AZTEC NOTEBOOK / SCOTT MILLER : Scott Back in Stride as the Season Opener Nears

SAN DIEGO — It was all there again Thursday on the San Diego State practice field: The drop-dead speed, the sure hands and the gallop that makes him look like a colt in the pasture.

Sophomore Darnay Scott caught seven passes for 128 yards during SDSU’s final fall intrasquad scrimmage and then pronounced himself ready.

“I’m getting a lot more confidence,” said Scott, picked as a “budding superstar” and as the nation’s 15th-best receiver by the Sporting News. “At first (this fall), I was nervous because I was coming in as a starter.”

He sure hasn’t looked nervous.

“I try not to let anybody notice,” he said, smiling.

Scott arrived in camp stronger--having followed a strict weightlifting program over the summer--and with what seems like a new set of hands.

Last year, a pass split his left hand--between his middle and ring fingers--badly enough that he had to have stitches.

His soft hands have disappeared.

“I don’t know how they got harder,” he said. “I just tape and go. I don’t wear gloves.”

Scott caught 35 passes for 727 yards and six touchdowns last season and set an NCAA single-game record for freshman with 243 yards on eight receptions against Brigham Young. That night, he electrified SDSU fans with touchdown receptions of 79 and 75 yards.

He has the game-breaking potential of Patrick Rowe, the Cleveland Brown and former Aztec receiver who suffered a season-ending knee injury this week in an exhibition game, and the speed of a top sprinter.

Rowe was one reason Scott chose SDSU. He credits much of his success to watching Rowe last season.

“(Receivers coach Curtis Johnson) would tell me to watch Patrick,” Scott said. “Now, he tells younger freshmen to watch me.”

Said Coach Al Luginbill: “Darnay and Patrick are both tremendously skilled. Patrick is stronger and more physical. Darnay is smoother--he’s like silk.

“Darnay is a tough guy, though. Don’t get me wrong.”

Tough and comfortable.

“I feel a lot more confident now,” Scott said. “I can run things.

“At first, it was like, ‘Darn, let me see. Let me see.’ ”

Tagging along: If Scott caught 128 yards’ worth of passes, then quarterback David Lowery must have had a good day, right?

Correct.

Lowery, behind an maturing offensive line, completed 11 of 21 passes for 191 yards. He threw one touchdown pass--the first team’s first and only touchdown in two fall scrimmages. It covered 34 yards to Keith Williams.

“I started off a little slow, and there were some mix-ups in routes, but we got everything ironed out,” Lowery said.

Luginbill agreed.

“David made really good reads,” Luginbill said. “Early, he was off, but then he got hot. We didn’t catch the ball early, either, but he didn’t let that bother him.”

Who’s up second: With the end of fall camp near, one thing is apparent: If Lowery goes down, the Aztecs could be in deep trouble.

Cree Morris has transferred to Division II St. Mary’s, leaving sophomore Tim Gutierrez and freshman Billy Blanton as the only other quarterbacks on the Aztec roster.

Gutierrez has been inconsistent, and Blanton was in high school last year.

“Billy made some gigantic strides today,” Luginbill said of Blanton, who missed Wednesday practices with a sore arm. “Tim did some good things, too.

“But there is a major difference between David Lowery and the other two.”

The Aztecs are going to take precautions to keep Lowery healthy.

“If David Lowery gets hurt, that’s no different than if Ty Detmer of Tommy Maddux getting hurt,” Luginbill said.

Head games: Ray Peterson, redshirt freshman H-back, received the heads-up award of the day when, dropping back to receive a punt, he called a quick timeout when he noticed his team had 12 men on the field.

Luginbill, who had inserted an extra man on purpose, was thrilled that Peterson recognized it.

Although Peterson said the coaches tried to trick him in practice Wednesday, he wasn’t expecting it in the scrimmage.

“Naw,” he said. “Not really. No big deal, though. I’m just doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

Getting kicks: The punting competition between Scott Oatsvall and Jason Savorn gets stranger daily. Oatsvall has been working with the first team, but Luginbill would not admit that Oatsvall is, for now, first-string.

Oatsvall punted four times Thursday for 136 yards (34 yards a kick) and Savorn three for 124 (41 yards a kick).

Luginbill’s response: “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who has punted the ball better.”

Although he would not say who, he agreed with a reporter who answered Oatsvall.

“There’s more to punting the football (than distance),” Luginbill said. “When we’re lobbing it, who is getting it in the area in which we can down it?

“Obviously, in height and distance, (Oatsvall) has had the best two scrimmages.”

Yeah, but since when does 34 yards per kick beat 41?

Early exit: Trainer Brian Barry has permission to leave practice a bit early Saturday afternoon.

Medical convention? Nope.

Barry and several student trainers are going to Irvine to hear Jimmy Buffett.

And like any Parrothead worth his beak, Barry has planned ahead. He obtained lawn tickets so he has room to bring his plastic shark.

Aztec Notes

About 40,000 tickets have been sold for the USC-SDSU game, according to Bruce Binkowski of the Greater San Diego Sports Assn. . . . Defensive linemen Sebastian Glaze (quadriceps strain) and Ty Morrison (bronchitis) sat out. . . . Marshall Faulk carried only five times for 14 yards. Coach Al Luginbill said the plan was for Faulk to get more work in the first scrimmage and tone it down in the second. . . . Andy Trakas kicked field goals of 47, 33 and 35 yards and missed from 37. . . . Defensive back Robert Griffith sprained an ankle but trainer Brian Barry said he will be ready to go today. . . . The Aztecs will practice only once today and Saturday. The mornings will be reserved for film and strategy meetings.