GOOD RECEPTION : SDSU’s Gilbreath Has Caught Passes in 22 Games in a Row

To Monty Gilbreath, San Diego State’s only returning All-Western Athletic Conference player, the team’s preseason plans appeared to be a demotion.

Gone was his starting flanker spot, filled by Patrick Rowe. Gone was his job as the Aztec kick returner, also given to Rowe. Handed to him instead was a new position--a cross between a wide receiver and another member of the backfield. Something the Aztec coaches called an H-back. Something that sounded to Gilbreath like little more than a consolation prize.

It appeared to be a strange reward for a sophomore season in which he led Aztec wide receivers in catches (43 for 463 yards and 2 touchdowns), became the school’s all-time leading kick-returner (63 for 1,315 yards in only 2 seasons), led the conference in punt returns (12.8 yards per return) and was named All-WAC return specialist.

“Nobody said anything, but I figured they must have been unhappy with something,” Gilbreath said this week. “Maybe they didn’t like the job I was doing.”

Seldom has Gilbreath been so wrong.

“We wanted Monty to be in the ballgame, and that is why we created that H-back position for him,” SDSU Coach Denny Stolz said. “He is the most productive player for us per touch. When he touches the ball, yards develop. Whether it be a punt return, a kickoff return or as a receiver, he has to be on the field a lot.”

This season has taught Gilbreath that less is more.

With 3 games remaining, he leads the WAC in receiving and is tied for 10th in the country, averaging 6.0 catches per game. He already has more catches (48) for more yards (653) and just as many touchdowns (2) as he finished with last season. And while his punt returns are down slightly (9.1 yards per return), he still is second in the conference behind Hawaii’s Walter Briggs (10.7).

Gilbreath is coming off a stretch of 4 of the most productive games of his career. Four weeks ago, he had 5 receptions for a career-high 106 yards in a 55-27 loss to Wyoming, and last week, he had a career-high 8 catches for 98 yards in a 41-20 loss at Utah. In the past 4 games, he has 27 catches for 370 yards.

But the best gauge of his value to the Aztecs might be his stability. Gilbreath has caught at least 1 pass in 22 consecutive games over 3 seasons and needs a catch Saturday night against visiting Brigham Young to tie Chris Hardy’s school record of 23, set in 1986. The NCAA record is 44 set by Gary Williams of Ohio State, who caught a pass in every game of a 4-year career that ended in 1982.

“The record really doesn’t mean much,” Gilbreath said. “I really hadn’t paid any attention to it until a couple of games ago when some of the guys started talking about it.”

The record means less to him, Gilbreath said, because of the Aztecs’ poor record. SDSU (1-7, 1-4 in WAC) has lost 6 games in a row and is trying to avoid a loss against BYU that would match the 1980 team for the second worst start in school history.

“This year has been so frustrating to all of us,” Gilbreath said. “The only goal I set for myself was to help the team get back to the Holiday Bowl. We’re not going to do that.”

Gilbreath probably understands that disappointment better than almost any of the younger members of the team. He was one of a few freshman to contribute to the 1986 Aztec championship team.

He led SDSU in kickoff and punt returns and caught his first college pass in the 10-3 victory over BYU that gave the Aztecs’ their first WAC title. Then, when Anthony Conyers was suspended for drug use before the Holiday Bowl, Gilbreath started at flanker and caught 5 passes for 87 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown catch.

He started every game last season as a sophomore and figured his spot in the starting lineup was safe. But with Alfred Jackson a proven deep threat returning at split end, and Stolz wanting to play Rowe more, Gilbreath appeared to be the odd man out. That was until Stolz introduced the H-back--a position that has Gilbreath line up wide, in the slot or set in motion.

“I didn’t understand what this H-back position was all about,” Gilbreath said. “I didn’t know what the coaches would do with me. It took me a few games to figure it all out. After a few games, I realized the offense was set up to get the ball to me in a lot of underneath coverage situations. I didn’t realize what it would at first, but it has worked out for the best.”

As it has turned out, Gilbreath has started every game this season except for the opener at UCLA. With Rowe and Jackson both missing several games with injuries, Gilbreath probably has even gotten more playing time than last year, at all three receiver-type positions--flanker, split end and H-back. And the loss of kick-return responsibilities has given Gilbreath more time to concentrate on his primary job.

“I’m more focused on playing receiver this year,” Gilbreath said. “I used to spend a lot of time watching film for special teams. I worry more about just preparing myself to play receiver.”

Limiting his special teams work also has helped reduce the number of hits Gilbreath must take--an important factor for the second-smallest player on the team: Only cornerback Kevin Drayton (5 feet 9 inches, 160 pounds) is smaller than Gilbreath (5-9, 170). But despite his size, Gilbreath is one of the team’s more durable players. He has not missed a game because of an injury, though he hardly ever plays without some bumps and bruises.

“He definitely is one of the more stoical players on the team,” trainer Don Kaverman said. “It takes a lot to keep him down.”

This toughness apparently is something few major-college teams considered when Gilbreath was being recruited out of Taft High School in Los Angeles. Until SDSU and Kansas came along with late offers, only Big West Conference schools Cal State Long Beach, Fresno State and Pacific had shown much interest, Gilbreath said.

“No one would come right out and tell me I was too small,” Gilbreath said. “They would always give me some other reason or tell me they had someone they liked more than me.”

Such slights hurt, but few more than the one from UCLA. An assistant coach came to visit the school, and even pulled Gilbreath out of class to talk with him.

“I really thought he was interested,” Gilbreath said. “We had a nice talk. But when I went out to practice my coach told me to forget it. He said they didn’t want me. I was too small. I couldn’t believe it.”

It might come as some consolation to Gilbreath that he has 7 catches for 76 yards against the Bruins if it were not for the combined 151-34 score by which the Aztecs lost those 3 games.

“It’s hard for me to separate my individual success from the team because winning is what football is all about,” Gilbreath said. “Unless we’re winning, I’m not happy.”

Aztec Notes

Scouts from the Holiday Bowl will watch seven teams Saturday while searching for an opponent to meet the Western Athletic Conference champion Dec. 30 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. Officials will watch Colorado (6-2) at Missouri, Indiana (6-1-1) at Illinois, Oklahoma (7-1) at Oklahoma State (6-1), Oregon (6-2) playing host to UCLA, Washington (5-3) playing host to Arizona and Washington State (5-3) at Stanford. Wyoming can clinch the WAC berth with a victory Saturday against visiting Texas-El Paso . . . Aztec nose tackle Brad Burton is improved but remains at Sharp Memorial Hospital with an inflamed right ankle. Burton is expected to remain in the hospital until the nature of the problem can be diagnosed.

GILBREATH’S STREAK

1986

Opponent No. Yds. TDs Brigham Young 1 22 0 Iowa 5 87 1

1987

Opponent No. Yds. TDs UCLA 3 6 0 Utah 4 41 0 Air Force 5 36 0 Oregon 2 18 0 Wyoming 4 32 0 Texas-El Paso 1 19 0 Stanford 5 57 1 Long Beach St. 2 21 0 Hawaii 5 66 0 Brigham Young 4 27 0 Colorado St. 5 38 0 New Mexico 3 102 1

1988

Opponent No. Yds. TDs UCLA 4 71 0 Air Force 7 59 0 Stanford 5 98 0 Oregon 5 55 0s Wyoming 5 106 1 Hawaii 7 98 1 Colorado St. 7 68 0 Utah 8 98 0 22 games 97 1,225 5