Aug 17, 2013
San Jose, Calif.-----The San Jose State University football team can turn its attention to the August 29 season-opener with Sacramento State after a spirited second scrimmage that gave new head coach Ron Caragher plenty of reasons to smile.
"I was pleased. Guys did a good job executing and made plays. We'll go back, look at the film and there will be some areas to shore up. All in all, we have some guys stepping in defensively - some young guys that have to grow up fast right now," the Spartans head coach relayed prior to the start of the program's Fan Fest that attracted a spirited group of passionate San Jose State football followers. Caragher also expressed a head coach's universal wish that came true. There were no injuries during the 78-play scrimmage.
Like the August 10 scrimmage, the first units on offense and defense took on the second group on opposite side of the ball. There were enough plays for the third groups on offense and defense to face off against each other, too.
"We've had a good camp. We go 1's vs. 1's all fall camp. Seventeen of our 19 practices were 1's vs. 1's, 2's vs. 2's and 3's vs. 3's. It's a nice little change for the guys to go against someone different," Caragher said.
Quarterbacks David Fales, Blake Jurich and Joe Gray each tossed a touchdown pass and running back Tyler Ervin scored on a 1-yard run.
"Tyler (Ervin) is a good all-around player and (senior) Jason Simpson is having a good fall camp. That's a nice combination. We need Alvin (Jelks) to come along, because over the course of a season, we'll need a few backs.," said the San Jose State coach about the running backs corps. Jelks did not participate in the scrimmage due to an undisclosed injury earlier in the day. "You talk about a versatile back, even with his stature, he (Tyler) is good running back between the tackles. He can run the ball outside with his speed. He can catch the ball well. If we had three Tyler Ervin's, we'd have three starters - receiver, corner and running back. He's a real good athlete."
Wide receivers Noel Grigsby, Daniel Bradbury and Tyler Winston were on the receiving end of the scoring passes. Austin Lopez converted field goals of 36 and 46 yards. Redshirt freshman Miles Milner created the scrimmage's only turnover with an interception.
In his post-scrimmage comments, Coach Caragher also discussed the impact of several non-scholarship freshmen that joined the program either last spring or this fall. Osirius Burke, back following an eye-opening spring practice, and newcomer Ray Lomas IV were the busiest ball carriers with six and nine carries, respectively.
"In every good program I've been around, we had good walk-ons. I want the same thing here. For the depth of our football team to be good, we have to have a good walk-on program. We have a real good freshman class of walk-ons. Isaiah Irving is a good player. (Tight end) Andrew Vollert, who did not play today, had a good fall camp. (Jason Habash) threw the ball pretty nice today. It's a good group and you need that because football is such a physical sport. Over the course of a 12-game season, hopefully 13 and 14 games, you need your guys to develop and step in and you don't drop off much."
The Spartans return to the practice field, Sunday, August 18, and have daily practices through the week. With the first day of school on August 21, practice sessions shift to the morning from 8:45 to 11:00 a.m.
Tickets for the 2013 home schedule starting with Sacramento State are available at www.sjsuspartans.com and by calling (408) 924-SJTX or (877) SJSU-TIX.
(Click here for more comments from Coach Ron Caragher.)
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