Aztecs Find Mix For Offense That Clicks

Finding out what makes the San Diego State offense tick is a little like trying to figure out what makes a carnival go. Something is always happening. There are plenty of rides. All you need to do is pick one. And away you go.

SDSU’s offense is ranked fourth in the country in passing and fifth in scoring. Quarterback Dan McGwire and receivers Patrick Rowe and Dennis Arey are high on the national statistical charts. The offense has made Brigham Young nervous, left Air Force grounded and caused Wyoming to feel embarrassed in victory.

What makes it tick . . . ?

“Well, I don’t know if I can figure that one out,” Dave Lay said.

Lay is the offensive coordinator and he can’t figure it out?

“Good players is a good start,” Lay said. “Obviously, I think we have some pretty good players in the right positions. You can’t do it without those guys.”

Lay sat in the offense’s room in the football building at SDSU, surrounded by enough Xs and Os to make a person dizzy. Scripts from past games and charts showing formations and plays cluttered the table in front of him. A depth chart covered much of the wall to his left and wipe-off boards lined two other walls. Felt-tipped markers sat on the table, resting from months of Xs and Os and squiggly lines.

No, a carnival doesn’t run without its rides and games, and, yes, a good offense starts with players.

But then what?

Philosophy.

The Aztecs run a one-back set and try to stretch the defense. They do this with McGwire’s strong arm and by attempting to establish a balanced passing and running attack. Believe it or not, despite McGwire’s gaudy passing numbers, the Aztecs think it is extremely important to establish a running game.

By splitting as many as four receivers wide and only placing one running back behind McGwire, the Aztecs force their opponents to send defensive backs toward the sidelines. When this happens, naturally, there are fewer defenders clogging the middle of the field. The defense is stretched from sideline to sideline.

McGwire’s arm is strong enough to throw deep or from sideline to sideline. This stretches the defense horizontally and vertically.

“We hit every place across the line of scrimmage with a running play and we hit everywhere across the field with the passing game,” Coach Al Luginbill said. “There’s not a spot on that field you don’t have to defend. If you cheat, we’re going to find it.”

So, what makes the offense tick?

“He does,” said Steve Fairchild, quarterbacks coach, referring to Lay.

“It all starts from the top with Coach Lay,” McGwire said. “It’s his offense, and he’s done a great job. The scheme is great and I think his play-calling is tremendous.”

Lay gives as much credit to the personnel as his offense. “I like to think it’s both,” Lay said. “I think the scheme puts pressure on the defense, especially with just one week to prepare. It’s a little like preparing for the wishbone, in a different sense.”

The defense is under constant pressure because of changing formations. Four wide receivers? Three wide receivers and a tight end? Two and two? Coverages must vary accordingly.

Against BYU earlier this year, the Aztecs showed 13 different looks--including a short-yardage offense and a goal-line offense. Lay said the average is seven or eight formations a game.

Receivers have 10 to 12 basic patterns, and there are five or six different basic runs. But there are several variations on the basics, and SDSU has several people who can be plugged into any formation.

Although McGwire may operate out of vastly different formations, then, he knows the receivers’ routes will be similar. The defense sees something different and guesses.

“Our four receivers can get downfield in a hurry,” Lay said. “If you’ve got four guys who can release and get downfield in a hurry, spread out over the field and successfully become a good running offense, too . . . “

Traditional football thinking holds that a good running game opens the door for a solid passing attack. SDSU reverses this. The Aztecs dare you to stop their passing. You struggle. You begin to cheat, and look for the pass. Then they fire up their running game.

“It puts the defense in a bind,” Lay said. “They’ve got to play finesse against the passing game and now adjust physically to a knock-it-down-their-throat running game.”

There is one problem.

Coaches can’t get carried away. “It’s real easy to get excited about throwing the ball 30 yards downfield every time,” Lay said.

Lay thinks the ideal is to rush for about 150 to 200 yards a game. The Aztecs (2-4) are currently averaging 147 rushing and 337 passing.

Said Luginbill: “We will always attempt to run the football on everybody we play. If you can’t stop it, you’re going to see it all night.”

Still, they never go into a game with a particular number of rushes or passes in mind. That falls into place depending on what the defense is giving them.

