Detmer Makes Most of His Time, 62-34 : BYU: San Diego State controls the ball and keeps him on sideline for a while, but he still passes for 514 yards and three touchdowns.

The publicity has gotten so heavy that every Wednesday, Brigham Young quarterback Ty Detmer holds a news conference.

Every Saturday, he holds a clinic.

San Diego State got this week’s lesson Saturday before 66,044, the fourth largest crowd ever at Cougar Stadium. Detmer passed for 514 yards as No. 4 BYU won, 62-34.

BYU took a 21-0 lead, but San Diego State pulled to within 28-24 at halftime. Then Brigham Young scored on its first five possessions in the second half.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Ty Detmer,” San Diego State Coach Al Luginbill said. “I thought we made the adjustments we needed to make to take away the people they were going to throw the ball to. We had (defenders) there; we did not make the plays.”

The Aztecs (1-2) figured going in that the best way to stop Detmer was to play ball control and keep him standing on the sideline as long as possible. But they couldn’t figure a way to keep him there all the time.

Detmer made like the Invisible Man in the first half--San Diego State limited BYU to 8:46 of possession--and still out-passed Aztec quarterback Dan McGwire. Detmer finished the first half with 276 yards passing, and the BYU offense had the ball for only 1:13 in the second quarter.

But Detmer had touchdown pass plays of 51 and 17 yards to Andy Boyce, and the Cougars ran for two more.

McGwire had 194 yards passing at the half. Like Detmer, he threw two touchdown passes in the half--six yards to Jimmy Raye and 29 to Patrick Rowe.

Between those, the Aztecs pulled an onside kick on which Andy Trakas popped the ball over the BYU front, and San Diego State’s John Louis recovered. That led to the Aztecs’ second touchdown.

By halftime, they had cut a three-touchdown deficit to four points.

Detmer added only one touchdown pass in the second half, but he was impressive in all five of BYU’s touchdown drives. His 514 yards passing are the most ever against an Aztec defense. Tight end Chris Smith caught six passes for 162 yards, Boyce had seven for 143 and Matt Bellini, who moved into second place ahead of Gordon Hudson on the all-time BYU receiving list, caught nine for 119.

Said Detmer: “We weren’t clicking off the bat, but we got it clicking soon. Our receivers did a great job adjusting to the ball. They tried to play man (-to-man defense) with our receivers and we beat them all day. . . . We scored so quick, it kind of hurt the defense.”

Twice in the first half, BYU went 80 yards or more in three plays. The Cougars traveled 87 yards in three plays for their second touchdown, the big play the 51-yard play from Detmer to Boyce. In the second quarter, they went 80 yards--a 35-yard Detmer-to-Smith pass, a 28-yard Detmer-to-Micah Matsuzaki pass and Detmer’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Boyce.

The game turned for good in the third quarter. With BYU ahead, 35-24, the Cougars’ Derwin Gray blocked Jason Savorn’s punt, giving Brigham Young the ball at the San Diego State one. Bellini scored on the next play, increasing BYU’s lead to 41-24.

McGwire finished with 32 completions in 59 attempts for 362 yards and three touchdowns.