Aztecs in Trouble From the Start in Loss to Miami

Just as in life, first impressions can mean everything in football. San Diego State was reminded of that Saturday in a 42-6 loss to No. 7 Miami.

The Hurricane defense took one peek at the Aztec offense--a copy of the quick-pass attack Coach Dennis Erickson installed at Miami this year--and it was love at first sight. They said they had seen it before, and better, in practice.

“We read exactly what they were doing,” defensive end Willis Peguese said. “We knew most every time they were going to pass. No doubt about it, after the first snap and a couple of sacks, that was it; we knew we had them beat.”

The Aztec defense took one look at the Miami offense--and it was a quick look, because on the first play, wide receiver Randal Cole turned a short pass from quarterback Craig Erickson into a 46-yard gain--and saw more than it wanted.

“That play should have never happened,” said nickel back John Wesselman, SDSU’s leading tackler. “I just kind of ran over there and said, ‘OK, how fast is this guy really?’ I kind of sat, waiting and waiting. Then he ran right in front of me and across the field, and I got blocked.”

Those first reactions tell much of what happened as the Hurricanes ended SDSU’s five-game winning streak in front of a homecoming crowd of 42,362 at the Orange Bowl.

Miami (9-1) took a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter, weathered six turnovers by Erickson--including five interceptions--before two fourth-quarter touchdowns made the final score respectable to poll-watchers.

Erickson made up for being sacked four times, losing a fumble and throwing five interceptions by throwing four touchdown passes. He completed 27 of 45 for 424 yards before he was relieved with 11:08 to play by red-shirt freshman Gino Torretta.

Erickson’s touchdown passes came on throws of seven and 19 yards to flanker Dale Dawkins in the first half, nine yards to tight end Randy Bethel in the first quarter and nine yards to wide receiver Pee Wee Smith in the fourth quarter.

Miami’s other scores came on touchdown runs of four and three yards by red-shirt freshman fullback Stephen McGuire.

“For whatever reason, in the first quarter, we stood around and watched instead of making things happen,” SDSU Coach Al Luginbill said. “We missed tackles early in the game that put us in a hole.”

The game came at an odd time for Miami, sandwiched between a 24-3 victory at No. 19 Pittsburgh a week earlier and a meeting with No. 1 Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl Saturday. But the Hurricanes resisted the penchant to look past the Aztecs, even when leading 28-0, although they did need a different kind of motivating force.

“The whole defense worked on stats,” Peguese said. “We worked on production, more sacks, more tackles. This was like a production game for us.”

It was supposed to mean more than that to the Aztecs.

SDSU has made noises about its ambition to be able to compete with the Miamis of college football, but the Hurricanes wasted no time showing the Aztecs the difference between the two programs right now.

They scored touchdowns on their first two possessions and three of their first four in the first quarter. The first two were on drives of 68 and 55 yards that took a total of four minutes seven seconds. The third came three plays after cornerback Roland Smith returned an interception of a Dan McGwire pass 22 yards to the SDSU 11.

After the Hurricanes added their fourth touchdown to go ahead, 28-0, on Erickson’s 19-yard throw to Dawkins, Erickson went into his mid-game funk. He threw an interception and lost a fumble on the next two possessions in the first half and came back to throw interceptions on three consecutive possessions in the third quarter. Most times, the mistakes were caused by Aztec pressure.

“We started blitzing on almost every play in the second half,” said Wesselman, whose two interceptions gave him six for the season.

But as rough as the Aztecs were on Erickson, the Hurricanes were worse on McGwire. They intercepted three of his passes and sacked him 10 times for losses of 43 yards. McGwire completed 18 of 43 passes for a season-low 163 yards and was so ineffective early that Luginbill sat him down for a series in the second quarter, replacing him with David Lowery, a freshman who had not thrown a pass.

“Their defensive line created a lot of pressure, but that is not something to whine about,” McGwire said. “Our defense created turnovers, and we didn’t do anything with them.”

McGwire played despite a strained lower abdominal muscle, which he injured in practice Wednesday.

“It got sorer and sorer as the game went on,” McGwire said. “But I hung in there.”

Freshman kicker Andy Trakas provided the Aztecs (6-4-1) with their only points on field goals of 50 and 49 yards that cut the lead to 28-6 with 2:28 left in the third quarter. The 50-yarder was a career best by a yard. After missing four of his first 10 field-goal attempts, Trakas has 10 of his past 11, the past seven in a row.

“That is not my idea of an offense--50-yard field goals,” Luginbill said.

But that was all the Aztecs could manage, and they had to thank their defense for those. Both kicks were set up by interceptions--the first by cornerback Kevin Drayton and the second on the second of two interceptions by tight safety Johnny Walker.

San Diego State’s offense, which had been averaging 502.1 yards per game, was held to 181. Their rushing yardage, hurt by the 10 sacks, came to 18 yards on 33 carries. The total offense and rushing yardages were the lowest for the Aztecs in three seasons.

Almost lost but not to be forgotten in the defeat were six catches for 51 yards by wide receiver Monty Gilbreath, allowing him to pass Tim Delaney (1968-70) and become SDSU’s all-time leading receiver. Gilbreath, a senior from Taft High School in Los Angeles, has 181 receptions, one more than Delaney.

But it was two near records, one by each team, that neatly summed up how the No.1-ranked Miami defense fared against the fourth-ranked Aztec offense.

SDSU’s Joe Santos punted 11 times, one short of the SDSU record shared by John Beck (against Tennessee Tech, 1967) and Wayne Ross (against BYU, 1986). An illustration of the wear and tear on the punting game was that the Aztecs lost their top two long snappers in the first half with sprained ankles.

Miami’s 10 sacks of McGwire was one under the mark set in a 41-3 victory over North Carolina State in 1982. And they did it without blitzing once.

“We knew what they were going to do,” said center Nick Subis, who then paused for the proper effect before adding, “and they did it.”

Down to the very last sack.

Aztec Notes

Chuck Hardaway made his first start of the season at strong tackle for San Diego State, replacing Judd Rachow. Hardaway left the game in the third quarter with a sprained ankle. Long snapper Jason Bill left the game in the first half with a sprained ankle as did his replacement, Jim Jennings. But Jennings was taped at halftime and returned. . . . Larry Maxey, a red-shirt freshman from Morse High School, regained his starting split safety spot from junior David Cooper, who made his first start against Wyoming. . . . Miami quarterbacks Craig Erickson and Gino Torretta combined for 451 passing yards, second only against the Aztecs to New Mexico’s 490 in 1986.