Lay started tinkering with the one-back offense when he was an assistant at Colorado State in the early 1980s. The current Aztec scheme is a mishmash of ideas and concepts. Some are from Washington Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs, with whom Lay played at SDSU in the early 1960s. More come from the Dennis Erickson’s offenses at Washington State during the 1980s. Some are from SDSU assistants Bret Ingalls and Curtis Johnson and their days at Idaho in the mid-1980s.

It evolves each year. It is complicated in that there are variations on each formation, but the basics are the same. Call it complicated yet simple.

“It’s not brain surgery,” Lay said. “The key is, don’t design it past the quarterback. He is the one who has to pull the trigger and make split-second decisions. You have to limit it some.

“But on the other hand, a vanilla offense can get beat easily by a vanilla defense.”

The one-back offense also allows the Aztecs to use their practice time more effectively. In a two-back system, one back has to learn to block while the other carries the ball. It all takes time.

“That’s one of the real problems through the years, at whatever level, in a balanced running and passing attack,” Lay said. “Having time to work on both.”

For a scheme to work, it takes the right players. SDSU has one of the nation’s best quarterbacks in McGwire. His tools have made him one of the NFL’s top prospects.

“This offense is perfect for Dan McGwire,” Luginbill said. “You can’t have a weak arm--we throw the ball from sideline to sideline too doggone much. You’ve got to have a gun . . .

“And, the quarterback has to work at not doing anything to hurt the offense. He doesn’t have to win it all by himself, but he can lose it all by himself.”

McGwire, who has thrown only two interceptions in 240 attempts, is like a guy sitting home in his favorite chair watching cable television with a remote control in his hand--there are so many choices, all he has to do is push a button.

The Aztecs have several talented running backs and receivers, many of whom are interchangeable.

They use several running backs in their one-back rotation:

--Larry Maxey, the most versatile.

--Curtis Butts, the strongest.

--Tommy Booker, the best breakaway runner.

--T.C. Wright, a hard runner who catches the ball well.

Their stable of receivers is loaded, too:

--Patrick Rowe, big and quick and probably the best big-play receiver the Aztecs have.

--Dennis Arey, the most consistent route-runner.

--Jimmy Raye, the H-back who also runs routes well and catches the ball consistently.

--Jake Nyberg, a redshirt freshman whom Lay said has the best hands of any receiver he has been around.

--Keith Williams, a redshirt freshman with good speed.

--And the Aztecs’ tight ends, Ray Rowe and Jim Hanawalt, have produced more than any tight end group in SDSU’s recent past. Hanawalt already has two touchdown passes this year, two more than the tight ends had last year.

But none of these people would be able to move the ball if not for the progress of the offensive line--Tony Nichols, Jim Jennings, Kevin Macon, Deek Sang and Nick Subis.

“They are so much more physical and athletic than they were a year ago,” Luginbill said. “The group has given us the ability to be balanced. Your consistency comes from tackle to tackle. They allow the running back time to run and the quarterback time to make the correct decisions. We have an ability to adjust on offense, something we haven’t been able to do on defense.”

SDSU normally starts each game with about six scripted plays. Unless a situation calls for a particular short-yardage or long-yardage play, the Aztecs stick to their script to test the defense. They run a play and see if the defense reacts to the different motions and formations. If not, they adjust.

Assistants Steve Fairchild, Curtis Johnson, Steve Blyth and John Blaskovich, meanwhile, watch the defense from the press box and communicate to the Aztec bench. During each SDSU possession--and particularly during the first few each game--coaches constantly make sure the players are seeing what they practiced against all week. If not . . .

Adjustments.

And away they go.

SDSU’S OFFENSIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS * TEAM RANKINGS

4th in country in passing offense, 337 yards a game

5th in country in scoring offense, 37.2 points a game

* INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Dan McGwire 4th in country in passing efficiency, 144.8

Dan McGwire 5th in country in total offense, 300 yards a game

Patrick Rowe 1st in country in receiving yards per game, 120.5

Patrick Rowe and Dennis Arey tied for 12th in country with 6 catches per game

Patrick Rowe 5th in country in all-purpose yards, 166.33

* OTHER KEY NUMBERS

Patrick Rowe’s 224 receiving yards vs. UCLA 3rd highest total in nation this year, his 721 receiving yards are best six-game total in SDSU history. He is on target to finish year with 1,322 yards, which would rank first in SDSU history. Dan McGwire’s 1,921 yards passing are second-best six-game total in SDSU history; he is on pace to throw for 3,521 yards in 11 games, which would rank third in SDSU history.