WHERE THE FANS AREN’T : College football: Despite recent success, the Aztecs are drawing few fans.

The San Diego State football team has won four games in a row, and the Aztec offense is ranked third in the nation. The Aztecs have a receiver who leads the nation in one category and a quarterback ranked third in another.

But if all of this occurs in an empty stadium with nobody there to see it, is it really happening?

As the Aztecs climb the charts, the school’s attendance continues to drop.

SDSU is averaging 19,631 per game this season, its lowest per-game attendance since 1985, when an average of 19,485 watched games in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

It is their third-lowest average since 1965. And those aren’t even the worst numbers for SDSU.

Although final dollar figures aren’t in yet because SDSU is waiting on its share of Western Athletic Conference bowl and television revenue, the Aztec football program likely will finish the year at least $100,000 below revenue estimates, according to Athletic Director Fred Miller.

“Suffice it to say, we are under budget projections,” Miller said.

He would be no more specific.

“It would be irresponsible of me to (estimate),” he said. “But I will tell you right now it will be in the six figures. That taxes an already taxed program.”

What’s going on?

“Honest to God, if I had and answer, I’d tell you,” Miller said. “We’ve tried to reestablish our credibility, and we’ve done that over two-year period. . . . We have to play well Saturday to get momentum going into next year’s ticket sales.

“It’s extremely frustrating. It runs deep. All you can do is keep pressuring the community, the alumni, the students, the print media and radio and TV. That’s all I know how to do. We have to pay our bills, too.”

It is frustrating to SDSU athletic administrators because they raised $1 million in pledges over the summer attempting to dig the athletic program out of a $518,000 debt.

It is also frustrating to SDSU because $225,000 of that $1 million was spent on an athletic marketing campaign for this season. The school established a marketing office and the $225,000 went toward things such as advertising and production of newspaper, radio and television ads as well as providing buses to bring students from campus to the stadium.

There haven’t been a lot of students to fill those buses. An average of only 2,500 have attended home games this year--and that from a school that had 34,938 students enrolled as of the spring semester last year.

But it’s not only students. SDSU’s season ticket base is only 13,634--and that’s up 769 over last year. In 1987, the year after SDSU’s Holiday Bowl appearance, the base was 18,715.

There are several problems.

The common excuse in San Diego is that there are so many other things to do--go to the beaches, enjoy the outdoors. The Aztecs, though, schedule their games at night.

“We’re no different than Minneapolis at night,” Miller said. “You can go to movies, dinner, watch TV or go to a ballgame. When the sun goes down, there’s not a lot of difference.

“That’s the reason we don’t play in the afternoon. I don’t want to fight the beaches, golf, tennis or people tending to their garden.”

Universities, when located in professional sports towns, traditionally have a difficult time selling tickets. And many in San Diego say they cannot get excited about WAC teams.

“I’ll tell you, I am disappointed in the students, alumni, faculty and staff,” Miller said. “In-house, we should be getting greater support. Everybody understands the pressure we’re under.

“As for the general public, once we get a season-ticket base, they’ll come back and support us. We think Aztec football is a ton of fun. We’re good. We know our defense is an adventure, but it’s getting better.”

These days, apparently, San Diegans don’t think Aztec football is much fun. SDSU’s attendance ranks eighth in the nine-team WAC. San Diego is by far the largest city in the conference.

You think the players don’t notice 40,000 or so empty seats?

McGwire: “It’s very disappointing being a senior and seeing 13,000 people. It’s a lack of support from the community and the school. We have 30,000-some odd students. What do they do on a Saturday night? We have an exciting offense. Why not come out? . . .

“It’s sad going out there and knowing we’re not going to have a crowd. . . . The Greek system was coming out. I don’t know whether they’re still behind us or not. I don’t look up in the stands anymore. It’s that disappointing. “

Defensive end Pio Sagapolutele: “Most (students) just come out for the hell of it. I think most of them just want to get drunk or look for girls.

“When you look at other programs, their fans support them. You look at ours, you look in the stands and there’s nobody. It’s embarrassing. Visiting teams come in and look, it must make them laugh.”

It is costing the Aztecs money and pride. It also helped cost them serious contention for a bowl bid this season. The Independence Bowl (Shreveport, La.) was considering the Aztecs until it took a look at attendance. That is what Brant Goyne, president of the Independence Bowl, told Miller last Monday--two days before the committee extended bids to Louisiana Tech and Maryland.

“Part of the reason you have a bowl game is to bring tourists to town and have people stay at your hotels,” Goyne said. “I don’t have a good feeling about (SDSU).”

