Aztec Notebook : Aztecs Decide It’s Time to Make Moves on Defense

Monday practice after a San Diego State football loss and time for some more defensive changes. Get out your lineup cards and make the following moves:

Morey Paul, the inside linebacker who was named the freshman linebacker of the year by The Sporting News last season, is now an outside linebacker.

Todd Coomes, the outside linebacker who this time last season was working at a pharmacy in Utah, is now a defensive end.

Milt Wilson, the defensive tackle who started last season as a defensive end, was starting at tackle by the third game and finished spring as an inside linebacker, is an inside linebacker again who also might play end. Wilson, who has not returned to practice after spraining his ankle against Air Force Sept. 11, primarily will add depth to whichever position needs the most help.

Sound confusing? Don’t worry. These are not necessarily final. With an off week before playing Oregon Oct. 1 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, these two weeks are a time to tinker.

“We’re shuffling players; we’re not changing the defense,” Ed Schmidt, defensive coordinator, said. “We want to get our best 11 players on the football field and to do that, we have to make some adjustments.”

Paul and Coomes figure to benefit the most from the moves. Coomes had lost his starting outside linebacker spot to Kevin Maultsby before a 31-10 loss at Stanford Saturday. Paul, a sophomore from Oceanside High School, played little against Stanford as Tracey Mao, a freshman from Lynwood High School, assumed a more prominent role.

Schmidt said that Paul, who at 6-feet 3-inches and 205 pounds, is one of the smaller Aztec linebackers, had some trouble with the physical aspects of the position.

“Morey is too good an asset to not have him on the field,” Schmidt said. “We had to find a spot for him.”

But Paul said he was unsure about the timing.

“It came as surprise to me,” Paul said. “It will take some time to learn everything. . . . I learned inside linebacker all spring and all through camp. I played it the first three games, and now I have to move outside.”

Coomes, a junior from Salt Lake City, was more enthusiastic. He was recruited from Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, as a defensive end and played the position during SDSU’s 1987 spring practice. He left school before the 1987 season to work and when he returned last spring, he was switched to outside linebacker.

He lost his starting position to Maultsby last week. But when the Aztecs (1-2) switched to a nickel defense in the first half against Stanford, he played end and impressed the coaches. He even recorded the Aztecs’ only sack of the season.

“(Playing end is) more reacting to instincts and less thinking,” Coomes said. “It’s what I’ve always played and what I’m used to.”

Aztec Notes

San Diego State is ranked 102nd out of 104 National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division I-A teams in net punting. The Aztecs are averaging 26.1 net yards per punt. Bill Kushner, a freshman from Fallbrook High School who won the job in preseason camp, is averaging 35.4 yards and has had several short punts give opponents strong field position. “I’m happy with the kicking game except for the distance and hang time on our punts,” SDSU Coach Denny Stolz said in all seriousness. He said that Joe Santos, a junior transfer from Contra Costa College, would be given another strong look at the position but added that for a freshman, Kushner’s performance was acceptable. . . . The Aztecs are 88th in total defense (439.3 yards per game), 100th in rushing defense (285.0), 41st in pass defense (154.3) and 97th in scoring defense (42.0 points per game). . . . With no game this week, the Aztecs will scrimmage Thursday before resuming practice Monday. . . . Outside linebacker John Wesselman (thigh bruise) was the only significant injury from the Stanford game, but he should be ready to play against Oregon, trainer Don Kaverman said.