AZTEC NOTEBOOK / SCOTT MILLER : Faulk Believes He Will Be Able to Play

Although San Diego State trainer Brian Barry continues to list running back Marshall Faulk as questionable for Saturday’s game against Miami, and although Faulk has still not practiced this week, he said Wednesday he thinks he will be able to play against the No. 1 Hurricanes.

“Yeah, the way I’ve been progressing so far from my injury until now, I feel that by Saturday I should be able to go,” said Faulk, who is suffering from a sprained right knee.

Although Faulk did not practice Wednesday, he did do some sprints and agility drills on the sidelines and, according to Barry, they went well.

“We’ll see how it manifests overnight,” Barry said. “But he looked pretty good. He said it felt pretty good.

“We weren’t discouraged.”

Today could be a big day, because Faulk said he would need a day of practice in order to play in the game. The Aztecs’ final practice before Miami is this morning.

“I guess everybody has to practice one day or another to prepare for a game,” Faulk said. “I have to practice a day in order to play.”

Barry said that if Faulk does not experience any setbacks, “there’s a chance he could take some snaps (today). If he’s a little sore, I’d prefer not to. He’s going to have to feel really good (today) for him to take reps.”

Although Faulk cited an unwritten team rule when he said he would need to practice before playing, SDSU Coach Al Luginbill said that Faulk could still play Saturday without practicing if his knee recovers quickly from Thursday to Saturday.

“He’s got to be full speed,” Luginbill said.

Faulk, during a midday news conference, also reiterated his desire to return to SDSU next year and bypass applying for the NFL draft--whether he wins the Heisman or not.

“If I get it or not, I will return,” Faulk said.

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Receiver Darnay Scott, whom many think could play in the NFL soon, also said he is not yet thinking of entering the NFL early.

“That’s not in my mind,” Scott said. “A lot of people are asking me that. I’ve got my years to stay in college. I’m not ready for that hard hitting yet.

“I’m just having fun playing my college football first--then the pros after college.”

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Faulk on whom he would vote for if he had a Heisman vote: “Of course I’d vote for myself. I’d be crazy not to. It’s just like if you were running for President.”

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Luginbill took exception to comments made by punter Scott Oatsvall on Tuesday. The coach opened the punting job this week and Oatsvall expressed his displeasure and said that the opening was news to him.

“That’s a crock of bull,” Luginbill said. “He was told by the special teams coordinator (Ed Schmidt), just like we handle things when a position is open.

“If something is thrown open, I don’t personally go to a player. Coach Schmidt talked with Scott Oatsvall about the punting situation. . . .

“When he said he was not told about it, that is untrue and incorrect.”

Said Oatsvall: “After I talked with Coach Luginbill today, I realized it was a misunderstanding.”

Luginbill said that Oatsvall had a good day in practice.

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Barry said that H-back Will Tate, who has caught only two passes for 12 yards this season, will miss Saturday’s game and will undergo anterior cruciate ligament reconstructive surgery next week.

Tate, who has been bothered by the knee all season, will probably have the surgery on Tuesday, after the team’s awards banquet Monday night.

“He had just about gone as far as he could and he was experiencing some looseness in the knee in the last game,” Barry said.

Tate will be the third Aztec player to have reconstructive surgery performed on a knee. Defensive linemen Ty Morrison and Steve Matuszewicz had surgeries earlier this season.

Barry said that Tate, a junior from Southwest High School, will miss spring football but should be cleared to play by the fall.

Tate’s injury means Keith Williams will have to move from wide receiver to H-back, leaving Williams and Ray Peterson to handle the H-back chores.

Larry Maxey, who has gotten most of the work at H-back this season, has moved to running back this week in practice as Faulk’s replacement.

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The Aztecs are banged up. Wayne Pittman suffered a broken leg on Saturday, leaving the running back duties to Maxey. Defensive lineman Turaj Smith (toe) and linebacker Chad Provensal (neck) also have been declared out for the Miami game.

Free safety Darrell Lewis (groin) and linebackers Mark Roberts (concussion) and Mike Burns (shoulder) should return.

The Aztecs are also without defensive linemen Morrison and Matuszewicz, offensive lineman Joe Heinz (ankle), and defensive back Chris Johnson (arm), who were all injured earlier this season.

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No Woman, No Cry: Luginbill thinks that Miami’s trio of linebackers is the finest in the country, and says the linebacking corps is so deep that he is even impressed with Rohan Marley, a back-up Miami linebacker.

“He can flat-out jet,” Luginbill said. “He looks like one muscle. He’s a flat-out player. I don’t know how they keep him on the bench.”

Marley is one of the late reggae singer Bob Marley’s sons.