Bruins Run Aztecs Into the Ground

After awhile, the days begin to run together.

On Saturday, the San Diego State defense goes out and gives up enough yardage for two games.

The next week, SDSU coaches work the defense hard in practice, talk about the need to focus rather than make mass personnel changes. . . .

And then it’s Saturday again. And you know what that means.

UCLA did it to the Aztecs this week, 45-31, before 41,025 in the Rose Bowl.

Once again, the Aztec offense was a sight to behold, and once again, the Aztec defense was graffiti on a wall.

“UCLA was here.”

“For a good run, call 111-SDSU.”

“Score some points on the Aztecs.”

For the first time, SDSU (2-4) came up with a defensive combination that included just two linemen on apparent passing downs and a combination of linebackers and defensive backs. It didn’t matter. On the first play SDSU used the combination, UCLA quarterback Tommy Maddox scrambled 11 yards around left end for a first down. That was on second and nine.

Seven plays later, on second and eight, SDSU tried it again, and this time Maddox passed 25 yards to Shawn Wills.

New look, same old defense.

The Aztecs didn’t intercept a pass, which isn’t exactly a news flash. They have now played 24 quarters this season and watched 191 passes fly by without picking one off.

And, your weekly SDSU non-defense tidbit Part I: UCLA’s Brian Brown finished with 175 yards rushing, the most for a Bruin since Gaston Green ran for 220 against Cal in 1987. He also had two touchdowns.

Part II: Kevin Smith carried 26 times for 105 yards and a touchdown. This marked the first time UCLA had two running backs rush for 100 or more yards in a game since Green (266) and Marcus Greenwood (104) did it in the 1986 Freedom Bowl.

UCLA (3-3) finished with 376 yards rushing, and all six of the Bruins’ touchdowns came on the ground.

So much for SDSU’s game plan of taking away the pass and making UCLA run.

On the bright side, SDSU quarterback Dan McGwire completed 23 of 46 passes for 343 yards and three touchdowns. His streak of consecutive passes thrown without an interception was broken, however, at 178 when Eric Turner picked off a pass on the last play of the game.

Patrick Rowe caught 11 of McGwire’s passes for 224 yards and a touchdown. The 224 yards was a career best and ranks sixth in SDSU history.

The Aztecs trailed at the half, 35-21, but it could have been worse. With only three seconds to play and SDSU trailing, 35-14, and 38 yards from the UCLA end zone, Rowe somehow slipped open--for just a second--in the deep right corner of the end zone. McGwire found him, cocked, fired and . . . touchdown.

McGwire-to-Rowe was the hot first-half combination for the Aztecs. McGwire completed 13 of 22 first-half passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns, and Rowe caught five of those passes for 144 yards and one touchdown.

SDSU got off to a typical start. Its offense moved forward in the first half, and its defense moved backward. In the first 15 minutes, SDSU and UCLA combined for 308 yards of total offense--UCLA 160, SDSU 148. UCLA had nine first downs during that time.

And by halftime, UCLA running back Brian Brown had 100 yards.

The Bruins scored touchdowns on four of their first five and five of their first seven possessions.

The Aztecs, as has been their custom, remained within striking distance.

Each team traded two first-quarter touchdowns. UCLA scored first, thanks to an SDSU fumble. Dennis Arey lost the ball at the SDSU 28 after catching a three-yard McGwire pass, and Stacy Argo fell on it.

Three plays later, Maddox rolled right and then pitched to Brown, who went in for the touchdown.

A nightmare for the Aztecs? Earlier this week, Luginbill said one of his fears was that SDSU might not maintain its impressive record of avoiding turnovers. Going into the game, the Aztecs had lost only one fumble.

“If we come in with offensive breakdowns in ball protection, it would create a real problem,” he said.

The fumble came only 39 seconds into the game, and UCLA scored 1:09 later.

In less than two minutes, the Aztecs already were in the comeback mode.

The SDSU offense shrugged, and went to work. Six plays later, McGwire passed 11 yards for a touchdown to Arey, and it was 7-7.

So UCLA got the ball back, and the most noteworthy thing about that was that it took them 12 plays to move 80 yards for a touchdown. That came on a one-yard Maddox dive.

No matter. Two possessions later, the Aztecs unleashed one of their high-speed touchdown drives. In three plays, they went 61 yards to tie the game at 14-14. The touchdown came on a 10-yard pass from McGwire to tight end Jim Hanawalt, which was set up when McGwire faked a handoff to Larry Maxey.

At that point, the Aztecs’ offense broke down, and it was forced to punt on each of its next three possessions.

The UCLA offense, meanwhile, scored on each of its next two possessions. Kevin Smith caught an eight-yard touchdown pass to cap another 80-yard drive--in 10 plays--to make it 21-14, and Maury Toy finished a 59-yard drive with a two yard run, giving UCLA a two-touchdown lead, 28-14, with 8:37 left.

Then, Wills broke loose up the middle for a 25-yard touchdown run with 1:36 remaining before halftime for UCLA’s fifth touchdown.

UCLA’s sixth touchdown came in the third quarter, a 37-yard run by Brian Brown that increased the Bruins’ lead to 42-24. Brown took off around left end, SDSU’s Morey Paul and Marcus Preciado both missed tackles, and Brown soon found a clear path into the end zone.

This came after SDSU’s Andy Trakas kicked a 24-yard field goal, bringing the Aztecs to within 11 points, 35-24.

For an instant, the Aztecs had things going their way. The Bruins decided to go for it on fourth-and-one from their 45. The handoff went to Kevin Smith, but he was stopped at the line of scrimmage and the Aztecs had good field position.

Aztec Notes

Marlon Andrews started at a cornerback spot instead of Damon Pieri. SDSU Coach Al Luginbill had said Friday that Pieri would start. . . . Quarterback Dan McGwire became a receiver for one unusual moment in the second quarter. It was third-and-four from the SDSU 26, the Aztecs were trailing, 28-14, and McGwire faded back to pass. He threw, the ball was deflected at the line of scrimmage, and McGwire plucked it out of the air and started to run. He was tackled at the line of scrimmage. . . . The most interesting run during Saturday’s game? Had to be the halftime dash by a streaker, who ran straight down the middle of the field and into an end zone before he was detained by security.