Wagner, Luginbill Iron It Out . . . Again

Al Luginbill, San Diego State’s football coach, said Sunday that running back Darrin Wagner will not be disciplined for missing Friday’s chartered team flight to El Paso, Tex.

Wagner played and had a career day in the team’s 34-31 victory over Texas El Paso Saturday. He rushed for 193 yards--most ever by an Aztec freshman--and one touchdown on 27 carries. He is the team’s leading rusher with 721 yards for the season.

But Wagner, who skipped practices the week of Oct. 9 and was subsequently suspended for the Oct. 14 SDSU-Cal State Long Beach game, had a bit more trouble explaining how he managed to miss the flight.

He overslept. He had to run some errands before leaving, including some that involved classroom responsibilities. He was having trouble locating a paper he had written for class. In his rush to get to the team bus, which left at 9 a.m., he left his sweat suit behind and had to turn around.

And that was just for missing his first flight Friday. Apparently, he was supposed to catch a late afternoon flight to El Paso, but he missed that one too.

Rush hour traffic.

All of the above reasons were offered by Wagner. He finally arrived in El Paso around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, about 6 1/2 hours before kickoff.

None of this will affect his status this week as the Aztecs prepare to play New Mexico (1-8, 0-5) Saturday in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

“There was some miscommunication on his academic responsibilities, and it was as much my fault as his,” Luginbill said. “I take responsibility for it. Something in that area won’t happen again.’

“Darrin and I have already worked it out, and the case is closed.”

That doesn’t come with a guarantee, though. After Wagner missed practices the week of the Long Beach game, he met with Luginbill, and the two apparently worked things out at that point. In fact, Luginbill said then that there had been some miscommunication and that it wouldn’t happen again.

And that was after Wagner missed several practices during preseason camp to attend to what he said were personal matters. Which was after he quit the team last November in a dispute with the staff of Denny Stolz, the former coach. Which was after . . .

Stay tuned.

Luginbill was particularly happy with the play of his defensive line, notably Eric Duncan, Pio Sagapolutele, Brad Burton, Milt Wilson and Jason Swaney.

It was the first time that the Aztec defense had a lead of a touchdown or less and held its opponent on its final possession to win since the final game of 1986, a 10-3 victory over Brigham Young.

“Me and Wess (defensive back John Wesselman) were talking, and we’ve been waiting three years for the opportunity to win a game,” safety Morey Paul said. “I’ve been playing here three years, and both of us have had opportunities, but we’ve never been able to stop them.”

Aztec Notes

SDSU Coach Al Luginbill said New Mexico is the best 1-8 team in the country. “They’re by far the most improved team in our conference,” Luginbill said. “We’re going to have to buckle down and play like we’re capable of playing.”. . . Going into the New Mexico game, the record of SDSU opponents at the time the Aztecs played them is 13-32. . . . SDSU rushed for more than 200 yards Saturday (262) for the fourth time this season. This is the first time since 1980 that the Aztecs have rushed for more than 200 yards four times. The last time they rushed for more than 200 yards in five games was in 1979. SDSU has accumulated more than 500 yards in total offense in five of eight games this season. . . . John Wesselman blocked a punt Saturday, the first time in four seasons an SDSU player has done so. . . . New Mexico will be the first Western Athletic Conference team SDSU has played at home this year.

Staff writer Curt Holbreich contributed to this story.