Struggling Falcon Offense Faces Flimsy Aztec Defense

The intrigue at 6:05 tonight in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium might not quite match “Twin Peaks,” but it’s got a scratch-your-head, wonder-what-might-happen-now story line:

The Air Force offense, a gang that has moved the football but not found the end zone, will meet the San Diego State defense, a gang that has allowed opponents to move the ball and find the end zone.

Although the Falcons (2-2, 1-2 in the Western Athletic Conference) rank first in the conference in rushing yardage (241.8 a game), their offense has sputtered. They scored only two offensive touchdowns in the past two games, and their starting quarterback, Ron Gray, was left home in Colorado Springs with a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament.

So there is a chance the Air Force offense will remain grounded tonight. But then again . . .

The defense it will face is rated 106th (last) in the country, having allowed an average of 509.7 yards and 41.3 points a game. The Aztecs (1-2, 0-1) are allowing opponents an average of seven yards per play and have no interceptions.

Throw the Falcon offense and the Aztec defense together, and it may play like Bart Simpson doing the Rolling Stones. Please! Enough!

It’s a critical time for the Aztecs. They were whipped last week, and in the next two weeks travel to Wyoming (4-0) and UCLA (whom they’ve never beaten). Then they’re off for two weeks.

“It was a crucial stretch starting last week,” SDSU Coach Al Luginbill said. “This is our season. I don’t want to put our situation into any must-wins because we’ve got to go out and play our game every week and get better every week, and the wins will take care of themselves.

“We’re not in a situation yet where you can say we’re in a must-win situation because we’ve got to get ourselves to where we make the plays to win. Now you’re winning, you can get yourself into the must-win situations.”

Air Force likely will bring no secrets into tonight’s game. The Falcons run their traditional wishbone, and they feed the ball to their fullbacks as often as they can. Jason Jones (53 yards a game) and Rodney Lewis (52) are their two leading rushers.

The key to stopping the Air Force offense, Luginbill said, is to stop the fullback. That should be an easier this year now that former quarterback Dee Dowis is gone.

“Everything comes off the fullback, but if you’ve got a Dee Dowis at quarterback, it spreads you real thin,” Luginbill said. “I think their quarterbacks are getting better each week, but I think (Air Force Coach) Fisher (DeBerry) would be the first one to tell you there’s not a Dee Dowis there, so I think they’re depending more on their inside running game.”

With Gray out, sophomore Jarvis Baker will make his first start at quarterback. He played against Wyoming last week and completed two of seven passes for 43 yards and one interception.

Despite their standing as WAC leader in team rushing (241.8), the Falcons have been inconsistent. They scored 22 points in the past two weeks, and Jones was the team rushing leader in last week’s 24-12 loss to Wyoming with only 62 yards.

The wishbone should be nothing new to SDSU. The Aztecs worked on option principles during spring practice, then spent 20 minutes a day on it during fall practice before preparations started for their season opener against Oregon.

And if that’s not enough, memories of last year should haunt them. In Luginbill’s coaching debut, Air Force picked the Aztecs apart like a Thanksgiving turkey, 52-36, behind Dowis’ 249 rushing yards and six touchdown passes.

“Me, personally, I’ve never looked forward to a football game like I am this one. . . .” Luginbill said earlier this week. “What happened a year ago, I’ll never get that out of my mind.

“We looked like we didn’t even know what we were doing. That was extremely disappointing. We had two guys on Dowis and didn’t make a play on him the whole day.”

There will be two new faces in the Aztec defense. Junior Tracey Mao has replaced junior Derrick Williams at nickel back and, when the situation calls for a dime back, sophomore Robert Griffith will play instead of senior Clark Moses. Mao started at outside linebacker against Oregon. Luginbill hopes these changes jump-start the defense.

“It’s got to be a total team defensive effort,” Luginbill said. “That’s what we haven’t had yet. We haven’t had 11 people execute our defense at the same time throughout a football game.”

Still, the Aztecs always have their offense to fall back on.

“I think they’re a damn good football team,” DeBerry said. “I don’t care what their record is. . . . The thing that impresses me is that they ran 101 plays against (Brigham Young) and had no turnovers. Shoot, we couldn’t run 100 plays and not have five turnovers, or 10 turnovers.”

Aztec Notes

The game begins at 6:05 p.m., an hour earlier than usual, because of the post-game America concert. . . . Air Force leads the WAC in total defense (293.5 yards a game) and scoring defense (17.3 a game). . . . Air Force Coach Fisher DeBerry on key plays: “In any game, there are five or six key plays. All those other plays are to entertain the fans.” . . . Aztec running back Curtis Butts, who sprained his neck last week against Brigham Young, is healthy and will start tonight. Running back Tommy Booker (sprained ankle) has been cleared to play, but SDSU Coach Al Luginbill said he will not use Booker unless Booker is “100% healthy.” Freshman linebacker Jamal Duff (bruised thigh) is out. . . . Air Force injury report: Starting wide receiver Darryl Woods (right shoulder strain) and back-up wide receiver Jason Crandall (torn tendon, right finger) are out. That leaves third-team wide receiver Clarence Harris to start. . . . This is SDSU’s last home game until Nov. 3, when the Aztecs play Utah.