Aztecs Hope to Pick Apart Utah Offense

The San Diego State football team will wake up this morning, step out of bed and get ready to do something it hasn’t done in three weeks.

Play a football game.

It’s true. The Aztecs face Utah at 7 tonight at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. SDSU hasn’t played a game since a 45-31 loss Oct. 13 to UCLA, and the Aztecs haven’t played a home game since Sept. 29.

There is also the chance the Aztecs may do something they haven’t done all season: intercept a pass. SDSU is the only Division I team in the nation without an interception. The Aztecs’ opponents have attempted 191 passes this season.

If the Aztecs (2-4, 1-2 in the Western Athletic Conference) are to salvage anything from this season, they must start tonight. Coach Al Luginbill has called all four of the Aztecs’ remaining WAC games “must-win” situations. If they win all four but lose to No. 8 Miami Dec. 1, they will finish 6-5. It would be the first time since 1981-82 that the Aztecs put together consecutive winning seasons. If they stumble in a WAC game, it is likely they will end up no better than 5-6.

“It’s no secret the defense hasn’t performed to the level we expected or wanted it to,” Luginbill said. “Our goal is to end up the season on a positive note.”

This from a team with Dan McGwire at quarterback. This from a team that seriously talked a few weeks ago of going to a bowl game.

There are plenty of questions to be answered tonight, starting with how the layoff will affect the Aztecs. “I really don’t know any more about it than you do,” Luginbill said. “I felt we got better each day in practice.”

To prove it, there were bright spots even this week.

“We had 11 people on the field for special teams,” Luginbill said jokingly on Thursday, the Aztecs’ final day of practice for Utah. “We haven’t forgotten how to do that.”

Seriously, he said, he would like the offense to pick up where it left off. SDSU is rated fourth nationally in passing offense (337 yards a game) and fifth in scoring offense (37.2 points).

And the defense?

“It can only go up,” Luginbill said.

Ranked 106th in the country out of 106 Division I teams, the Aztecs face a Utah offense that is third in the WAC in passing (270 yards a game) and ninth in rushing (78).

But until the defense improves, the pressure remains on the offense. That unit is beginning to feel as if it has to put points on the board every time it touches the ball.

“I can see the pressure,” said Patrick Rowe, who leads the nation’s receivers with an average of 120.5 yards per game. “We have to play mistake-free. It’s going to be difficult to do.”

Utah (3-5, 1-4) is in the middle of a rebuilding year. Ron McBride is in his first year as coach, and one of his initial duties was to replace Scott Mitchell, Utah’s all-time passing leader, who elected to enter the NFL draft a year early. Junior Mike Richmond has emerged ahead of sophomore Jason Woods in the quarterback derby--for now--but the two of them have combined for 14 interceptions in eight games. Richmond has been intercepted 11 times and Woods three.

Last year, SDSU intercepted 21 passes. This year, they can only fantasize about how an interception might feel.

“It’s going to be a pretty happy moment,” linebacker Lou Foster said. “We might end up getting more than one (tonight). You never know.”

Richmond is sixth in the conference in passing efficiency and threw for 359 yards during last week’s 52-21 loss to Air Force. That was his second 300-plus game of the season.

And here comes an Aztec defense that has practiced and practiced and. . . .

What the Aztecs did during their layoff was return to fundamentals. They had more contact drills during practice than Luginbill wanted during the past three weeks, but he felt it was important to try to stay sharp. There will be one newcomer to the starting lineup--sophomore Damon Pieri will start at free safety for the first time this season.

“I think we’re going to react pretty good,” Foster said. “We got a lot of good things done. We’re going to go out and give those guys a pretty good game.”

Aztec Notes

SDSU expects a homecoming crowd of about 22,000. . . . In last year’s 38-27 SDSU victory, Dan McGwire and then-Utah quarterback Scott Mitchell combined for 919 passing yards and five touchdowns. McGwire threw for a career-best 510 yards and two touchdowns. . . . Receiver Patrick Rowe has 100 or more yards receiving in four consecutive games. . . . Utah free safety Sean Knox moved to the top of the school’s career interception chart last week against Air Force. . . . SDSU injury update: Offensive lineman Judd Rachow (knee) is out; cornerback John Louis (shoulder) is doubtful; cornerback Clark Moses (stomach flu) is questionable. . . . Utah linebacker Anthony Davis, one of the best in the WAC, has missed most of the Utes’ last three games with an ankle injury and a sprained wrist. He is listed as questionable.