When Dave Arslanian took over as Weber State head football guy two months ago from Mike Price, he figured he'd have five starters back from that explosive offense of the past few years, even if big names like Jeff Carlson, Fine Unga, Wade Orton and Gerald Wilcox had moved on to professional futures.
"All of a sudden, we have two," says Arslanian, whose offensive team's been getting younger as it completes spring drills and prepares for Saturday's Varsity/Alumni game, 6 p.m., at Wildcat Stadium.Rick Justice, outstanding at wide receiver and special teams, will miss all of next season because of a knee injury suffered last season. Arslanian had thought Justice would be available.
Kelvin Dexter, an all-Big Sky guard last season, has academic problems and was held out of spring ball. Arslanian isn't sure if he'll play in the fall.
And Todd Beightol, who took Justice's place midway through last season and caught the game-winning pass against Nevada-Reno, dove for a catch in spring practice and landed on the ball, rupturing his spleen. He might never play again, says Arslanian.
"I don't know how good we'll be, but we'll be exciting," says Arslanian, making the best of it. "We have a bunch of freshmen and sophomores, and with our offense such a wide-open, versatile, multiple offense, they run motion and might go the wrong way - but then a good thing happens anyway. I don't know what they'll do from one play to the next, let alone one day to the next."
Compounding the uncertainty is that no quarterback has emerged as the No. 1 replacement for Carlson, a fourth-round NFL draftee. Rich Ericson is the savvy one, Ryan Schmidt the strong-armed one and freshman Jamie Martin is the most accurate and has the most potential, says Arslanian. Bill Reiser, a sophomore quarterback hopeful, has been moved - perhaps permanently, since he intercepted a pass and ran 80 yards in a scrimmage - to safety, where he's challenging Maurice Jackson. Jackson could move to cornerback.
At running back, George Jackson has some experience.
Offensive starters returning are center Keith Chambers and Oscar Contreras, who moved from guard to tackle and missed some spring ball with a knee injury. Tight end Peter Macon could also be considered a returning starter because he's played a lot the past couple of seasons but was usually listed No. 2 behind Wilcox, the No. 1 Canadian League draftee.
The defense has better experience with six starters back, including punter Brent Chuhaniuk. Much of the defensive backfield returns with linebacker C.D. Beck, Jackson, cornerback Jody Marshall and rover Berk King. Savea Harrington is back at tackle.
Reid Leland played some at linebacker last year and is battling Bob Croyle for an inside position, and noseguard Dave Palaniuk started the first two games last season and made 12 unassisted tackles and two sacks before a season-ending knee injury. Also experienced to some extent are defensive backs Darion Scott and Austin Peters and defensive end Mike Glenn.
With that many players versed in the old defense, new defensive coordinator Bill Smith, whose Montana team led the Big Sky in total defense, tailored his scheme to meet the personnel.
"In some ways, the defense will look the same, especially where they lineup before the snap," Arslanian says. "Once the ball is snapped, the difference will take place."
"We're probably a year away," Arslanian says, thinking of I-AA playoff possibilities. But, he said, the staff recruited freshmen rather than junior-college players to fill the big holes it knew was coming. "It may hurt us for a year," he says. "It was mostly a youth movement - by choice."