SDSU Fans Have Champ to Cheer For ---- At Long Last

San Diegans have a new winning team to cheer for, and cheer they did Saturday night as the San Diego State University Aztecs clinched their first Western Athletic Conference football title with a 10-3 win over rival Brigham Young University.

The 45,062 in attendance at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium were jubilant, to say the least, as they watched the Aztecs win and gain a berth in the Holiday Bowl, to be played here Dec. 30. San Diego State will play the University of Iowa.

“This is exactly what they needed, exactly where . . . (SDSU Athletic Director) Fred Miller said they’d be at this time,” SDSU senior Arnie Kaplan said while celebrating the victory in the stadium parking lot. “They were criticized for moving this game back to Thanksgiving weekend, but things happened just like they said they would.”

Miller had rescheduled the game to Nov. 29 from a date earlier in the season because he thought the game could determine the conference championship.

Many students were away for the holiday, and the campus dorms were closed, toning down the tenor of post-game celebrations. But students and alumni alike who attended the game had reason to celebrate.

Saturday was the first time the Aztecs had defeated Brigham Young since SDSU joined the conference in 1978. In eight previous meetings with the Cougars, the Aztecs had been outscored 313 to 58.

There were some obviously disappointed BYU fans who had traveled from Provo, presumably to see their team win. Before Saturday night, the Cougars had won or tied for the WAC title in 10 consecutive seasons.

“I’ve traveled with the team every time they’ve played in San Diego, since I have relatives here,” BYU student Peter Marshall said. “All I can hope for is that it’s sunny tomorrow and I can go back home with a tan.”

While they basked in the triumph of their team’s first major conference title and bowl berth, SDSU students complained of the lack of available tickets for the Holiday Bowl.

“I mean, it’s the Holiday Bowl, it’s a bowl game and San Diego State is going to it,” Kaplan said. “But do you think students will be able to get tickets? They’ll give them to all the season ticket holders.”

Holiday Bowl officials announced Friday that all 40,000 tickets available to the general public had been sold. SDSU will receive 10,000 tickets as a participant in the bowl, and the school’s athletic department will decide how they will be distributed.

The closest the Aztecs had previously come to a Holiday Bowl berth was 1979, when they played BYU for the conference title--and lost 63-14. Some current SDSU students were in elementary school when that happened, but they had their own tales of fan frustration to recall Saturday night.

“I was at SDSU in ‘81, when we played some team, I think it was Iowa State, and had a chance to get in the Top 20,” senior Nick Sweeney said. “We blew it, and we’ve been blowing it ever since. Until this . . . this is sweet.”

SDSU alumna Mary Stuart expressed uncertainty as to whom she would cheer for in the Holiday Bowl.

“I’m a Midwest girl; I grew up in a small town in Iowa,” she said. “But I think I’m going to have to go with my alma mater.”

Saturday night’s crowd was the second largest to attend an SDSU home game this season. On Sept. 20, a crowd of 50,338 saw the Aztecs lose to UCLA. But unlike that game, which was marred by numerous alcohol-related disturbances, Saturday night’s contest was relatively free of unruly incidents, San Diego police reported.

Times staff writer Jeffrey Miller contributed to this story.