SDSU : Aztecs Face Wyoming, Pressure to Stay in Race

Denny Stolz is a coach who does not like to speak publicly about the importance of one game over another. To him, one game is one game, nothing more, nothing less.

That might explain why he was about the only one connected with the San Diego State football team who wasn’t talking about the Aztecs’ game today at Wyoming as if the Western Athletic Conference championship were on the line.

Stolz would not dwell on the need to beat Wyoming. He preferred to point to the preseason comments of Colorado State Coach Leon Fuller, who said this might be the first time the WAC championship is won by a team with two losses.

“He might be right,” Stolz said. Then again, maybe Fuller had good reason to hope for such a finish. His team already is 0-2 in the conference, 0-4 overall.

“He didn’t say it would be his team,” Stolz said, laughing.

Nor did Fuller say it would be SDSU. But the Aztecs (1-1, 1-3) already have a conference loss, having been crushed by Air Force, 49-7, two weeks ago. And when Stolz was asked if he wanted to test Fuller’s theory by losing to Wyoming--a team that defeated Air Force, 27-13, in its opener--he laughed again.

“It depends on what the other teams’ records are at the end of the year,” Stolz said. “You never know.”

A sampling of the Aztecs indicated they are not interesting in finding out.

From Lyndon Earley, free safety: “There’s no talking about getting better each week. This is the week.”

From Todd Santos, quarterback: “Every game is important for us now. We can’t lose again. We all know that.”

From Tommy Booker, freshman from Vista High School, making his first college start at tailback: “It’s a real important game. But I perform better in pressure than I do in an average game. I like the competitive nature of it. And this is going to be a real competitive game.”

It would be so potentially damaging for the Aztecs to lose and fall two games behind in the loss column to Wyoming (1-0), Texas El Paso (2-0) and Brigham Young (1-0) that the Cowboys recognize the Aztecs’ predicament.

“For them, it’s do or die as far as the WAC is concerned,” said quarterback Craig Burnett.

It is a point that few Aztecs were willing to argue. Last season, they never trailed in the loss column on the way to their first WAC title. But with 15 starters and 30 lettermen gone, this team has struggled to pull itself together.

The defense is ranked 103rd of 104 NCAA Division I-A schools in total offense allowed per game, and the offense has been erratic, scoring 52 points one week (against Utah) and 7 the next (against Air Force).

“We have a lot of different personalities on the team,” said Clarence Nunn, a fifth-year senior cornerback. “Some guys have been here, some guys haven’t been here before. We have a lot of junior college transfers and a lot of freshmen.”

But Nunn said the team has been slowly drawing closer and that a 25-20 loss to Oregon last Saturday might have helped to solidify team bonds.

“We might have lost,” Nunn said, “but we played a competitive game. The defense showed real improvement.”

The Aztecs are counting on an even stronger defensive game today with the return of Nunn and Mario Mitchell at the cornerback spots. Both missed the Oregon game with injuries, and the Ducks scored all three of their touchdowns on passes.

Nunn is recovering from a bruised shoulder nerve, and Mitchell has a sprained knee that will require him to play with a brace, so neither will be at full strength. But their return could not come at a better time. This game figures to a passing duel between the third- and fourth-rated passing teams in NCAA Division I-A.

The Aztecs average 316.5 yards per game passing and the Cowboys average 304.5.

The Aztecs already have been involved in one high-scoring game, a 52-34 victory over Utah, and Earley figures this one could be even better.

“They’re a better passing team than Utah,” Earley said. “They’ve got a better quarterback, better receivers, better athletes.

“It’s going to be strength-on-strength. We know they’re going to come at us, and we’re not going to back down.”

Nunn agrees. “We have an aggressive secondary that likes to hit. We like to see the ball in the air. Wyoming is a contender in the WAC. This will be a good test for us. We’ll know where we stand in the WAC after this ballgame.”

Asked where that might be if the Aztecs lost, Nunn found reason to agree with Stolz and Fuller.

“With the parity in this conference, the WAC champion may very well end up with two losses,” Nunn said. “But I know this, we don’t want to be the first one in the conference with two losses to try it.”

Aztec Notes Wade Thoemmes, a sophomore defensive end from Honolulu, said Friday he had no comment on an announcement Wednesday by the athletic department that he would not participate in team activities for the remainder of the season because of medical reasons. . . . Several players, including quarterback Todd Santos, missed some practice time this week because of the flu, but none are expected to miss the game. . . . Daryl Crawford, who sat out last year because of academic reasons, is being tried at linebacker. Crawford, who led San Diego County in rushing as a senior at Montgomery High School in 1985, had been working at tailback with the scout team until this week.