Week 3 wrap plus Anders Broman
Some final thoughts on South Dakota State’s 12-8 victory over UC Davis on Saturday plus extra info on Anders Broman, the latest recruit to give a verbal to the SDSU men’s basketball program:
The Jacks’ first five pass completions went to tight ends - three different ones. Was that by design?
“It’s just the read,” coach John Stiegelmeier said. “We did a lot of three-step stuff and a lot of 5-yard up-and-outs and threw to the guys that were open.”
Still, the SDSU pass game again wasn’t as sharp as expected given that it led the Valley last year. Stiegelmeier attributed some of that to the still-healing hand of QB Austin Sumner - the high balls, in particular, are an indication that it’s not as strong as usual yet. But he was pleased that Sumner was making the right reads, and figures the connections will come in time.
How much has the SDSU defense improved? The Jacks gave up at least 28 points in every home game last year. They also have 12 sacks through three games after totaling 22 in 11 games last season and have yet to allow 200 yards passing in a single game.
The biggest area of concern after the game: The punt return game. The Jacks pulled Dom Wright in favor of Jason Schneider after repeated shaky decisions. Schneider did better … until he did. SDSU wound up taking over 10 yards or less from its end zone four times, including a couple of mind-boggling fair-catch attempts inside the five.
No, you’re not crazy – the rule of thumb for fielding punts hasn’t changed, according to Stiegelmeier. It’s put your heels on the 10 and don’t move backward.
He said that the punt return unit – a group he’s in charge of – “did everything wrong.”
On the flipside, punter Ethan Sawyer had the best day of his career and wound up earning Valley special teamer of the week. The sophomore from Brandon Valley kicked seven times for an average of 47.9 yards with a long of 72 and one inside the 20. The Aggies did not have a single punt return, limiting the touches of Jonathan Perkins (the CB who returned the pick six.)
The UC Davis running back who left with an injury in the first quarter, redshirt freshman Tavior Mowry, is the younger brother of twin actresses Tia and Tamara.
SDSU RB Zach Zenner said the injury that cost him a couple plays during the game was a stinger on his left side. During one of those absences, redshirt freshman Reggie Gandy converted a key third down with a 20-yard catch and run.
As for the latest basketball verbal …
Broman is a 6-foot-1 senior guard and scoring machine. Among the most unusual numbers:
He averaged more than 43 points per game last season (unofficially the highest in the nation)
put up 71 in a single game on the road (second-most in Minnesota prep history) by going 17 of 24 on 2s, 8 of 13 from deep and 13 of 14 from the foul line with six rebounds and nine assists
has more than 3,800 for his career, putting him on track to break the state record this coming season. (Here’s a game-by-game, if you are interested.)
Broman spent the summer with Howard Pulley, a renowned club in the Twin Cities, playing in the backcourt alongside Tyus Jones – a top-5 recruit in the 2014 class – and Quinton Hooker, who recently gave a verbal to North Dakota. He wound up averaging 13.4 points per game (second on the team behind Jones), while knocking down 59 3s and 73 free throws.
Broman said that he received 20 NCAA Division I scholarship offers, and visited Vermont and Yale before taking an official to SDSU over the weekend. As you might expect, the Jacks’ recent success and community support played in their favor.
Also of note: His dad, John, was a Winter Olympian in 1980 in ski jumping, and he passed up opportunities to play for larger high schools in order to stay loyal to LCA, but opted to join Pulley for one summer after previously suiting up for the Minnesota Glory.
What does he do well? Shoot and score.
“To get ready for college, I’m going to be working on my ball handling, my play-making ability,” Broman said, “and being able to defend and getting in the weight room.”
For what it’s worth, ESPN ranks him 59th nationally at shooting guard.
Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.
