A New Word in SDSU’s Vocabulary

Sitting down? Take a deep breath. Swallow your coffee. This is what San Diego State Coach Al Luginbill was pleased with Sunday: his defense .

Historically, SDSU has lit up the scoreboard for 35 points, then allowed 40. Against Pacific Saturday, the Aztecs (3-3-1) scored 35 and allowed . . . 7.

“We’ve been getting better defensively, but we’ve had nothing to show for it,” Luginbill said. “Last week (a 30-26 victory over Cal State Long Beach) we gave up 26 points, but it was our best defensive effort.”

The Aztecs nearly had their first shutout since Oct. 6, 1984--a span of 61 games--but lost it when wide receiver Bryan Baldwin ran 26 yards on a reverse with 1:45 left. What was most frustrating was that the Aztecs had stopped the drive at the Pacific 38, but were called for having too many men on the field when the Tigers punted. Pacific was awarded a first down, and the Tigers moved down the field and scored.

The consolation, though, was that Pacific gained only 312 yards--the lowest by an Aztec opponent this year. And Luginbill appreciated Pacific Coach Walt Harris referring to SDSU as “physical.”

“He probably gave us the biggest compliment we’ve gotten all year,” Luginbill said. “He felt this was a physical football team. That’s what we’ve been working on all year.”

Luginbill was particularly happy with the Aztec linebackers, especially Tracey Mao.

“We’re starting to get some play from our linebackers and that’s encouraging for us,” Luginbill said. “To be a good football team week in and week out, our linebackers have to make good plays.

“Tracey Mao played by far his best game. If he can play like that, he’s going to be a good player for us.”

The SDSU offense again played a spotty first half. The Aztecs led, 7-0, at halftime. But despite another occurrence of what has been Luginbill’s biggest frustration this season, he said he kept his cool at halftime.

“We talked about how we were stopping ourselves again, but I told the defense that we had enough points to win the football game,” Luginbill said.

Starting Monday, the players SDSU has redshirted this year will practice as a group, separate from the rest of the team but with the entire coaching staff, once a week.

“We’ll have individual coaching for that group and bring them along to the point where we can give them a little advantage going into spring ball,” Luginbill said.

The Aztecs, it would seem, have business to attend to Saturday when they play at the University of Texas-El Paso. It was at UTEP a year ago that former coach Denny Stolz worked his final game after being fired, and the Miners administered a 58-7 whipping to the Aztecs.

“I think this football team has a burr in its saddle regarding UTEP,” Luginbill said. “I sense that some of the taunts and things that went on in the game a year ago, this team has held under its hat for awhile.”

Aztec Notes

The injury report: Senior defensive end Todd Coomes suffered a dislocated left kneecap and will miss this week’s game. Junior wide receiver Dennis Arey, who missed the Pacific game with a hamstring pull, should play this week, as should senior wide receiver Monty Gilbreath (groin) and junior linebacker Sai Niu (bruised shin and ankle). Gilbreath and Niu were both injured during Saturday’s game. Gilbreath returned to the game after his injury; Niu did not. . . . The victory margin against Pacific was SDSU’s largest since the Aztecs defeated Hawaii, 35-5, in the second-to-last game of 1986. . . . Aztec Coach Al Luginbill said the kickoff coverage team was better this week. Pacific’s Tom Zenner was averaging 26.9 yards a return, but the Aztecs held him to 73 yards in four returns--an average of 18.3.