Aztecs Look for First Victory Against Fullerton

SAN DIEGO —  For all the optimism generated by San Diego State’s near upset of UCLA last Saturday, the Aztecs have yet to win a football game.

That injection of realism is not lost on Coach Al Luginbill. It is why he takes with caution any suggestion that his first victory as a major-college coach awaits him when the Aztecs (0-2) play Cal State Fullerton (1-2) at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium tonight at 7.

“Everybody thinks we will win (this) football game,” Luginbill said. “I just want to win a football game. We need to sing our fight song in the locker room, which is what we do when we win. We know it; we just haven’t got a chance to sing it.”

Losses at Air Force, 52-36, three weeks ago and to UCLA, 28-25, last week have kept the locker room choir silent. But those voices have been warming up in anticipation of their game against Fullerton.

The Titans’ only victory was 27-20 against NCAA Division II Cal State Northridge two weeks ago, and they had to rally to do it. Their losses have been on the road to Northern Illinois, 26-17, and Colorado State, 42-14, in a game in which they committed seven turnovers. The victory was Colorado State’s third in three years.

“Playing hard we have just made so many mistakes; that is the biggest concern I have,” Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said. “If they go out and don’t play hard, then we’re really in trouble.”

Fullerton is led by senior tailback Mike Pringle, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound transfer from Washington State. Pringle leads the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.’s Division I-A in all-purpose yards, averaging 219.6 yards per game. He has rushed for 335 yards and three touchdowns on 63 carries, including consecutive 100-yard games against Northridge (164 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries) and Colorado State (137 yards on 25 carries).

The Titans also have a threat in kicker/punter Phil Nevin, a freshman from Placentia El Dorado High School who gave up a six-figure contract offer to play shortstop in the Dodger organization. Nevin is perfect on three field goal attempts, including a 54-yarder against Colorado State, and is averaging 40.5 yards on 15 punts.

Fullerton’s troubles have been at quarterback. Dan Speltz has completed 58 of 91 attempts (63.7%) with four touchdowns, but he has thrown nine interceptions, including four against Colorado State.

The Aztecs have not played Fullerton since the mid 1970s, when both were members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn., now the the Big West Conference. SDSU won all three of the those games by a combined score of 120-45.

This game is the first of three home contests against Big West schools. The others are Oct. 14 against Cal State Long Beach and an Oct. 21 homecoming game against Pacific.

Compared to the Aztecs’ other nonconference games against nationally-ranked UCLA and Miami, the Big West games might be consider a break. But do not tell that to the Aztecs, not with them still looking for a victory.

Luginbill said he would like to run the ball more against the Titans than the Aztecs have done in their first two games. The Aztecs have attempted 94 passes compared to 53 rushing attempts. Against UCLA, quarterback Dan McGwire attempted 48 passes, the sixth-highest single-game total in school history. He completed 27 of his passes for 286 yards, with one interception.

“I’m not pleased that we have to throw 45 times in a football game,” Luginbill said. “We are going to run the football better when this thing is over.”

But maybe more important than establishing the run, Luginbill said he will be looking for continued improvement from the defense. After allowing 618 yards and 52 points to Air Force, the Aztecs gave up 425 yards and 28 points to UCLA.

“We dominated the lines of scrimmage, especially on defense,” Luginbill said. “We were able to play nose-to-nose defense against those guys.”

More pointedly, the Aztecs yielded 163 yards rushing to the Bruins, compared to a school-record 559 against Air Force.

“If you are going to have outstanding defense, you have to stop the run,” Luginbill said. “I feel we are making great strides in that area. . . . (But) we’ve got a ways to go to make sure we’re solid on defense.”

Aztec Notes

Senior wide receiver Monty Gilbreath (124) needs six receptions to move past Darius Durham (127) and Craig Scoggins (129) and into third place on SDSU’s career reception list. Gilbreath has caught at least one pass in a school-record 27 consecutive games. . . . A crowd of 18,000-20,000 is expected for tonight’s game, said Vickie Larsen, San Diego State ticket manager.