SDSU Plays for Title and Respect Saturday : Aztecs Need a First to Clinch: Beating BYU

For five weeks of spring practice, San Diego State’s football players banged heads with each other.

For three weeks before the season opener, they started hitting again. Finally, starting in September, they have spent their Saturdays hitting other people.

All of this readied them for Saturday night, when the Aztecs will win the Western Athletic Conference championship if they beat Brigham Young.

It’s more than another game, and not just because a championship is at stake. Since SDSU joined the WAC in 1978, BYU is the only conference team the Aztecs have not beaten.

“As you’re working out all spring and summer long, you know that if you work out a little harder, you might beat BYU this year,” guard Doug Aronson said. “It’s always in the back of your mind that BYU is No. 1 in the WAC. You don’t want to look past the team you are playing each week, but you always know that BYU is up ahead.”

SDSU players have numerous reasons for wanting retribution from BYU.

Some players simply remember the humiliation of watching BYU beat them decisively each year. Others remember specific instances.

Then there’s Denny Stolz, in his first year as SDSU coach. He wants to beat BYU for a championship and a trip to the Holiday Bowl, not because of anything in the past.

“You can’t defy history,” Stolz said. “BYU has won 10 straight championships and we’ve won none. We have to worry about things we have control over now. We have control over this team. We don’t have control over history.”

History has not been kind to the Aztecs.

--Since 1978, BYU has outscored the Aztecs, 313-58.

--When the teams met for the WAC championship in 1979, BYU won, 63-14.

--BYU’s biggest victory margin was in 1982, 58-8.

--The closest SDSU ever has come to winning was in 1978, 21-3.

--SDSU has not scored more than 14 points against BYU since entering the WAC.

“We were practically beaten before we started the game each year,” fullback Corey Gilmore said. “By the attitude of the players and (coaching) staff, you knew we weren’t confident going into the game. This year, everybody expects to win. It’s time for the latest to go on top of the greatest.”

In the rivalry’s early years, BYU was trying to move up in the national rankings. To do so, the Cougars needed to catch pollsters’ eyes by winning lopsided games.

One game that hasn’t been forgotten by veteran Aztecs was in 1983. BYU won, 47-12.

“Late in the fourth quarter, I remember Coach (LaVell) Edwards still had Steve Young in the game throwing the ball,” cornerback Clarence Nunn said. “It was the only time I was taken out of a game that year because I was having a hard time. I still remember that.”

Linebacker Richard Brown, a Mormon, can’t forget last season’s 28-0 loss at BYU. Brown was sidelined by a sprained ankle in the third quarter and cried because the game had meant so much to him.

Brown, of Huntington Beach, chose SDSU over BYU in 1983 because he liked San Diego’s climate and SDSU was building for the future. Even now, Brown thinks some people within the church haven’t accepted his decision to play for SDSU.

“People do make a big deal out of it, and they have gotten on my nerves a lot when BYU has beaten us,” Brown said. “I’ve suffered a lot of criticism for not going to BYU. People will tell me ‘good game’ after we play BYU. But deep down inside, I know they’re saying ‘See what you get for not going to BYU.’ ”

Quarterback Todd Santos is also a Mormon. Unlike Brown, Santos was not recruited by BYU because the Cougars already had an abundance of quarterbacks when Santos began his collegiate career as a freshman redshirt in 1983.

“Because of my religious beliefs, I grew up watching BYU,” Santos said. “They didn’t offer me a scholarship when I wanted to go there, and that really motivates me. I always get real excited when we play them because they’ve been successful and everybody wants to beat them.”

Aztec Notes

Saturday’s game will be televised on local cable systems at 4:45 p.m. by ESPN. SDSU officials are anticipating a crowd of 45,000 to 50,000. The Aztecs’ biggest crowd of the year was 50,338 for UCLA on Sept. 20. . . . Wednesday, Denny Stolz became the first Aztec football coach ever named WAC Coach of the Year. Stolz has been named Coach of the Year in every conference he has worked. He had previously been honored at Alma College of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Assn. (1967 and 1968), Michigan State of the Big Ten(1974) and Bowling Green of the Mid-American Conference (1982 and 1985). . . . Mayor Maureen O’Connor has designated Saturday as Don Coryell Day in San Diego. Coryell, who resigned as coach of the Chargers last month, coached SDSU from 1961-72, compiling a 104-19-2 record. Coryell will be honored at halftime of the SDSU-BYU game. . . . Aztec players have selected guard Doug Aronson, defensive tackle Levi Esene and fullback Corey Gilmore as captains for Saturday’s game. . . . SDSU will be attempting to get four straight victories for the first time in five years. The Aztecs won their first four games of 1981 before losing to BYU, 27-7.