Maddox Shows SDSU How It’s Done : * College football: UCLA quarterback passes for 303 yards, two touchdowns in a 37-12 victory over offensively inept Aztecs.

UCLA and San Diego State each used two quarterbacks during Thursday night’s 37-12 Bruin victory in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

It’s not too difficult to tell from the score which team used its second-teamer for mop-up duty and which team is getting more desperate by the week for quarterback production.

Four games into the season, the Aztecs (2-2) are ready to take out a classified ad as their quarterback status moves from questionable to doubtful.

Wanted: Live arm that can get the ball in the general vicinity of receivers. Attached body must be quick . Attached brain must be able to read defenses. Helps if QB is familiar with end zone real estate.

A San Diego State season that held so much promise a week ago--what with two opening victories and Marshall Faulk’s NCAA single-game rushing record--is quickly turning bitter.

“We played like dog meat and got what we deserved,” SDSU Coach Al Luginbill said.

Quarterback David Lowery was summoned to relieve Cree Morris for SDSU with 3:46 remaining in the third quarter. The final straw for Morris was an interception that led to UCLA’s third touchdown and a 24-0 Aztec deficit.

Morris finished with only eight completions in 23 attempts. He had 98 yards passing, and two of his passes were intercepted--one barely beyond the line of scrimmage by 6-foot-4, 253-pound defensive tackle Andre Farr.

Lowery completed four of 13 attempts for 71 yards and his first collegiate touchdown pass, a 26-yarder to freshman Darnay Scott in the fourth quarter.

UCLA’s Tommy Maddox, meanwhile, had the kind of game usually reserved for SDSU quarterbacks. He connected on 17 of 26 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns. Jim Bonds arrived with about seven minutes to play and promptly hit five of five passes for 79 yards and a touchdown.

This one will not be included in any SDSU recruiting brochures. The Aztecs were outgained, 644 yards to 322; they lost two fumbles; they suffered two interceptions.

Luginbill was angry that the Aztecs continually were blown off of the line of scrimmage, both offensively and defensively.

“I’m disappointed we couldn’t hold the line of scrimmage,” he said. “When you don’t do that, you have no opportunity to win.”

The Aztecs want a bowl invitation. But they are now a .500 team that must travel to Hawaii next Saturday.

They want credibility. The fact that Thursday’s game was on national television surely didn’t help.

Luginbill was searching for a “hump game,” a victory over a nationally respected football program. UCLA overwhelmed an undermanned, injured, tired Aztec team.

After a 21-20 loss Saturday at Air Force, the Aztecs had only three days--and two practices--to prepare for UCLA. But Luginbill wouldn’t use that excuse.

“The way we played tonight, I don’t think it mattered,” he said.

UCLA Coach Terry Donahue, though, sympathized with SDSU’s plight.

“I thought we had a big advantage in terms of (SDSU’s) layoff,” Donahue said. “I would not want to do what San Diego State did. It’s not easy to prepare for a team in three days, especially coming off a tough game like they had at Air Force. I thought that was a big advantage for UCLA.”

The play of the SDSU offense was another big advantage for UCLA.

“We were just inept in our passing game,” Luginbill said. “Just absolutely inept. It’s a shame.”

The crowd of 37,333 watched the Aztecs fall behind at halftime, 10-0. It was the first time SDSU had been shut out in both a half and in a first half in 16 games. The last time it happened to SDSU was on Nov. 18, 1989, when they failed to score in the first half at Miami.

Until the fourth quarter, it looked as if the Aztecs might be headed for their first shutout since 1985.

Morris was booed as early as the first quarter.

“For whatever reason, I wasn’t getting it done tonight,” Morris said. “My passes and the way I went about getting the ball there . . . and then those two picks (interceptions) . . . and I didn’t get our offense into the end zone for three quarters.

“UCLA did a good job, but I killed our offense.”

As for Lowery, he has kept his mouth shut and waited for his chance for more than three weeks.

After Morris was named as SDSU’s starting quarterback Sept. 3, Lowery watched Morris’ passes go over receivers’ heads and wouldn’t say anything.

He kept quiet when he saw Morris complete only two of his first nine passes against Cal State Long Beach, two of his first 10 against Pacific and two of 10 in the second half against Air Force.

Two days ago, Lowery still kept mum. We’ll see what happens, he said.

But after Morris’ third-quarter interception Thursday, here came reserve safety Steve Rudisill running toward him, shouting that offensive coordinator Dave Lay was looking for him.

Get your helmet, Lay told Lowery. You’re going in.

Lowery certainly wasn’t a savior, but he directed the Aztecs to their only two touchdowns of the evening. His first possession ended with SDSU punting, but he moved the Aztecs 51 yards on seven plays for a touchdown in his second drive. Faulk scored from the one-yard line, making it 24-6.

Two possessions later, though, Lowery lost a fumble.

“It felt good,” Lowery said of his first appearance of 1991. “When I’m called upon, I’ve got to go do it. I wish I could have done a better job.”

Told that Luginbill said he does not know who will start next week’s game at Hawaii, Lowery said he would be happy with whatever the coaches decide.

“But I’d like to go into a game starting to see what I could do,” Lowery said.

UCLA (2-1) delivered the knockout punch in the third quarter. Aztec punter Jason Savorn deposited a punt out of bounds at the Bruin four-yard line with the score still 10-0, giving the Aztecs field position and a chance to gain momentum.

Luginbill had said earlier in the week that UCLA would like nothing better than to come to San Diego and knock the Aztecs into submission. This is where it began.

The Bruins drove 96 yards in 11 plays to go ahead 17-0. Nine of the 11 plays were for seven or more yards.

Then, Morris threw an interception on SDSU’s first offensive play of the next drive.

And two plays later, Maddox passed 58 yards to Bryan Adams for a touchdown. UCLA, 24-0.

The Aztecs could have been hopelessly behind at halftime but, somehow, they were in the game. It was no wonder that Donahue wasn’t happy with the Bruins 10-0 lead going into the locker room.

Kevin Williams’ 25-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was called back because of holding. Two plays before that, UCLA was called for illegal procedure from the SDSU 22. The Bruins moved backward so far they ended up punting.

Also, Williams lost a fumble at the SDSU 11 in the second quarter, UCLA was called for holding from the Aztec 17 and Perez missed a 49-yard field goal.

UCLA didn’t get any breaks from the officials, either. Television replays appeared to show that Williams’ fumble was caused by the ground--which should have meant it was no fumble. There was another controversial call near the end of the half when officials disallowed a Sean LaChapelle reception in the end zone.

All the while, though, SDSU couldn’t get its offense untracked. Aztec first-half drives ended with a punt, interception, punt, fumble and punt.

“We throw it and then don’t catch it, and then we throw it bad,” Luginbill said. “It’s one thing after another. You’d think that by now we would have corrected it, but we haven’t.”

And now, with a trip to Hawaii looming a week from Saturday, Luginbill is faced with another quarterback dilemma.

Maybe T.C. Wright is their man. A running back, Wright took a third-quarter pitch from Morris and fired a 13-yard strike to Merton Harris.

It was perfect.