Defense bends but only yields 13 points in first football scrimmage
San Jose, Calif.-----The defense kept the offense off the scoreboard in nine out of 12 series in the first San Jose State University football scrimmage of the fall practice season.
| Fitz Hill was pleased with the defense's performance in the August 17 scrimmage. |
With no starters returning from last year’s defensive unit, the Spartan defense came up with only one stop in three downs or less when freshman linebacker Justin Pigg intercepted junior quarterback Beau Pierce’s pass during the first half of the scrimmage. On eight other occasions, the offense moved the ball downfield, but was unable to score.
The defense came up with a second turnover on the final play when wide receiver Rufus Skillern fumbled after his catching his only pass of the 67-play scrimmage.
SCORING
The only touchdown occurred in the second half when freshman quarterback Adam Tafralis connected with another freshman, Chester Coleman, on a 40-yard scoring play.
Kicker Nick Gilliam accounted for rest of the offense’s points when he connected on a pair of 35-yard field goals. Gilliam also attempted a 59-yard field goal at the end of the first series, but the try was short.
HILL COMMENTS
"I like the way the defense ran around and hit people. They had good licks out there today," said San Jose State coach Fitz Hill about the scrimmage that was held at Valley Christian High School. "Except for two plays, the offense took care of the ball.
"Overall, I was pleased with what happened. The number one goal before the scrimmage was not to lose anybody and we didn’t lose anybody. One bright spot is we have three good quarterbacks."
All five San Jose State signal callers played beginning with Marcus Arroyo who was 2-for-6 for 31 yards. JC transfer Scott Rislov was very accurate early connecting on six of his first seven pass attempts and finished 7-for-10 for 54 yards. Returning redshirt Beau Pierce, who overcame a slow start, completed 11-of-22 with one interception for 89 yards.
The offense gained 224 yards through the air, but the Spartan coach felt there could have been more.
"There were a lot of dropped balls. It was bad concentration. That never should have happened. It was poor execution by the wide receivers," added Hill.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Freshman walk-on Casey Miranda was the leading receiver in the scrimmage with six receptions for 39 yards.
Freshman walk-on Amir Rahman led all ball carriers with 35 yards on three carries. The offense gained 98 yards rushing on 23 attempts.
The Spartans return to two-a-day practices on August 19 at the practice field next to the Koret Athletic Training Center.
Scrimmage Scoring
1st half
Gilliam, 35-yard field goal
2nd half
Coleman, 40-yard pass from Tafralis (Gilliam kick)
Gilliam, 35-yard field goal
Rushing
Rahman, 3-35; Ferguson, 6-21; Pierce, 2-14; Rigg, 4-11; Cunningham, 2-9; Martin, 1-4; Ja. Broussard, 2-2; Bradley, 1-2; Rogers, 1-0; Rislov, 1-sacked by Gustus.
Passing
Arroyo, 2-6-0-31 yards; Rislov, 7-10-0-54 yards; Pierce, 11-22-1-89 yards; Rogers 0-2-0-0 yards; Tafralis, 3-4-0-50 yards.
Receiving
Miranda, 6-39; Wooden, 3-45; Pauley, 2-21; Broussard, 2-21; Starling, 2-18; J. Jones, 2-14; Ferguson, 2-5; Coleman, 1-40; E. Staples, 1-8; Cunningham, 1-7; Skillern, 1-6.