, but now I think he loves it.”
For Watkins, conversations with former Aggie stars – team leaders who befriended Watkins when he came to the university last year – have helped him in the adjustment process.
“I talked to Chris (Randle) and Curtis (Marsh) a lot before the switch, and after the switch they really help me on my game,” he said. “They coached when they were here, help me know what I’m doing wrong and so forth.”
It’s explaining the mechanics in which both athletes have been most instrumental, the 2009 first-team? all-Jayhawk Conference player said.
“I’m tall, so I have to stay low,” he said. “That’s one of the issues with tall corners, is staying low and having good hips to rotate. Tall corners have those two issues.”
Those are two barriers that Andersen believes will be easily conquered.
“Dontel is extremely gifted athletically, so he’ll learn all of that,” Andersen said. “You sit down with a young man and let him make a decision on what he wants, the direction he wants to take as a player. Dontel wrapped his arms around it. He has the opportunity to do some special things as he moves forward.”
It’s a hope that Andersen harbors for all those making position changes as the team gears for conference experiencing some shuffling itself, especially for a coach whose career has primarily involved coaching defenses.
“It goes against my nature to switch guys from defense, but we’re always going to play the best 11,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s important to always remember that the kids need to want to do it and they need to understand why it’s important to help us. At the end of the day, all we are going to do is make suggestions to the kids and tell them where we want them to go and why we want them to do it.”
– rhett.wilkinson@aggiemail.usu.edu