San Diego State Football: Days three, four and five of fall camp

Head Coach Rocky Long and the Aztecs have their work cut out for them as they finish up the first week of fall camp. Long is taking his time to evaluate his options at a couple of positions, like backup running back and outside linebacker.

Wednesday's practice, the first session with full pads, left much to be desired from both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, so much so that Long considered extending practice by an hour. Long ultimately decided to end practice on time, but made it clear that he will extend practices in the future, or just have the team run.

Thursday's pad-less practice was better, but not by much. Senior cornerback J.J. Whitaker offered an explanation of the team's struggles in an interview with GoAztecs.com:

"There's a little bit of sloppy play for these first few days because of all the excitement going on," Whitaker said. "Everybody cant wait to play football...We're out here ready to make plays."

The Aztecs scrimmaged for the last 45 minutes of Friday's practice which was closed to the media. With the mid-week hiccup the Aztecs will look to rebound this weekend and put a couple strong days together in a row.

"The players are probably relieved that one week is over and we've only got a couple more," coach Long said. "I wish we had an exhibition season like the the NFL does. I'd like to play a game or two against somebody else and then you've got a better feel for your team."

Coach Long said that he hopes to name a backup quarterback by Monday, but doesn't think the first few practices have brought him any closer to a decision. Long also said that he is content with running four or five running backs up until the first game, so don't expect any developments on that front any time soon.

** Senior linebacker Cody Galea played sparingly in Friday's scrimmage after tweaking his hamstring on Tuesday, but it doesn't look like it will be a major issue going forward.