Aztecs Can’t Quite Raze ‘Canes : College football: SDSU makes late run, but loses, 30-28, to No. 3 Miami.

The goodbyes came much too quickly. But then, when dusk is settling and you’ve had the time of your life, they always do.

The seconds ticked away from the San Diego State football season Saturday afternoon in front of 34,201 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, ticked away with the Aztecs trailing No. 3 Miami, 30-28, and desperately trying to come back.

But as the Aztecs wrapped up 1990 against the highest-ranked team ever to visit them, and as they valiantly attempted to beat a top-10 team for the first time in school history, they ran out of time.

They had the ball on their 6, with nine seconds and no timeouts left, and Dan McGwire completed a short pass to Patrick Rowe and . . . he was tackled at the 10. It put Rowe at 102 yards receiving for the day, writing his name into the NCAA record book as the only receiver to have 100 or more yards receiving in nine consecutive games, but it left the Aztecs two points short of the upset of their dreams.

And after nearly four hours of big plays, three crucial SDSU missed field goals and one ugly bench-clearing brawl near the end of the game, suddenly, it was like the last day of school. The Aztecs were left feeling empty . . . with only memories of how close they had come to beating Miami.

“It was a lot of fun out there,” SDSU defensive back Robert Griffith said. “They did an extreme amount of talking. I think we took it all in stride.”

Said senior receiver Dennis Arey: “We knew we could (beat Miami). Then when the gun sounded, it all hit me. It was like, ‘Damn, I’ll never be playing here again.’ ”

Two mistakes cost the Aztecs dearly. With the game tied, 10-10, and 5:43 to play in the first half, Miami’s Darrin Smith intercepted a McGwire pass at the Aztec 26. McGwire overthrew Jimmy Raye by at least five yards. Five plays later, Steve McGuire scored from the five, and it was 17-10.

Then, with 4:42 left in the third and Miami ahead, 27-20, McGwire fumbled a snap and Miami’s Anthony Hamlet recovered. A minute later, Carlos Huerta kicked a 22-yard field goal.

Two SDSU miscues, 10 points for Miami.

“Turnovers are the key in any big ballgame,” SDSU Coach Al Luginbill said. “You can’t just turn the ball over two times inside the 30 against a good football team.”

Still, SDSU stayed in the game. But with the Aztecs trailing, 30-20, in the fourth quarter, SDSU kicker Andy Trakas missed three field goals within an 8:25 span. They came from 38, 47 and 54 yards out.

Even worse, the Aztecs burned two timeouts while trying to set up for field-goal attempts. The first came when Tony Nichols, an offensive tackle, wasn’t on the field in time. Luginbill took the blame for the second but wouldn’t get specific.

“It was some screw-up,” he said. “It just lies with me.”

The lack of timeouts was especially crucial in the final two minutes. SDSU stopped McGuire short of a first down on third and two from the SDSU 41, and the clock was at 1:09 and running. To make matters worse, the 25-second clock didn’t start for more than 20 seconds as Miami waited to take a delay-of-game penalty before punting.

The Aztecs had pulled to within 30-26 on a 13-yard touchdown pass from McGwire to Arey with 2:40 to play, and they got the two-point conversion when McGwire, wrapped up by a Miami defender, switched the ball to his left hand and shoveled a pass to tight end Jim Hanawalt.

The brawl broke out after Miami’s Shane Curry hit McGwire after Hanawalt was already in the end zone. SDSU offensive tackle Nick Subis jumped on Curry, and the benches emptied. Subis and Curry were ejected.

The shovel pass wasn’t the only McGwire gem during the afternoon. With two Miami defenders hanging on him like Christmas tree ornaments, McGwire passed six yards for a touchdown to Ray Rowe with 10:54 left in the second quarter. McGwire, 6-foot-8, 240 pounds, faked a handoff, wheeled to his right and was pounced on first by Herbert James--5-11, 175--and then by Charles Pharms--5-11, 185.

McGwire staggered for a moment, then pushed a wobbly pass into the end zone. Rowe came up with it, and it gave SDSU its only lead--10-7.

But soon came the interception, and later, the fumble.

“We just didn’t convert points when we needed to,” McGwire said. “This could have been a big win for us (by) a big margin . . .

“We’ve got to blame ourselves. Miami didn’t stop us. We knew we were going to move the ball on them. Like I’ve said all season, the Aztec offense has been running on all cylinders all year, and when it doesn’t work, we stop ourselves. The better ball team doesn’t always win.”

The better ball team?

“We dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage,” McGwire continued. “We were the better ballclub tonight.”

SDSU had 28 first downs to Miami’s 19 and had 103 more yards than the Hurricanes. SDSU also had the ball longer, 33:47 to 26:13.

The Aztecs claimed all week long they were not impressed by Miami, and they played that way. SDSU’s defense, ranked 98th in the nation, held Miami’s fifth-ranked offense to 345 total yards--152 under the Hurricanes’ average. SDSU limited Miami to 61 yards rushing.

SDSU’s defense, maligned all season, came up with some big plays, and shut out Miami in the fourth quarter.

“I thought our cornerbacks played extremely well all day,” Luginbill said.

Meanwhile, SDSU gained 448 total yards, including 153 on the ground against a Miami defense ranked third in the nation against the run (75 yards allowed a game). T.C. Wright led the way with 118 yards on 22 carries.

McGwire finished his SDSU career by completing 32 of 53 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns. Craig Erickson completed 17 of 39 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns for Miami. Each quarterback threw one interception.

“We didn’t play very well,” Miami Coach Dennis Erickson said. “San Diego State came out and played hard. They came in and stopped us on defense.”

There were a few tears in the SDSU locker room afterward, but the 50 or so SDSU recruits at the game caught an eyeful of Aztec football and, by nightfall, Luginbill was headed up the coast on a recruiting mission. After this one, he will have plenty of things to tell recruits.

“I don’t see us going backwards next year,” Griffith said. “I see us going full steam ahead. It will be astonishing to me if we don’t go to a bowl game next year.”

He paused, and stared out toward the middle of a quiet locker room.

“I just love playing with these guys.”