The players were dressed, the coaches were pumped, but San Diego State’s football practice Thursday was nothing more than a glorified dress rehearsal for the open scrimmage on Saturday’s Fan Fest at Qualcomm Stadium.
It was clear head coach Rocky Long and his staff did not want to risk any injuries heading into Saturday, with only a portion of the practice being a “thud” session. The rest of the cool morning practice consisted of 7-on-7 passing drills and individual unit walkthroughs.
Yet, even with limited snaps of a half-speed 11-on-11 scrimmage, the defense still proved its superiority over the mistake-prone offense, with the lone exception being star junior running back Donnel Pumphrey, who already looks to be in regular-season form, albeit with defenders who know he’s off-limits.