Injuries Curtail SDSU’s Spring Preening : Football: Luginbill finds depth among offensive linemen and H-backs.

It takes only one word to summarize San Diego State’s spring football drills.

Ouch .

You were expecting something a little more technical? Something a little more football-ese? So, too, was Coach Al Luginbill--until one offensive lineman went down. And then another. And then a defensive back. On and on and on and. . . .

So, one thing Luginbill was able to find out this spring is that the Aztecs are deeper than they have been in his three previous springs at SDSU.

“We have more good football players on the field,” Luginbill said Friday after SDSU’s final spring scrimmage. “We wouldn’t have even been able to resemble a football team with that massive group of guys missing in the past.”

But despite the prolonged absences of offensive linemen Tony Nichols (shoulder), Louie Zumstein (knee sprain), Mark Koenig (neck strain) and Carlson Leomiti (weight problems), the Aztecs learned at least 10 things in 15 days of spring. . . .

1. They have enough offensive linemen to fill several teams.

Actually, Luginbill would like to find a core group of seven or eight by fall camp, and with the injuries, he got a look at several more than he had planned.

“The only negative thing in the spring was that we never had a unit on the offensive line--80% of the spring, we were playing with one starter,” Luginbill said. “The positive was that some young kids got some experience they never would have gotten.”

2. Misfortune befalls even superstars.

Players other than offensive linemen missed time, too. A guy named Marshall Faulk missed nearly two weeks because of the flu and a wisdom tooth that was eventually extracted.

“It was an OK spring,” said Faulk, who gained 17 yards on seven carries Friday. “It was good experience for me, but it wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be.”

3. They have three cornerbacks. Do we hear four?

Luginbill said Damon Pieri (converted from free safety), Eric Sutton and Gary Taylor are SDSU’s first three cornerbacks. Darrell Lewis will take Pieri’s place at free safety.

“I don’t know if we found a fourth cornerback, though, and that is a concern,” Luginbill said.

John Louis, who was a starter last year until the Freedom Bowl, looked good during the first two weeks as the fourth cornerback.

After that . . . you guessed it. Injury. A severely sprained ankle sidelined him.

4. The backup quarterback job belongs to Tim Gutierrez--for now.

“I would feel much better about him if he hadn’t gone in the tank in the fourth week,” Luginbill said.

Still, in Friday’s scrimmage, Gutierrez completed 20 of 36 passes for 277 yards. He had two touchdown passes and no interceptions. Incumbent starter David Lowery completed 10 of 24 passes for 111 yards. He had no touchdowns and two interceptions.

Gutierrez became the front-runner for the back-up job when his competitor, freshman Brian Kalk--you guessed it--was injured. Bruised ribs. Didn’t play Friday.

5. Will Tate and Ray Peterson can play H-back.

No, Tate and Peterson can play H-back. Luginbill is already happier with this position than he was all of last season.

“Tate had a real fine spring,” Luginbill said. “He has matured and come to the forefront.”

And Peterson, a 5-feet-8 sprite of a redshirt freshman from New Orleans, was the talk of the spring--among both the coaching staff and players.

6. There is still at least one question: Fred Harris.

The 1990 Gatorade high school player of the year in Louisiana still has not qualified for admission to SDSU based on his SAT and ACT scores. Harris, a linebacker, is currently awaiting the arrival of more test results. Luginbill said he might not know if Harris will be admitted to SDSU until July.

7. One of the more hotly contested jobs in August will be punter.

Jason Savorn, who averaged 38 yards per kick in 1991, has been SDSU’s punter for each of the past two seasons. But, senior Scott Oatsvall, who walked on last fall, appears to have surpassed him in spring camp.

8. Tight end isn’t a done deal, either.

Alex Semenik, Marc Ziegler and Zack Smith are tightly bunched at tight end, with Curt Collins not too far behind.

“It’s still nebulous,” Luginbill said. “But they’re better than they were four weeks ago.”

None have reached the standard set by Ray Rowe--possibly the Western Athletic Conference’s best tight end in 1991--but Luginbill said they are better than when he took over three years ago.

9. Luginbill liked this spring better than last spring.

“Much better,” he said. “We had much better play at quarterback.”

10. Not everything in the spring can be taken seriously.

“Our running game is not where it should be,” Luginbill said.

But whether that was because of the holes in the offensive line or an improved defense, Luginbill didn’t know.

“I’d be extremely disappointed in our defense if we were able to take the ball and run (well),” Luginbill said.

But on the other hand, he hates to see the Aztec running game shut down.

What’s a coach to do in the spring?