San Diego State pares down its running back corps
The days of San Diego State being “Running Back U” appear to be over, until further notice.
Second-year coach Sean Lewis is looking for his “AztecFAST” offense to move mostly through the air rather than on the ground. And whenever he wants to put emphasis on the ground game, he can get production out of either of the dual-threat quarterbacks competing for the starting job, Bert Emanuel Jr. and Jayden Denegal.
Of course, there are still running backs on the roster, just not as many as there had been at the school that produced Marshall Faulk, Donnel Pumphrey and Rashaad Penny.
Lewis has made it clear the Aztecs won’t rely on the run as much as they did under predecessors Rocky Long, an old-school, defensive-minded coach; and Brady Hoke, who also focused on defense.
“Whereas in the past, I think our fan base was accustomed to a different style of play where you needed more backs on scholarship. Our style of play doesn’t warrant that,” Lewis recently told Kirk Kenney of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Reducing the number of running backs allows SDSU to “have a good scholarship allocation or distribution to all the positions that we need to have the competitive depth on both sides of the ball,” Lewis continued.
The Aztecs’ offense had become stale and unproductive, which is a big reason why SDSU has struggled to attract fans to 35,000-seat Snapdragon Stadium, which opened in 2022. SDSU was 3-9 in Lewis’ first season as head coach, including tied for 10th in the Mountain West at 2-5.
This is probably as good a season as any to reduce the focus on the run game now that Marquez Cooper is out of eligibility. Cooper pretty much was the running game last year, when he carried 292 times for 1,274 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Backup Cam Davis, who carried just 14 times for 76 yards in eight games, had been hyped up going into spring ball but then dropped down on the depth chart and entered the transfer portal just days after drills ended.
Lucky Sutton, who prepped at San Diego’s Cathedral Catholic High, is back after playing in just four games, with five carries for 35 yards.
The Aztecs welcome hometown product Christian Washington, who transferred from Coastal Carolina, where he ran 102 times for 537 yards and five touchdowns. He previously spent two seasons at Mountain West rival New Mexico.
Washington played at Helix High in suburban La Mesa, which also produced Reggie Bush and Alex Smith, and, most recently, offensive tackle Josh Simmons, the first-round draft pick of the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Simmons played one season at SDSU before transferring to Ohio State.
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-bd678ba4dbad4f453246f539ee56a3b4.jpg "Bernie Wilson")
Bernie Wilson recently retired from The Associated Press after nearly 41 years, including stops in Spokane, Los Angeles and, for the final 33 years, San Diego. He grew up in Coeur d'Alene and graduated from the University of Idaho.