Position battles still up in the air after scrimmage
After snowy conditions postponed Friday’s practice, the Aggie football team returned to their scheduled preparation with a full-contact scrimmage Monday afternoon at Romney Stadium.
As spring practice continues, the weather is not the only thing warming up. Utah State has many unsolved position battles and heated competition took place on both sides of the ball. Arguably the most important position up for grabs is the quarterback spot. Junior Adam Kennedy, sophomore Jeremy Higgins and freshman Alex Hart are all currently vying to become the starting quarterback. Incoming freshman Chuckie Keeton is looking to fit into the mix later on down the road when he joins the team upon graduating from high school. All three signal-callers on the Aggie roster saw equal playing time, and head coach Gary Anderson remains undecided as to whom holds the upper-hand.
“I don’t know for sure how cloudy it is until I go back and watch the tape, but right now it is as cloudy as it was this morning, which was very cloudy,” Anderson said of the quarterback situation. “I am sure that there will be some separation as we progress, and there may have been more separation today than I see.”
With position battles underway, the Aggie coaching staff sought the fine balance of getting players repetitions while still avoiding injuries.
“We stayed healthy, from what I know to this point, which is a positive,” Anderson said. “We were looking to get somewhere between 80-90 snaps. I believe we got 91 snaps … . I feel good about the number of snaps that we got.”
Players that did not dress included junior running back Robert Turbin, senior linebackers Bobby Wagner and Kyle Gallagher, and senior defensive linemen Levi Koskan and Quinn Garner.
“I held out some kids,” Anderson said. “It was definitely on purpose. On the defensive side of the ball, I didn’t even dress them. With Kyle (Gallagher) and Bobby (Wagner) it’s difficult to corral them and tie them down if they’ve got pads on to stop them from getting on the field. Obviously, Quinn Garner and Levi (Koskan) didn’t play either … . We are trying to keep them healthy.”
Besides allowing backups to gain experience, Monday’s scrimmage was also used by the coaching staff to see how the defense is progressing with the playbook. After using a 4-3 base defense in his first two years on the job, Anderson is switching to a 3-4 look. Anderson will also take over play-calling duties. Spring practice has served as an adjustment period for the defense, as they learn the intricacies of the new alignment.
“On passes, there are a lot of heads,” said senior safety Walter McClenton. “The (opposing) quarterback, he has to read a lot more heads. I guess that makes it a little bit harder on him. It’s a lot of pressure coming from different ways. I feel like it is going to help pretty good.”
McClenton came up with the biggest play of the day, intercepting a Kennedy pass with his back to the goal line and returning the pick across midfield before being caught from behind.
“I kind of just read the quarterback’s eyes the whole way,” Kennedy said. “I was kind of tired on the way to the end zone, but it’s alright. I wouldn’t have gotten caught in a game.”
McClenton was not the only star of the scrimmage. Freshman receiver Shaan Johnson provided some excitement, hooking up with Hart for pass plays of 15 yards or more on three different occasions.
“I think I could have done a little bit better,” Johnson said. “I had a couple of catches, which was a positive for me. I’m just learning the offense and getting the hang of everything. It’s getting easier as time goes on. I’m just relaxing and doing what I do.”
Another area of focus was the running game. A trio of running backs in junior Joey DeMartino, sophomore Robert Marshall and freshman Joe Hill split the majority of carries. The defensive front won the battle on the ground, as the running backs were very limited in the damage that they dealt.
“Our ability to stop the run on the defensive side was a huge positive,” Anderson said. “Our ability to not run the ball was obviously a negative… When one side plays well in the spring, the other side doesn’t play so well. We will take a long, hard look at that.”
– w.mangum@aggiemail.usu.edu