Aztecs Shock BYU

Nothing that came before in a season that long ago lost its meaning could have foretold what the San Diego State football team did Saturday night.

The Aztecs, losers of their previous 6 games and 7 of 8 this season, pulled themselves together to defeat No. 20 Brigham Young, 27-15, in a Western Athletic Conference game in front of 21,825 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

The loss ended a 7-game BYU winning streak and was only the Aztecs’ second victory over the Cougars in 10 games since SDSU joined the conference in 1978.

The other was in 1986. That 10-3 victory ended the Cougars’ 10-year conference title streak and gave the Aztecs their first WAC championship. This victory might have held less importance, but for a program that has struggled in the 2 seasons since that night of triumph, it had to have been as sweet.

“They (players) needed it,” said Coach Denny Stolz. “They needed to read something good about themselves.”

The BYU loss assured Wyoming of its second consecutive undisputed WAC title and dropped the Cougars to 7-2, 4-2 in the WAC.

The victory raised the Aztecs to 2-7 and 2-4 and ended their losing streak one short of the school record set in 1980 and 1983. It was Aztecs’ first defeat of Top 20 team since they beat No. 12 Iowa State, 52-31, in 1981.

Senior tailback Paul Hewitt led the Aztecs with 37 carries for 152 yards and 2 touchdowns. Scott Barrick, a redshirt freshman from Fallbrook High School making only his second college start, was 14 of 25 for 159 yards and an interception.

Included in those totals were 5 passes for 59 yards to wide receiver Monty Gilbreath, extending his streak of games with at least one catch to 23, equaling the school record set by Chris Hardy in 1986.

And while it was Tyler Ackerson adding the final touches to the victory with a 25-yard field goal with 3:01 left to play, it was the Aztecs’ maligned defense that made it possible.

The Aztecs entered the game ranked 100 out of 104 NCAA Division I-A teams in scoring defense, allowing an average of 37.6 points per game. But they held BYU well under its average of 36.5, sacking the Cougars 8 times and forcing 4 turnovers--three fumbles and an interception.

“The pass rush was absolutely incredible,” Stolz said. “The defense was gutty, and the offense was timely.”

A last-minute touchdown, on a 14-yard pass from Sean Covey to tight end Chris Smith with 53 seconds left, did little to diminish the effort.

In taking a 24-3 halftime lead, the Aztecs were a totally different team from the one that had lost 6 games in a row and been outscored by average of 18.6 points on the season.

Not only did they move the ball with reasonable success against a team that entered the game ranked 10th in the country in total defense (262.4 yards per game), but an Aztec defense that had been in shambles most of the season slowed an offense also was ranked 10th (467.4 yards).

The Aztec defense did more than than just hold the Cougars in the first half. It forced 2 turnovers, sent Covey to the sidelines with a twisted knee and sacked him and his replacement, Ty Detmer, 4 times. This from a team that had just 11 sacks in 8 previous games and had caused but 14 turnovers while committing 21 of its own.

The turnovers set up 14 of the Aztecs’ 24 first-half points.

SDSU, which had been outscored by a combined 108-24 in the first quarter of its first 8 games, jumped out to a 10-3 lead at the end of the first quarter against the Cougars, the Aztecs’ first such lead this season.

SDSU scored first, driving after the opening kickoff to a first down at the BYU 14. After a run for no gain, an incomplete pass and a sack of Barrick resulted in a 9-yard loss, the Aztecs settled for Ackerson’s 39-yard field goal with 8:49 left in the first period.

The Cougars came right back, driving to the Aztec 10. In past games, this would have meant an almost certain touchdown--the Aztecs had held teams to field goals just twice from inside their 10 in 24 tries. But that record improved when outside linebacker John Wesselman knocked down Covey’s third-down pass, and the Cougars took Jason Chaffetz’s 27-yard field goal for a 3-3 tie with 5:35 left in the period.

The Aztecs couldn’t have asked for much better field position to start their next drive after Patrick Rowe, the sophomore wide receiver from Lincoln High School, fielded the ensuing kickoff at the SDSU 7 and returned it 82 yards to the BYU 11 before he was pushed out of bounds by free safety Scott Peterson. The return was ninth-longest in school history and longest since Jim Sandusky returned one 97 yards against New Mexico in 1983.

Hewitt did the rest. He carried 4 times, busting over from 2 yards on the last one with 4:18 left in the quarter for a 10-3 Aztec lead.

The first BYU turnover led the next Aztec score. Matt Bellini caught a pass from Covey and was hit by inside linebacker Tracey Mao. He fumbled, and outside linebacker Mitch Burton recovered at the BYU 28.

Hewitt again carried the burden, rushing 5 times for 23 yards, the last 2 yards for a touchdown and a 17-3 Aztec lead with 13:11 left in the half. The 2 touchdowns gave Hewitt 9 for the season and drew him to within 6 points of Art Preston’s school career scoring record of 204 points.

The Cougars lost Covey on the next series when he was sacked by end Milt Wilson. Covey, who was playing for the first time since undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Oct. 23, left holding the same knee. He was replaced by Detmer, a redshirt freshman who threw for 333 yards and 5 touchdowns last week in a 65-0 victory over New Mexico.

But Detmer found the Aztecs rougher going. In his first 3 series, he threw 3 incompletions and was sacked before free safety Lyndon Earley stepped in front of pass and came up with his third interception of the season.

Earley returned the ball 12 yards to the BYU 24 with 3:17 remaining in the half. Five plays later, tailback Tommy Booker, who had replaced Hewitt early in the second quarter, swept wide left on a 3-yard touchdown run for a 24-3 Aztec lead with 57 seconds left. It was the second touchdown of the year for Booker, his first since he scored the lone Aztec points a 59-6 opening loss at UCLA.

The Aztecs had 2 good opportunities to add to their lead in the third quarter, but each time the Cougar defense rose up.

The first came on their first possession of the second half. The Aztecs had first-and-goal at the BYU 9 and reached the 1 on three Hewitt carries. But his diving attempt over middle on fourth and goal was stopped with 8:56 left in the third quarter.

BYU took over its 1. The Cougars reached their 24 before Detmer was blind-sided by blitzing Mario Mitchell and fumbled. The ball was recovered by Wesselman at the BYU 26.