Loss to Colorado State Has Aztecs Feeling Low

San Diego State football players huddled near their lockers, clustered by position. The defensive backs were in one corner, the offensive linemen in another. The defensive linemen were near the door.

They talked quietly as they dressed, some in pairs, others in groups. The scene had the look of some form of therapy. They spoke about disappointment, frustration, diminished hopes and, most haltingly, about the pain of their embarrassment.

They tried their best to analyze a 13-7 loss to Colorado State Saturday in a Western Athletic Conference game played in front of a homecoming crowd of 23,817 at Hughes Stadium. The defeat was their fifth in a row and sixth in seven games. But this one was harder to explain than the others.

Lose to No. 1 UCLA, 59-6, and the Aztecs figure they have been beaten by a better team. Lose as they did Saturday, to a team that had lost 11 in a row over 2 seasons and won only twice in 22 games, and the rationalizations don’t come as easily.

“If you told me before the game that we would hold them to 13 points and still lose, I would have said you were crazy,” defensive lineman Steve Blyth said.

But the Aztecs (1-6, 1-3 in WAC) had done just that.

It mattered little that the opposition was not UCLA, Wyoming, Oregon or even Stanford. The Aztecs lost to a team that had beaten only hapless New Mexico twice in 22 games for the same reasons they have lost to more impressive teams.

They were outscored in the first period; allowed another back to rush for more than 100 yards; struggled enough that they had to change quarterbacks for the first time, and made a turnover when they could afford it least.

As a result, the Aztecs are off to their second consecutive 1-6 start, their worst back-to-back starts in school history. The defeat also assured the Aztecs of their fifth losing season in the past six. The only exception was their 1986 WAC championship year.

As they had done in 5 previous losses, the Aztecs found themselves behind from the start.

The Rams (1-6, 1-4) scored their lone touchdown on their second possession, driving 77 yards in 11 plays. Senior halfback Scott Whitehouse swept wide right 21 yards for the score, ending a series in which he gained 60 yards on 6 carries and made a key first-down reception on a third and 5 at the SDSU 35.

The drive propelled Whitehouse to his second 100-yard game of the season and the sixth by a back against the Aztecs. Whitehouse finished with 28 carries for 107 yards.

The touchdown also widened the Aztecs’ season first-quarter scoring deficit to 101-17.

But what made this one extra hard to accept was that it came with the Rams playing into a gusting wind that blew so strong that all 5 parachutists missed the playing field in a pregame performance. Only two made it into the parking lot; one landed outside the stadium fence and two others ended up across the street, more than a quarter-mile from the stadium.

As strong as the high-plains breeze was blowing, it wasn’t as bad as the ill wind gusting through the SDSU football program.

The coaches have tried almost everything but with little success. They have changed defenses, changed assistant coaches and tried playing with 3 freshman linebackers against the Rams (Tracey Mao, Steve Matuszewicz and Derrick Williams).

Coach Denny Stolz might have pushed the last button Saturday when he changed quarterbacks.

After what Stolz called an unproductive first half, he benched Brad Platt, his starter all season, in favor of Scott Barrick, a redshirt freshman from Fallbrook High School.

Platt was removed after completing 10 of 17 passes for 89 yards with an interception.

“We just were not going anywhere offensively,” Stolz said. “We had plenty of opportunities to score. We had (an) interception, and more importantly, we had many near interceptions that they just didn’t hang onto.”

Barrick, who had previously played only in late relief, responded by driving the Aztecs to their only touchdown in the fourth quarter, after the Rams had a taken a 13-0 lead on field goals of 32 yards in the second quarter and 20 yards in the third by Mike Brown.

Morey Paul, a sophomore linebacker from Oceanside High School, started the drive when he intercepted a pass by quarterback Scooter Molander. It was the 17th interception of the season thrown by Molander, who had been replaced in the starting lineup by Chris Rule but entered the game when Rule left with a sprained ankle on the Rams’ second series.

“We sent Scooter in, and he took us down, and we scored,” said Leon Fuller, Colorado State’s coach. “My impression was that I’m not going to change when things are going well.”

The interception was the only turnover the Rams would make after committing 11 in their previous 2 games.

Barrick completed 6 of 7 passes for 76 yards on the scoring drive, ending it with a 13-yard pass to wide receiver Jimmy Raye. It was Barrick’s first touchdown pass, Raye’s first touchdown reception.

“Scott called a nice audible at the line,” Raye said. “He read the coverage and gave me a perfect pass.”

But Barrick’s hopes of a storybook finish died when his pass was intercepted in the end zone by freshman cornerback Selwyn Jones with 1:08 left. It was Jones’ second end zone interception of a pass intended for wide receiver Monty Gilbreath; he had picked off Platt’s pass with the Aztecs at the Ram 16 and 6:05 left in the first half.

Barrick finished 12 of 19 for 152 yards with an interception.

“I was little nervous at first,” Barrick said. “But I got over it. I just wanted to help. We’re all tired of losing.”

Stolz left open the question of who would be his quarterback when the Aztecs play at Utah Saturday. Platt, a redshirt junior from Southwestern College, has held the job since earning it in spring practice.

“I wasn’t happy coming out,” Platt said. “I’m a competitor. If I had a choice, I’d rather be playing. But when I’m not in there, I’m doing everything I can to help Scott.

“We’re to the point where we just want to win. It doesn’t matter how.”