McGwire Earns Start in Fall for Aztecs : Receivers Have a Big Night for Both Teams in Spring Game

Moments after San Diego State’s Red/Black intrasquad football game Saturday, Coach Al Luginbill made the announcement that Dan McGwire will be the Aztecs’ No. 1 quarterback this fall.

It is now official, although it probably will come as no surprise to Aztec football followers.

“Based on the whole spring, we’ll go into the fall with Dan McGwire as our quarterback,” Luginbill said. “He’s had an excellent spring, and he did nothing tonight to hurt his chances.”

Although it was hardly his best scrimmage of the spring, McGwire threw for 193 yards and three touchdowns, completing 17 of 25 passes. He also directed the Black team to a 24-18 victory over the White team before about 3,500 fans in the Aztec Bowl.

OK, so the Aztecs are color blind. Red/Black game, Black and White teams. What’s the difference?

They seem to have picked a fine quarterback.

McGwire, 6-feet-8 and the possessor of a powerful right arm, has been waiting a year and a half since transferring from Iowa to hear such an announcement.

“That’s great,” McGwire said after the decision. “I worked very hard this spring, and (Brad) Platt pushed me very hard all spring.”

McGwire, a junior, and last season’s starter Platt, a senior, have been competing for the starting job. But McGwire has been working out with the first team and Platt the second.

Luginbill and the offensive coordinator, Dave Lay, like McGwire’s size and arm strength. So much so they put together a one-back, quick-strike offense that seems ideal for McGwire--get back in the pocket and get rid of the ball quickly to any one of a number of fast receivers.

McGwire demonstrated those skills this spring and showed a glimpse of his ability against the first-team defense Saturday night.

After a sluggish first quarter, in which there were six penalties in 20 plays, a fumble and just 70 total yards gained, McGwire hit Patrick Rowe (three catches, 56 yards) on a 13-yard over-the-shoulder fade in the back right corner of the end zone on the second play of the second quarter.

Platt, who played a good game in his own right--repeatedly connecting with former Southwestern College teammate Robert Claiborne--then led his team on a nine-play, 67-yard scoring drive. The key play was Platt hitting Claiborne, who made an over-the-shoulder grab for 42 yards to the four. Two plays later, Don Evans plunged in from the one.

McGwire’s Black team scored another touchdown before the half. Dennis Arey (four catches, 34 yards) caught a three-yard touchdown pass on a fade pattern.

Platt’s team scored again in the third and fourth quarters. Claiborne caught a 64-yard touchdown pass from Platt (11 for 18, 229 yards), and Darryl Crawford scored on a one-yard run on the last play of the game. In the fourth quarter for the Black, Ron Slack had a one-yard touchdown run, and Rowe caught a 26-yard touchdown pass.

Are we seeing a trend here?

The Aztecs have superb receivers. Claiborne, who has been out most of spring with a hamstring pull, caught six passes for 166 yards. Jimmy Raye had nine receptions (from McGwire) for 95 yards. Arey and Tony Nettles (four catches, 33 yards) had good games, and even McGwire caught one of his own passes--on a deflection--for eight yards.

“All we have to do is get them all on the field at the same time,” said Luginbill of the injury-prone receiver corps.

At tailback, Darrin Wagner had 62 yards on 13 carries and Slack 53 yards on 10 carries.

Luginbill said the tailback is a position that probably will not be decided until the fall.

The defense played well at times, especially early, but was mostly inconsistent.

“I have mixed emotions,” said Barry Lamb, the defensive coordinator. “We missed some tackles, we repeated some mistakes. But we also had some bright moments.”