In an attempt to tailor its attack to a redshirt freshman quarterback who cut his teeth on the spread offense, San Diego State's approach in 2008 has been to pass first and run second.
Wise move.
Entering tonight's meeting with Air Force, only one Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team in the nation – SMU – has rushed for fewer yards than the Aztecs. In the nine-team Mountain West Conference, Colorado State ranks eighth with an average of 130.6 yards. Lagging behind is SDSU – at 49.8.
While no one could have expected the Aztecs to find success on the ground in last week's loss at TCU (the Horned Frogs boast the No. 1 rushing defense in the country), what's almost inconceivable is that SDSU has run the ball for six or fewer yards twice in its past three games.
Against TCU, the Aztecs rushed 15 times for minus-13 yards. And while four sacks skew the total, it should be noted that among running backs, Atiyyah Henderson and Tyler Campbell rushed five times for a combined 8 yards. SDSU's lone touchdown came on a 2-yard run by wide receiver Mekell Wesley. Its longest run was 5 yards.
Granted, TCU was coming off a performance in which it limited then-No. 2-ranked Oklahoma to 25 yards on 36 rushes. Yet how does one explain Week 3, when the Aztecs, matched against San Jose State, ran the ball 17 times for six yards?
“I thought the way the Notre Dame unfolded (a 21-13 loss in which SDSU rushed for 71 yards) that we were running the ball pretty well, and that's where we want to be,” said coach Chuck Long. “We didn't do it against San Jose State, but then we came back and did against Idaho (a 45-17 win in which the Aztecs rushed for 158 yards).
“I think it's been more of a consistency issue. We went into the game against TCU with the mind-set that not too many teams have run the ball against their defense, so our thought was that we had to throw it to win. It changes from week to week. We feel we have good running backs. It's just a matter of calling (running plays) more.”
While one might argue that rushing numbers are bound to suffer in a spread offense, undefeated Utah, which has utilized the spread as well as any team in the nation in recent years, is averaging 170.3 yards on the ground.
Through last week's games, more than 100 players in the country were averaging more yards rushing than SDSU. The nation's leading rusher among FBS teams, UConn's Donald Brown, is averaging nearly four times as many yards (177.8) as the Aztecs.
It's familiar territory for SDSU, which last year ranked 106th in rushing among the country's 119 FBS teams. The Aztecs have not had a player average 100 yards a game since Lynell Hamilton (108.7) in 2003.
“We're not going to rely on the running game, but obviously we need to do a better job of it to take some of the pressure off the quarterback,” said offensive coordinator Del Miller. “Our short passing game is essentially a running game. At times, teams have taken things away from us schematically and made it more difficult. We're still trying to find our way a little bit.”
They may want to consider expediting the process. With starting quarterback Ryan Lindley out of tonight's game with a shoulder injury, backup Drew Westling figures to need all the help he can find. Without a running game at TCU, Westling completed 6-of-17 passes for 61 yards over three quarters. He was sacked three times.
Not surprisingly, SDSU's inability to run is also wreaking havoc with its ability to sustain drives. The Aztecs' third-down conversion percentage of 23.1 percent ranks second-worst in the country. Last week, TCU had the ball for 43:29 while running a staggering 90 plays.
Now comes Air Force, which ranks 19th nationally in time of possession (32:23). The Aztecs are last at 23:18, almost three full minutes behind everyone else.
“We're going to have to sustain drives, because (Air Force) is a team that will control the ball forever,” Miller said. “We need to find some balance.”
Mick McGrane: (619) 293-1850; mick.mcgrane@uniontrib.com
