Fan Fest scrimmage provides some, but not all, answers for Aztecs

The annual SDSU Football Fan Fest occurred Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium.

Photo byDon De Mars/ EVT Sports

The event provided fans a glimpse of the latest Aztec team heading into its first game of the season and a chance to meet select players for autographs. Most importantly, the scrimmage gave head coach Sean Lewis and his staff the opportunity to see players perform under the lights in a stadium instead of the practice field.

“It was a good night and good to be in the home stadium,” Lewis said following the event. “It was a good opportunity for the guys to put on a show and compete a little bit for the community and their loved ones.”

The biggest storyline of fall camp is the quarterback competition. The first starting QB of the Sean Lewis era at SDSU has yet to be named. While QBs coach, Matt Johnson said earlier in Fall Camp that any of the four scholarship players at the position could win the starting job, all signs pointed to transfer A.J. Duffy or true freshman Danny O’Neil winning the spot.

If the Fan Fest scrimmage is any indication, redshirt freshman Javance Tupou’ata Johnson is firmly in the competition.

After receiving first-team reps during practice on Friday, O’Neil was the first to take the field on Saturday. More surprising to spectators was the fact that Johnson received second-team reps ahead of Duffy.

Following the scrimmage, Lewis said to not pay much attention to the order the quarterbacks took the field as it relates to the competition. He continued to be non-committal about who was the leader in the competition at this point, stating he needed to watch the film.

Redshirt sophomore Kyle Crum is currently fourth in the hierarchy as the competition continues.

The QB scrimmage stats are as follows:

O’Neil: 8/14 for 79 yards, 2 INT

Johnson: 5/9 for 82 yards, 1 TD

Duffy: 7/12 for 144 yards, 1 INT

Crum: 5/5 for 32 yards

Johnson’s performance was the highlight of the scrimmage. A quarterback who looked lost and shaky in scrimmage as a true freshman has been replaced by a confident, strong quarterback who looks in control of the offense in 2024.

Johnson threw the only passing touchdown of the game, a dart down the right side that WR Jerry McClure (team-high 100 receiving yards) came away with as he fell in the end zone for the 26-yard score. Even more impressive is that the score came against the first-team defense.

Johnson also made a nice quick toss to Jaylon Armstead on a play-action rollout to his left with a free rusher coming right at him. Armstead caught the pass and turned upfield for a long run, but the play was nullified by an illegal formation penalty.

On the first drive of the game, O’Neil drove the offense down the field. A beautiful fade pass to the left edge of the end zone was dropped by Jordan Napier. A few plays later, O’Neil scrambled to his right and threw across his body back into the middle of the field and was picked off by CB Chris Johnson.

“We had one of our base coverages, and it turned into a scramble drill,” said Johnson about his INT. Coach Sumler preaches that on a scramble to go to the nearest receiver, so that’s what happened. (He) rolled out and threw the ball, and I made a play on the ball.”

O’Neil threw a second interception towards the end of the scrimmage during an end-of-game situation drive. Josh Hunter stepped in front of an inside route and dove for the pick, drawing a roar from the defensive side of the field.

Duffy’s first drive was even more promising, as he found WR Baylin Brooks wide open as CB Jelani Whitmore bit on the fake handoff. Brooks’ 58-yard reception got the ball down to the two. The offense, however, was not able to punch it in on three running plays and was forced to settle for a Gabriel Plascencia 20-yard field goal.

Duffy had the team’s third interception of the night, throwing a late pass on a short route that Whitmore out-battled the receiver and picked off.

“They all had some highs, they all had some lows, but without seeing the tape and talking to them about their decision-making process, it’s hard to say,” Lewis said when asked whether any of the QBs separated themselves.

While the QBs struggled to generate points, the run game helped move the ball down the field. Jaylon Armstead (8 carries for 45 yards) scored the first touchdown of the scrimmage in the third quarter on a 40-yard run.

Christian Jones, who started games at LT last season, played some snaps at LG during the scrimmage, pairing with Joe Borjon at LT for possibly the tallest left side of an offensive line in college football history. Both Jones and Borjon stand at 6’8 in height. One of those snaps was Armstead’s TD run as he ran right behind the left side.

Lucky Sutton (15 carries for 79 yards) scored the third and final touchdown of the scrimmage from seven yards out.

Brooks led the team with six catches (for 92 yards).

Three transfers, Ezekiel Larry, William Nimmo Jr, and Dalesean Staley, lead the defense with six tackles each. Larry added two sacks, tied with Trey White for team-high.

Injuries stacking up

Fall camp is in full swing, and as expected, the team is dealing with a rash of injuries to several players in the two-deep.

CB Bryce Phillips, DT Darrion Dalton, WRs Mekhi Shaw, Ja’Shaun Poke, and Louis Brown IV did not suit up for the scrimmage. None of the injuries are expected to be long-term as of now. OL Myles Murao also did not participate as he returns from offseason surgery. Redshirt freshman Ryan Silver received first-team reps at LG in his place.

In the first half of the scrimmage, RB Kenan Christon came up limping from a tackle after a nice run and did not return. Following the scrimmage, Lewis called it a “lower-body injury” but said he had not received an update from the medical team yet.

Notes

• [caption id="attachment_122028" align="alignright" width="416"]Josh Hunter intercepts a pass by Danny O'Neil intended for Baylin Brooks. (PJ Panebianco/EVT)[/caption]RB Marquez Cooper rushed for 32 yards on his three carries on the first drive of the scrimmage and received the rest of the evening off
• DL Tiumalu Afalava, the latest addition from the transfer portal, was in uniform and played some snaps at DT
• K Nick Lopez, who lost the starting PK competition to Plascencia in the spring, connected on field goals from 29 and 38 yards out
• Walk-on WR Mikey Welsh carried the Aztec Shield as the team ran onto the field to start the scrimmage
• The scrimmage was the Aztecs' ninth practice of Fall Camp and second in full pads
• Only the east side of Snapdragon Stadium was open for seating, making it an odd choice given the 5 pm start time and that end is the sun side
• SDSU opens its season against Texas A&M - Commerce on August 31 at 5 pm PT