On the offensive
Offensive coordinator Mike Santiago always preaches perfection, which is what the Utah State offense will be gunning for this season.
But so far the attempts at perfection have been textbook trial and error.
“We try, then we try again,” Santiago said. “The whole philosophy is to try to get the guys to do the things they do well.”
The Aggies’ trials didn’t always end in error, though, as practices switched gears to prepare for their opener against Nicholls State.
“We’re starting to find guys that do some things well and keep them going with that,” Santiago said.
Last Tuesday, Leon Jackson was named the starting quarterback after he had battled Eric Sobolewski for the starter’s job through spring practice and the first few weeks of fall practices.
Of the five quarterbacks that were in the picture going into fall practice, Santiago said there is one important piece missing: consistency.
“I’ve seen all of the quarterbacks do things well,” Santiago said, “They need to play better than they’re playing now, but there isn’t anyone with a lot of experience.”
Jackson has never started a collegiate game. He threw 46 passes last year, completing 26 for 404 yards with one touchdown and interception.
So far in the two scrimmages the Aggies have held this summer, Jackson has completed 18 of his 29 passes for five touchdowns.
While practices helped weed out the competition for quarterback, it hasn’t been as successful for the runningbacks.
Santiago said it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone if the season starts with a running back by committee.
Joining Chris Forbes in the backfield will be Marcus Crawford, who redshirted last year because of injuries suffered in summer drills, Ryan Bohm and Keith Gilliam.
Bohm and Gilliam are both freshmen, while Crawford is a junior and Forbes will be a sophomore this year.
Ryan Bohm, a freshman who graduated from Logan High, will be the starter going into this Saturday’s game.
The Aggies started four different tailbacks last year. The only of the four that returned is Chris Forbes. He was also the only back to gain more than 100 yards in a game, when he rushed for 117 against New Mexico State in the last game of the season.
Last season, not one of the running backs ran for more than 50 yards the first nine games of 2004.
Lynwood Johnson and Chris James will be leading the way through the holes and pounding out the tough yards in the trenches.
Johnson is a freshman from Northridge High School in Layton and James is a transfer from Kilgore Junior College in Texas.
The wide receivers as a unit have the most experience on the offensive side of the ball.
Kevin Robinson and Tony Pennyman were separated by four yards and one reception at the end of last season. Now they both share the first slot on the depth chart.
“They need to touch the ball all different ways,” Santiago said. “They need to go vertical and we need to do whatever we can to get that done.”
With them as anchor, Santiago said he hoped the rest of the unit could progress quickly to help back up the number one receivers.
In the scrimmage Thursday, both Preston Robinson and Blake Garrett stepped up with three catches and one touchdown while Pennyman caught six passes for two scores.
The off-season saw a lot of movement in the offensive line.
Three players were moved to the offensive line – two former tight ends and one former defensive lineman.
Donald Penn will be starting for his fourth straight season to provide an anchor for the rest of the line.
“Every day we’ve probably made a line change, which is good,” Santiago said. “Every day you look up and there are new faces in the huddle. Against Nicholls we’ll go in with five guys and see how things end up.”
The Aggies will have plenty of time to put things together on friendly turf since they will play six home games for the first time since 1998.
Their first three home games will be played in Romney Stadium against Nicholls State, UNLV and San Jose State.
The Aggies will travel to play Utah and Idaho in their second and fourth games with a bye week after their second game.
-krn@cc.usu.edu
Kevin Robinson
Leon Jackson III
Quarterback Leon Jackson tries to avoid being tackled by safety Jason Walker in a recent practice. (Ryan Talbot)