AZTEC NOTEBOOK / SCOTT MILLER : Contest for SDSU Punting Job is Heating Up

There is no depth chart yet, but a change likely is in progress in San Diego State’s punting game.

Scott Oatsvall, a senior walk-on, has overtaken junior Jason Savorn, the Aztec punter for the past two seasons.

Although Coach Al Luginbill would say only that nothing has been decided, Oatsvall has been punting with the first unit in practices and has been working exclusively with Thomas Fletcher, first-team long snapper.

Savorn has been working with Art Berry and Shane Griffis, back-up snappers.

“He beat me out (in the spring) with the second-string snappers; now I’ve got to do the same thing,” Savorn said. “That’s going to make it extra hard to beat him out. Fletch is a really good snapper.”

Savorn figures the SDSU intrasquad scrimmage Saturday will be important because that will be the first time this fall they will punt in game conditions.

“I’m punting better than I ever have, but Scott is really pushing me,” Savorn said.

Said Luginbill: “It’s a battle. Oatsvall has elevated himself to make it a contest.”

Although Savorn was ninth in the WAC last season (38.2 yards per kick) and seventh in 1991 (37.8), Luginbill says that is misleading because other WAC punters kick at higher elevations.

Luginbill emphasizes net yardage on punting.

“The last couple of years we’ve had good net punting, which is the key,” he said. “We feel we can improve on our length. Jason has given us a consistent effort--not outstanding, but consistent.”

SDSU’s net punting figure was average last year and unimpressive in 1990. SDSU finished fifth in the WAC in 1991 (35.9 yards per kick) and eighth in 1990 (34.4).

Savorn figures he has experience going for him. He has already proven, he says, that he can position punts well and that he can perform “in stadiums that are full, like at Brigham Young.”

Oatsvall usually gets more hang time than Savorn.

It’s an interesting competition because, among other things, Savorn is on scholarship. Oatsvall, as a walk-on, does not have a scholarship.

Oatsvall attended El Camino High and then went to Tennessee before moving to MiraCosta Community College in Oceanside. Savorn is from Rancho Cordova.

“It’s been frustrating being on second string because, as a punter, you get no respect anyway,” Savorn said. “It’s been pretty hard on me; I’ve had some problems adjusting.”

But, he said, some of the pressure has been lifted.

“Being second string takes some of the pressure off,” he said. “I just go out and jack the ball.”

Marshall Faulk sprained his left ankle during the second practice Wednesday, but X-rays Thursday morning were negative, Luginbill said.

Faulk sat out of SDSU’s practice Thursday morning and practiced lightly in the afternoon. His playing status is day to day.

“It’s still sore,” he said. “I’ve just got to finish getting treatment and see. I’ll just take it day by day. You never know, you might wake up in the morning and it might be swollen, or you might wake up in the morning and it might not be.”

The injury scared SDSU coaches enough to move Larry Maxey from H-back to tailback Thursday. And excuse Maxey if his head is spinning: Entering this season, the senior had switched positions five times in three years.

“It is frustrating,” Maxey said. “You get into a position and begin to feel good, and when somebody goes down, they say, ‘Oops, Larry, go to running back.’

“I’ve played a lot of football here, a lot of downs. More than most people ever will play, and I’m appreciative. I just hope that in my senior year, nothing changes as far as me getting my turns.”

Maxey was vying with Ray Peterson and DeAndre Maxwell for the H-back job. Will Tate was the leader there until he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Monday.

“We just want (Maxey) to get ready at running back so he knows both (that and the H-back position) well,” Luginbill said.

It was almost as if San Diego State had named him basketball coach: Jerry Tarkanian, the new coach of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, attended SDSU’s morning practice session.

“First time I’ve been anywhere but the gym on this campus,” Tarkanian said. “I can’t believe the football offices. They’re beautiful.”

Tarkanian, wearing a T-shirt with sharks on the front, his Nevada Las Vegas championship rings, and sock with NBA logos on them, was vacationing at his Pacific Beach condominium. Although SDSU President Thomas Day scotched Tarkanian’s bid to succeed Jim Harrick Jr. as Aztec basketball coach, Tarkanian said he is not bitter.

“Everyone was up front with me from day one, and I appreciate that,” Tarkanian said. “I can understand that president’s position. I respect it. He’s in a tough position.”

Like Utah basketball Coach Rick Majerus, Tarkanian said he will stay in a hotel his first year in San Antonio.

“They have maid service,” said Tarkanian, whose family will remain in Las Vegas. “I haven’t cooked in more than 30 years and I haven’t washed dishes in probably 40 years, since college. This way, I don’t have to do any of that.”

He asked about SDSU’s basketball team this season and, when told the Aztec schedule included Azusa Pacific and Cal Poly Pomona, he had a short, simple reply:

“Azusa Pacific? Cal Poly?”

Sophomore Sam Williford will miss SDSU’s scrimmage Saturday because of a fractured left wrist. That shouldn’t be confused with his fractured right wrist, which happened while he was playing basketball this summer. The right wrist is scheduled to be in a cast until Aug. 24, and his left wrist was scheduled to be placed in a cast Thursday night.

“I wish I didn’t have to get this (left wrist) put in a cast so I could at least be functional,” Williford said.

He is expected to return Monday.

The rest of the injury update:

Sophomore offensive lineman Brandon Bejarano suffered a strained calf Thursday morning and is day-to-day; redshirt freshman offensive lineman Aaron Mertens was held out of Thursday afternoon’s practice because of dehydration; junior tight end Alex Semenik will be held out until Monday because of his sprained ankle; and redshirt freshman Adam Norberg has the flu.

The Aztecs will scrimmage Saturday morning then be available for autographs and photos from approximately 11:15 a.m. until 12:15 p.m., but there has been one change: The events will take place on the Aztecs’ normal practice field rather than the school’s track, as previously announced. . . . Running back Wayne Pittman, who left the afternoon practice early Wednesday after being hit in the knee with a helmet, also returned Thursday.