Three thoughts after San Diego State’s 66-14 loss to Oregon State Saturday at Reser Stadium:
1. QB change coming?
In the early weeks of training camp, when anything was still possible, SDSU quarterback Jayden Denegal spoke about how good it felt to be healthy following offseason shoulder surgery.
Denegal said he felt comfortable both passing and running. He was eager to show himself as “a more efficient passer” who could be “more confident in the pocket.” He was in good spirits. When asked how many points he expected the offense to average, Denegal joked, “I want to say 49. That sounds good.”
The reality is that SDSU ranks 104th in the nation in scoring offense with 22.8 points per game — that total boosted by five defensive and special teams scores.
Denegal has had his struggles. His accuracy was especially off against Oregon State. After completing 5 of 19 passes for 78 yards against the Beavers, Denegal dropped to 122nd in completion percentage (53.9%). SDSU ranks 130th in passing offense (143.7 ypg) and 135th in total offense (277.7 ypg).
The Aztecs must flip their 2-4 record and go 4-2 over the second half of the season if they are to be bowl eligible for the second straight year.
After Saturday’s performance, SDSU coach Sean Lewis must re-evaluate everything to do with the roster. Most serious on offense is the situation at quarterback.
“We’ve got to assess every single position,” Lewis said in a postgame interview with San Diego Sports 760, “and, obviously, the way that there’s been significant inconsistency at that really important spot (quarterback), we’ll assess it.
“We’ll evaluate everything and make the best decisions that we can to put our team in the best position to be successful, including the quarterback spot.”
San Diego State quarterback Jayden Denegal scrambles durign Saturday’s loss to Oregon State at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore. (Justin Truong, SDSU athletics)
Denegal’s facial expressions and body language against the Beavers were that of a player beaten down during the season’s first six weeks. After a short third-down pass was thrown at the feet of wide receiver Jacob Bostick, the second three-and-out to start the second half, Denegal walked off the field with his head down. Redshirt freshman Draiden Trudeau took over at quarterback thereafter.
Expect a change at the position when backup quarterback Stone Saunders is cleared to play. Is Saunders any better? Who knows? But there’s only one way to find out.
Saunders, a redshirt freshman who transferred from the University of Kentucky, broke his collarbone in the season opener against Portland State. He has returned to practice, wearing pads for the first time last Wednesday. Structurally, Saunders is sound. He still needs to be cleared for contact. If scans this week look good, Saunders could be cleared for Saturday’s game against Fresno State.
2. Defenseless
USA Network has a feature on its YouTube page titled “Every Touchdown!”
For Oregon State, Saturday’s game looked like a season highlight tape.
It began with Beavers quarterback Braden Atkinson’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Maalik Murphy that was just beyond the fingertips of SDSU cornerback Mike Lindsay.
There was Oregon State running back AJ Newberry bursting through a hole at the SDSU 27-yard line, cutting left and going untouched to the end zone.
Most prominent, though, were Atkinson’s touchdown passes — three of them — to freshman sensation Jesse Legree, the nation’s receiving yardage leader and touchdown leader coming into the game.
Amazingly, Legree was uncovered on his first TD catch, an 11-yard on the left side coming out of the backfield. Then there was a 71-yard TD where Legree cut across the field, caught the ball in front of diving safety Jelani McLaughlin and sped down the right side to the end zone. Finally, there was a 31-yard TD, where Legree sped down the middle of the field on the way to the end zone. No one even got a hand on him.
That one prompted color commentator Ryan Leaf to say: “How do you allow the best player in football right now to simply go untouched down the middle of the field all game long?”
Legree finished with 10 catches for 191 yards. He has been Pac-12 Freshman Player of the Week five straight weeks. It’ll soon be six.
Oregon State finished with 462 passing yards and 651 total yards. SDSU dropped to 137th in passing yards allowed (299.2 ypg) and 135th in total defense (477.8).
“We’re plenty talented enough,” SDSU defensive coordinator Demetrius Sumler said coming into the game. “It’s obvious that guys haven’t played together a lot, so it’s just getting them on the same page. That’s been a process. You hope to teach them all that in practice field and not in the game.”
So much for that.
3. Where to from here?
The transfer portal era means teams are turning over half their roster every year. It can provide a quick turnaround. Witness SDSU going from 3-9 two years ago to 9-4 last season. But plucking all those players from the portal — three dozen for the Aztecs this year — is a roll of the dice.
Coaches recruit high school players over multiple years. The transfer portal equates to speed dating. The portal opens, schools scramble to identify players who can fill needs, quickly get them to visit campus and, hopefully, sign them before they head home (or to another school).
The entire process can take place over a weekend. How do you really get to know someone in 72 hours?
Yes, the Aztecs have had more than their share of injuries and illnesses this season. But the transfer class has also not contributed as significantly as it did a year ago.
The season is at a crossroads. Will things get better — or continue to get worse?
“We’re going to evaluate everything,” Lewis said after Saturday’s game. “There’s a lot of ball still left to be played; we’ve got to have a lot of pride in our work and, hopefully, enough guys care to show up and keep going forward. Obviously, that was not it, guys. That’s my responsibility, and we’ll get it right as we go forward.”
When asked what in particular is lacking with the offense, Lewis said: “Basic fundamentals. We don’t sustain blocks. We don’t play pitch and catch. We don’t strain to finish. And, again, that goes back to the way that we’re coaching it, the way that we’re practicing it.
“You can name all the excuses under the sun, but we need to do a much better job of coaching it up and the players need to do a much better job of receiving the coaching and then taking those basic fundamentals and doing it at a much more consistent, higher level.”