San Diego State running back Marquez Cooper picked up 6 yards on the first play of the game against Texas A&M-Commerce before Lions defensive back Lavon Williams came up to make the tackle.
It may have been a bigger gain had SDSU wide receiver Louis Brown IV interrupted Williams on his way to the ball-carrier.
After the series, SDSU wide receivers coach Lanear Sampson gathered the wide receivers group around him on the sidelines and reviewed the first series on the tablet he held in his hands.
The NCAA, for the first time, is allowing teams to use the technology in real time.
“In the past, you’d have to get the grease board out and say, ‘Here’s what happened,’” SDSU coach Sean Lewis said. “You’d chalk it up and talk through it.”
“With the way our kids are wired now, they’re such visual learners, to be able to just literally show them the picture, ‘Hey, here’s you. Here’s what happened. Here’s what you didn’t do. Here’s what I need you to do.’
“That correction with the whole wide receiver group led to the very first touchdown.“
Give SDSU wide receiver Baylin Brooks an “A” for paying attention during the review.
In the third quarter, Brooks blocked a Texas A&M-Commerce safety toward the sideline — and took a Lions cornerback out of the play while he was at it — helping spring Cooper for a 47-yard touchdown.
“Untouched,” Cooper noted afterward.
Lewis mentioned how small nuances can make big differences, “getting that to the kids and being able to help them get a higher grade on the test, so to speak, because you’re able to review drive after drive in real time is really, really cool.”
Lewis finished off the subject with a line fit for a fortune cookie.
“We’ve talked since we’ve been here,” Lewis said, “that a smart guy will learn from his mistake, but a wise man will learn from others’ mistakes.”
About those penalties
SDSU’s 16 penalties against Texas A&M-Commerce was the most in a game for the Aztecs since at least 2000.
Seven of the penalties were either holding calls or false starts against the offensive line. There also were two roughing-the-passer penalties, two facemasks and a pair of pass interference calls.
“It was the emotion of the moment probably getting to them a little bit,” Lewis said. “They were playing emotional and there’s a fine line between a game that needs to be played with emotion versus being emotional.
Lewis said a major point of emphasis, of course, is avoiding the head and neck when hitting the quarterback.
“That’s going to get called,” Lewis said. “We know what that is. Just playing smart. Having great discipline.”
Lewis noted critical errors that “extended drives (for TAMC) or we get a big first down and now we have a false start and start playing behind schedule. We just can’t put ourselves in those positions. When we earn the right to get off the field, we’ve got to get off the field.”
SDSU would have gotten off the field in the third quarter when safety Dalesean Staley intercepted a pass in the end zone, except teammate Marlem Louis was called for roughing Lions quarterback Eric Rodriguez.
Rodriguez threw a 6-yard touchdown pass on the next play.
“We can’t overcome those errors right now,” Lewis said, “and we’ve got to continue to develop that discipline and have better focus and, again, tow that line better of playing with emotion but not being emotional.”
Injury update
Lewis said the status of starting left tackle Joe Borjon remains to be determined for Saturday’s game against Oregon State.
Borjon was helped off the field just before halftime against TAMC after injuring his left knee and ankle when a Lions player rolled up on him.
Left guard Christian Jones, last year’s starter at left tackle, slid over to replace Borjon and Myles Murao came in at left guard.
There also is some question regarding kicker Gabriel Plascencia, who was replaced by backup Nick Lopez in the second half.
A defender ran into Plascencia at the end of the first half when the kicker missed a 40-yard field goal attempt. Plascencia also missed an extra point in the third quarter.
Whether it was due to injury or ongoing inconsistency remains to be seen.
“Both guys will continue to get opportunities as we sort out who can be most consistent,” Lewis said. “There’s been no secret that there’s been some consistency we need to tighten up as we’ve gone through training camp. … That showed up both in the kicks, the field goals and PATs, and the kickoffs.”
Speaking of injuries
Unlike the NFL, college teams do not have to issue official injury reports.
That has changed in the SEC, where the conference announced last week that teams this year are required to make “availability reports.”
The reports will be required beginning three days before conference games (Wednesday for a Saturday game) and updated each day up until 90 minutes before kickoff.
Player status will be listed as “available, probable, questionable, doubtful or out” for the game.
What would Lewis think if such a rule comes to the Mountain West?
Lewis said he has no problem accepting whatever rule changes come his way, but he isn’t going out of his way to share information that may help his opponent.
“There’s some good to it,” he said. “But at the end of the day, like right now, I don’t have to, so I’m going to hold my cards close to my vest.”
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