Year Takes Wrong Turn for Wright : College football: Aztec senior now must wait for a chance to play behind freshman Marshall Faulk.

The only thing going right for T.C. Wright this football season is his name.

Wright, a senior who figured to be San Diego State’s starting running back in 1991, has lost the job to freshman Marshall Faulk. When the Aztecs (3-2, 1-1) take on New Mexico (1-5, 0-2) in a Western Athletic Conference game in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium at 6:05 tonight, Wright’s contributions figure to be limited to punt returns.

Wright has created some of his problems, but most simply have been circumstances. It has been a gut-wrenching season, and things came to a head near the end of SDSU’s 47-21 victory Saturday at Hawaii. Wright refused to enter the game when told to do so by SDSU coaches.

“I’m not the happiest person right now,” Wright said. “I’d be kidding myself if I tried to walk around here like everything is OK.”

Wright said he met with SDSU Coach Al Luginbill and running backs coach Dan Underwood Wednesday to clear the air.

So now he will concentrate on returning punts. It’s a job that fits--he’s out in front of everyone, standing alone and feeling naked.

Wright was supposed to start the Hawaii game but lost track of time in a hotel gift shop. He was late to a special teams meeting and, as a result, Luginbill gave Faulk the start. Faulk responded with 212 yards rushing and five touchdowns.

And this week, Luginbill finally said Faulk won the job in SDSU’s one-back offense.

“I gave them a reason to start (Faulk), I guess,” Wright said. “That’s what they told me. But I’m a senior. I’ve put in my time here. Believe it or not, I did earn a job here in the spring and fall.”

Wright’s season has been a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

- He suffered a bruised thigh late in the first quarter of SDSU’s 55-34 victory over Pacific. Faulk took over and shredded the Pacific defense, setting an NCAA rushing record with 386 yards and an SDSU record with seven touchdowns.

- He was late to the meeting in Hawaii and lost his job.

- He had what would have been a spectacular night as a punt returner erased in Hawaii because of several clipping penalties. He returned 10 punts for 257 yards, but with 149 deducted for clipping penalties, the statistics say he returned 10 for 108 yards.

“Those punt returns last week are the story of my life,” he said.

A Sports Illustrated reporter was on campus Friday to interview Faulk. If he gains 170 yards tonight in his sixth game, Faulk would reach the 1,000-yard rushing mark sooner than any freshman in NCAA history. Florida’s Emmitt Smith did it in seven games in 1987.

Even Faulk’s professors have been caught up in the excitement. The other day, his math teacher was figuring out equations with the class and decided to put Faulk’s yardage into the problem.

Wright? As John Mellencamp sings, days turn to minutes and minutes to memories. Wright has memories of gaining 112 yards against Miami last year and of rushing for 132 yards and two touchdowns against Texas El Paso a few weeks earlier. And he can recall what it was like to finish second in the WAC in rushing with 730 yards in 1990.

Even when Wright was starting this season, things weren’t much better. After the Pacific game, Wright started at Air Force because it is Luginbill’s rule that a player cannot lose a starting job because of an injury. But Wright got only six carries, Faulk 25.

“I could understand (the coaches) tripping off of Marshall because he’s a great back,” Wright said. “The only thing that got to me was after getting hurt, I started the next week but only had six carries--and he had 25.

“Why did I even start?”

It is particularly frustrating for Wright, a transfer from Mesa (Ariz.) Community College, because he thought things were finally breaking his way. Last year, he only started two games. But after finishing the season strong against Miami and after Tommy Booker dropped off of the team because of personal problems over the summer, 1991 seemed to hold promise.

Then came Faulk. There went Wright.

“My family right now, I don’t even want to talk to them at times,” Wright said. “That’s the thing that hurts me the most. People around me who support me are more affected by it than me.

“That’s something that hurts me.”

Wright’s parents are in Arizona. His girlfriend, Dawn, and 4-month-old daughter, Ashanti, live with him in San Diego.

“What am I supposed to do?” said Wright. “I’m not taking anything away from Marshall. He’s a damn good back. I even tried to put myself in my coach’s shoes, but this is my last year and I’m not so bad myself.

“That’s why, now more than ever, I’m starting to take punt returns more seriously. That’s my only opportunity to show I’m a good player.”

Faulk will get more opportunities tonight against the New Mexico defense. It is ranked 104th in the nation--out of 106 Division I teams--in rushing defense (297 yards allowed per game), 104th in total defense (509) and 105th in scoring defense (42.8 points a game).

Suddenly, it seems realistic that Faulk tonight will get the 170 yards he needs to reach 1,000, as well as the three rushing touchdowns he needs to surpass Jamal Farmer’s freshman rushing record of 18. He may even get the five touchdowns he needs to surpass Reggie Cobb’s all-purpose freshman record of 20.

He has been compared by opposing coaches to both Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions and Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys.

“I guess you can’t picture yourself doing something like this,” Faulk said. “It’s the kind of dream you have one time and then can’t remember it.”

Hopes and dreams . . . Faulk says hello as Wright says goodby.

“The coaches just got contract extensions and Marshall has three years left,” said Wright, the WAC’s third-leading punt returner with an average of 9.8 yards per return. “This is it for me.

“Everybody around here has more time. Everybody but me.”

Aztec Notes

Marshall Faulk, who is leading the NCAA in scoring and is third in rushing, continues to deflect praise to the offensive line of Carlson Leomiti, Jim Jennings, Kevin Macon, Tony Nichols and Joe Heinz. “Just fit their names in there,” Faulk said. “I don’t want them to think I’m leaving them out. Put their names in there.” OK, OK. . . . New Mexico is last in the nation in turnover margin, at minus-14. The Lobos have lost 24 turnovers and gained only 10.