Miller said he didn’t help ease Goyne’s concerns. He said he told Goyne the truth, that SDSU’s attendance was low and that the Aztecs wouldn’t bring many fans.

“The reality of it is San Diego State is a reflection of San Diego,” Miller said. “It’s not Al’s team, or Fred’s team, or (President Tom Day’s) team. It’s San Diego’s team. . . . You start peeling away the onion and get to the core, and that’s what it’s all about. I get so weary of people saying we can’t succeed like Miami. They were absolute mush in the ‘70s. They said, ‘Yeah, we intend to win’ and they stayed the course.

“Sooner or later, if San Diego wants a bowl team, we’ve got to carry people. Where are those 100,000 Aztec graduates (in the area) I keep hearing about?”

The Aztecs have won all five of their home games and four in a row. It hasn’t mattered. The Aztecs had won three in a row going into last Saturday’s game against Texas El Paso, and they drew a season-low 13,927. Granted, it was Thanksgiving weekend, but still . . .

“That’s part of the mentality of San Diego,” Coach Al Luginbill said. “I have no idea. . . . We’ve got to win seven, eight or nine ballgames in a row. If that doesn’t turn it around, then somebody is going to have to evaluate what the hell is going on. We’ve gotten more attention outside of San Diego than in San Diego, and that’s a shame. . . .

“The first half of the season (when SDSU went 2-4) didn’t help us. I don’t know what kind of crowd we’ll have for Miami. We’re winning, but obviously four weeks in a row is not enough.”

Miami--ranked second or third, depending on which poll you read--comes to town Saturday. The Hurricanes are the highest-ranked team ever to come to San Diego to play the Aztecs, and SDSU is expecting about 35,000. San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium capacity is 60,409.

Thirty-five thousand. In 1975, SDSU’s high-water mark for per-game attendance, the Aztecs averaged 42,040.

“The Padres have shown you can lose forever in this town,” Luginbill said. “They make promises and go in the tank, and the media is still behind them. Obviously, we’re not that well thought of in the hierarchy. The only thing I can control is our own destiny . . . we’ll keep recruiting our tail off.”

Miller says an Aztec victory Saturday will give the school momentum to start next year’s ticket blitz. Although SDSU earmarked $225,000 for marketing this year--up from about $143,000 last year--don’t expect it to shy away from marketing.

“The most important thing for us is to be tenacious,” said Jayne Hancock, associate athletic director who handles marketing. “We’ve made some good changes. We’ve learned some things. We basically need to do the same type of advertising and promotions and hang in there.”

Said Miller: “We’ll do the same thing next year. We will not go away.”

Meanwhile, the Aztecs will close their season Saturday in front of what likely will be their largest home crowd.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Arey, a senior. “(Low attendence) cost us a bowl game. That’s obvious. We’re 6-4, and if we beat Miami we’ll be 7-4. We’ll have upset the No. 2 team in the nation--in my opinion--and we’ll be staying at home. You’ve got to blame it on the fans.

“I’m kind of bitter now. I never let it bother me until my senior year. I’m interested to see what happens Saturday. I’ll bet you Miami brings more people (out) than us, and that’s just an embarrassment.”

AZTECS’ FOOTBALL ATTENDANCE San Diego State’s football attendance since 1972, with season-ticket base and won-lost record:

Overall Home Number of Average Home Year W-L W-L Season Tickets Attendance 1972 10-1 7-0 11,505 30,816 1973 9-1-1 6-1-1 12,729 30,201 1974 8-2-1 6-0 12,243 28,691 1975 8-3 5-2 12,015 42,040 1976 10-1 7-1 17,069 34,861 1977 10-1 7-0 18,587 38,153 1978* 4-7 4-1 22,030 35,809 1979 8-3 5-1 18,518 39,978 1980 4-8 1-4 18,071 24,450 1981 6-5 1-3 15,724 34,366 1982** 7-5 5-1 12,984 20,452 1983*** 2-9-1 1-4 12,426 17,949 1984 4-7-1 2-3-1 13,285 23,378 1985 5-6-1 5-2 10,599 19,485 1986**** 8-4 3-2 13,738 31,723 1987 5-7 4-2 18,715 22,911 1988 3-8 2-3 15,184 22,398 1989 6-5-1 4-2-1 12,865 20,462 1990 6-4 5-0 13,634 19,631

*SDSU began play in the Western Athletic Conference. **SDSU stopped selling season tickets to students, who were admitted free. ****Beginning this year, season ticket total includes advertising tradeouts and complimentary season tickets. *****1986 total represented nation’s largest attendance increase. It was the year SDSU played in the Holiday Bowl.