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Logan • Utah State sophomore Tonny Lindsey enjoys playing more than watching.

Much more.

Lindsey, a running back from Long Beach, Calif., and Cerritos Junior College, carried 11 times for a team-high 62 yards during Friday's 90-play scrimmage at cool but cloudless Romney Stadium.

Lindsey sat out last season as a redshirt.

"I didn't like it at all," he said. "It was kind of depressing. I didn't expect it. But I had to fight through it and be close to my family. I talked to them every day and everything played out well."

The redshirt season provided motivation for Lindsey during his offseason workouts.

"I was angry," he said. "... In the winter I knew I had stuff to prove."

Said Aggie coach Matt Wells: "Tonny is a guy who continues to show flashes. … He's shifty. He can stick a foot in there and still get north and south. He does some good things."

Utah State's defense dominated the second scrimmage of spring practice, although the offense had its moments.

Freshman quarterback DJ Nelson threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Kent Myers. Starter Chuckie Keeton completed nine of 15 passes for 77 yards. Sophomore receiver Braelon Roberts had three catches for 41 yards.

"I think we did pretty good," Lindsey said. "There's some stuff we have to clean up and improve on. They think the backs can improve on the blocking but, overall, we did pretty good."

Dual threat

Myers, a sophomore, saw action at wide receiver and quarterback in the scrimmage. He played quarterback last season and recently switched to receiver. But he returned to quarterback after Darell Garretson announced last week that he was transferring.

"I can't say enough about Kent Myers," Wells said. "He's very unselfish. With all that's unfolded in the last week, he walked in and said, 'Coach, I want to go back to quarterback.'

"It was obviously the right timing but it came from him. He's a good player and very unselfish kid. We'll watch him for another week of spring ball and then there will be a major, major battle for the backup quarterback job."

Defense stout

Utah State's defense stopped the offense on the first 10 possessions of the scrimmage, including seven straight three-and-outs.

"I thought it was a tremendous job by the white shirts," Wells said. "The defense flew around right from the beginning. There are a lot of young kids doing good things. … [They] had a lot of energy."

Going forward, the challenge will be for the Aggie offense to regroup in time for the annual spring game, which is scheduled for April 11.

Said Wells: "When you go back and watch the tape, I'm sure the offense will be embarrassed a little bit. On Tuesday, they'll probably have a little bit better day."

Senior linebacker Torrey Green led the defense with four tackles, including two sacks.

"We did good," Green said. "We practiced hard. It was a good day for us."