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LOGAN -- Saturday's Utah State football situational scrimmage at Romney Stadium showed signs of improvement from Monday's scrimmage and Aggie head coach Gary Andersen was pleased with the progress.
"The defense played much better. We had better emotion with the first two groups. They tackled much better," Andersen said. "We ran to the football well and the offense made some plays as well. It was a much more competitive scrimmage. It is what you would look at and say, ‘That is Division I football.'"
USU's defense had six players with four or more tackles, including a total of 10 tackles for loss with three quarterback sacks. Senior linebacker Paul Igboeli had two TFL's, while freshman safety Cache Morgan led the way with 10 total stops. Senior safety Kejon Murphy snared the lone interception of the day and had four tackles.
"We just made more tackles and swarmed a lot more compared to the last scrimmage," Murphy said comparing Saturday's second scrimmage of the spring to the first action on Monday. "We improved in knowing our assignments and just playing the game. We need to just play the game and not think so much. That was key to the improvement."
The Aggie offense was led by junior QB Diondre Borel with six rushes for 84 yards, highlighted by a 70-yard scamper that sophomore Robert Turbin capped the three-play, 75-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard TD plunge for the first score of the day. Borel was also 17-of-24 passing for 145 yards with 2 TD's and the one INT. Turbin had four carries for 71 yards, including a 27-yard run and a 39-yard dash, in addition to one catch for 15 yards.
Redshirt-freshman Exavier Johnson was 11-of-19 passing for 108 yards while rushing for 40 yards on four carries, including two TD's. Johnson's first TD came on a 14-yard run, capping a 5-play, 75-yard scoring drive, while he added a 2-yard score later in the scrimmage, lowering his shoulder and running over the defensive player at the goal line.
"I think (offensive coordinator) Coach Baldwin had much more of a conscience effort to get Diondre and Exavier (Johnson) and (Adam) Eastman the opportunity to throw the ball more," Andersen said. "We switched the second team quarterback, which was a real positive I believe. Exavier shined today in my opinion. He impressed me today as far as his ability to run the offense the correct way."
Freshman QB Adam Eastman was 7-of-9 passing for 78 yards with one TD, a 22-yard strike to sophomore wideout Stanley Morrison during the two-minute drill at the end of the scrimmage, as the offense marched down the field covering 70 yards in eight plays in 1:15 time, using one timeout.
The Aggie offense gained 331 yards through the air and 310 on the ground. Junior wide receiver Eric Moats had a team-high of seven catches for 55 yards while sophomore Austin Alder snared six receptions for a scrimmage-best 61 yards.
"Last scrimmage it was all run game but I felt like today the passing game finally kicked in," Alder said. "The line is blocking well and picking up the blitz. The receivers are running better routes. It was an all around good effort."
Alder was one of 13 different receivers to catch a pass, as the offense was put through more passing situations Saturday than Monday's scrimmage.
"The passing game was there more today even though the passing game was there Monday," Alder said. "Some of that was the situational scrimmage, but I felt that Diondre (Borel) was throwing the ball a lot better today. We also dropped a lot of balls on Monday, but we were able to make the catches today."
Senior kicker Chris Ulinski nailed 8-of-13 field goals, hitting four over 40 yards with a long of 54 yards, while just missing a pair of 52-yarders, including one hitting the right upright. It was the second time in a row Ulinski had been denied a 50+ yard field goal by the upright, after a 52-yard attempt Monday hit the left upright.
The Aggies are scheduled to practice on Tuesday and Thursday before concluding spring camp with Utah State's Spring Game on Saturday, April 18 at 2 p.m. at Romney Stadium, which is also open to the public. Fans can get autographs following Saturday's scrimmage.
Utah State Football Scrimmage Stats Saturday, April 11, 2009 Romney Stadium
OFFENSE
RUSHING
Diondre Borel 6-84; Robert Turbin 4-71 TD; Josh Flores 6-57; Exavier Johnson 4-40 2 TD; Michael Smith 8-31; Derrvin Speight 1-13; Stanley Morrison 2-13; Ronald Scott 7-10 TD; Marquis Butler 2-4; Team 1-(-2); Adam Eastman 4-(-11)
PASSING
Diondre Borel 17-24, 145 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT; Exavier Johnson 11-19, 108 yards; Adam Eastman 7-9, 78 yards, 1 TD; Team 0-2
RECEIVING
Eric Moats 7-55; Austin Alder 6-61; Chase Griffiths 4-45; Stanley Morrison 4-36 TD; Michael Smith 2-24 TD; Jeremy Mitchell 3-21 TD; Omar Sawyer 2-18; Tarren Lloyd 1-17; Robert Turbin 1-15; Kyle Shaney 1-14; Xavier Bowman 1-13; Josh Flores 1-9; Ronald Scott 1-3;
DEFENSE
TACKLES
Cache Morgan 10; James Brindley 5; Kejon Murphy 4; Kyle Gallagher 4; Joey Schrader 4; Sidney Allen 4; 5 others tied with 3; 9 others tied with 2; 7 others tied with 1
TACKLES FOR LOSS
Paul Igboeli 2; Maxim Dinka; Quinn Garner; Jake Poulson; James Brindley; Kellen Bartlett; Jacob Actkinson ; Bobby Wagner; Levi Koskan
SACKS
Jake Poulson; Maxim Dinka; Quinn Garner
PASS BREAK UPS
Sidney Allen; Kellen Bartlett; Kyle Gallagher; Reuben Willis; Chris Harris
INTERCEPTIONS
Kejon Murphy
SPECIAL TEAMS
KICKOFF RETURNS
Omar Sawyer 1-33; Stanley Morrison 1-15
PUNT RETURNS
Stanley Morrison 1-21; Kejon Murphy 1-19; Josh Flores 2-13
FIELD GOALS
Chris Ulinski 8-13; Good: 42, 32, 36, 42, 54, 26, 47, 37, Missed 42 (wide left), 52 (wide left), 52 (right upright), 32 (wide left - bad snap), 37 (wide left)
SCORING SUMMARY
Robert Turbin 1 yard rush (Chris Ulinski kick); 3 plays, 75 yards
Exavier Johnson 14 yard rush (Ulinski kick); 5 plays, 75 yards
Ulinski 42 yard field goal
Ronald Scott 5 yard rush (Ulinski kick); 10 plays, 65 yards
Ulinski 32 yard field goal
Ulinski 36 FG; 5 plays, 46 yards
Ulinski 42 FG; 3 plays, 0 yards
Ulinski 54 FG
Michael Smith 19 yard pass from Diondre Borel (Ulinski kick); 3 plays, 25 yards
Ulinski 26 FG; 3 plays, 6 yards
Ulinski 47 FG
Jeremy Mitchell 12 yard pass from Borel (Ulinski kick); 3 plays, 15 yards
Ulinski 37 FG
Exavier Johnson 2 yard rush (Ulinski kick); 7 plays, 80 yards
Stanley Morrison 22 pass from Adam Eastman (Ulinski kick); 8 plays, 70 yards
-USU-
