Aztecs’ Passes Are Gone With Wind in Air Force Loss

On San Diego State’s latest list of excuses for losing football games, the wind can now be added.

The Aztecs blamed windy conditions for much of their fate Saturday afternoon when they lost to the Air Force Academy, 31-10. But since it was a football game and not a track meet, wind-aided results count for the record.

And for those who are counting, SDSU has lost four straight. The Aztecs are 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the Western Athletic Conference. Air Force is 9-0 overall, 6-0 in the WAC and ranked seventh nationally.

According to SDSU personnel, two wind-aided Air Force interceptions may have turned the tide Saturday.

Vince Warren was the intended receiver on both second-quarter plays. Though Warren had defenders beaten deep each time, Todd Santo’s passes were held up by the wind and intercepted.

If the first play had gone for a touchdown, SDSU would have tied the game, 10-10. If the second play had resulted in a score, the Aztecs would have pulled to within 17-10.

“Our worst enemy was the wind,” Coach Doug Scovil said. “We had Vince open twice, and we ended up with interceptions instead of touchdowns.”

Tom Rotello had the first interception at the Air Force 41-yard line. The Falcons then drove 59 yards to take a 17-3 lead.

Dwan Wilson had the second interception at the Air Force 4. His play preserved the Falcons’ 17-3 halftime lead.

“They put both of those deep throws into the wind,” Wilson said. “It might not have been a smart thing to do.”

Nobody was about to accuse the Aztecs of playing a smart offensive game. Granted, they couldn’t pass into the wind. However, they were unable to take advantage even when they were passing with the wind at their backs.

SDSU’s only pass for more than 20 yards was a 54-yarder to Warren in the first quarter. After the second-quarter interceptions, the Aztecs refused to go long, with or without the wind.

Santos had one of his worst passing days for SDSU, with four interceptions while completing 18 of 32 passing attempts for 224 yards and 1 touchdown. The Aztecs also fumbled the ball away twice.

Air Force scored its first 10 points unaided, but SDSU turnovers led to the final three Falcon touchdowns. For the first time in three weeks, the offense was taking the blame for a loss.

“I thought everybody did well except me,” Santos said. “If I would’ve stayed away from those interceptions, it probably would’ve been a closer game.”

The first two interceptions were wind-aided. But the second two were simply bad passes.

Rotello stepped in front of Warren on a down-and out pattern early in the third quarter. He intercepted and returned the ball 30 yards for a touchdown, giving Air Force a 24-3 lead.

Interception No. 4 came on the first play of the fourth quarter when SDSU trailed, 24-10. Santos threw into a crowd at the Air Force 28 and Scott Thomas intercepted.

“Other than that interception when Todd threw across the field, I thought he did pretty well,” Scovil said. “It’s tough to throw into that wind.”

The wind was a factor even before the opening kickoff. When SDSU won the coin toss, Scovil let Air Force choose what it wanted to do. When the Falcons decided to receive, SDSU took the wind behind its back.

“We felt if they took the ball and couldn’t move against the wind, we might have a short drive for a touchdown,” Scovil said. “We figured, ‘Let’s make them go 80 yards.’ ”

After Chris O’Brien put the opening kickoff into the end zone, that’s exactly what Air Force did.

On the Falcons’ first play from scrimmage, Pat Evans ran 52 yards. Four plays later, Kelly Pittman scored on a two-yard run.

When SDSU’s first drive stalled, O’Brien kicked a 54-yard field goal with the wind at his back, establishing a personal distance record. However, O’Brien had a 43-yard attempt partially blocked later in the quarter, ending his WAC record at 18 straight successful field-goal attempts.

Air Force then drove to SDSU’s 32 before Tom Ruby kicked a 49-yard field goal, providing the Falcons a 10-3 lead.

Rotello’s first interception set up a 59-yard drive that concluded with a 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Bart Weiss.

On the interception, Warren had sped past Rotello down the left sideline. However, the wind held Santo’s pass up.

“Warren was running a post pattern and the ball floated for a second,” Rotello said. “I think the wind was kind of a factor.”

Later in the quarter, Wilson intercepted when Warren was open near the goal line.

“He had a step on me,” Wilson said. “The ball drifted from Warren and came back to me.”

Said Warren: “The balls were floating like the wind had control of them. Without the wind as a factor, we could’ve gone deep more often.”

SDSU attempted to go short on the third play of the second half, only to have Rotello intercept and score.

In the meantime, the Aztecs finally figured out how to stop Air Force’s wishbone--keep the Falcons off the field. SDSU followed Rotello’s interception return with an 18-play drive, scoring on a three-yard pass from Santos to Webster Slaughter.

The Aztecs had possession for the first 9:22 of the third quarter. Air Force was stopped in three plays on its only series of the quarter.

SDSU advanced to the Air Force 38 on its next possession, only to have Thomas intercept Santos. The Falcons secured their win by controlling the ball for 10:54 of the fourth quarter.

Air Force’s last touchdown resulted from a fluke play. When Slaughter went to catch a punt, he pulled up at the last second. The ball subsequently hit a SDSU blocker and Air Force recovered at the Aztec 13.

In defeat, the Aztecs praised their maligned defense, which had allowed 88 points in two previous games. Air Force had 373 yards in total offense, 78 yards below its average.

“Except for big plays on their first couple of drives, we played the wishbone as well as I’ve ever seen us play it,” Aztec linebacker Jack Eaton said. “I felt (the defense) did a super job. We just needed to get the ball into the end zone.”

Eaton wasn’t just blowing wind with his final comment.