Aztecs Pull Out a Victory : College football: Two fourth-quarter touchdowns help SDSU stay in WAC race with a 24-21 triumph over Utah.

San Diego State’s football ambitions grew more cold and distant Saturday with every 36-m.p.h. gust of wind off the Wasatch Range and into Rice Stadium.

The Aztecs, trailing by 11 points in the fourth quarter, weathered a low-pressure storm system and two high-pressure drives to beat the University of Utah, 24-21, for their fourth consecutive Western Athletic Conference victory, three of those on the road.

Rallying from a 21-10 deficit, SDSU (6-2 overall, 4-1 in the WAC) scored twice in the fourth quarter on David Lowery touchdown passes, then held off the Utes’ desperation drive.

The victory, in front of 25,657, dropped Utah to 5-3, 2-2 in the WAC, and dented its hopes of a Holiday Bowl berth. It did the opposite for the Aztecs, who play their next three conference games at home and trail only Brigham Young (4-0) and Air Force (5-1) in the WAC race.

“We’re 6-2 and we get to go home,” said an animated SDSU Coach Al Luginbill. “I thank God for that.”

His heart was undoubtedly still racing from the frantic ending.

Having scored only a field goal after halftime going into the fourth quarter while Utah pulled away, the Aztecs cut the deficit to 21-16 with 12:19 to play on an 80-yard drive that culminated in an eight-yard touchdown pass from Lowery to Larry Maxey.

The Aztec defense, which gave up several big passing plays in the second half, solidified and forced a punt, and the offense took over on its own 12 with 9:41 to play.

“We said in the huddle, ‘This is our season,’ ” tight end Ray Rowe said.

Lowery, who threw for 308 yards, found Patrick Rowe for 14 yards and a first down. Freshman Wayne Pittman, who had 153 yards on the day, ran for 13. Lowery passed to Merton Harris for 15. T.C. Wright swept left for 17. Lowery hit Ray Rowe across the middle and he bulled his way 16 yards, setting up a first-and-goal at the three.

The Aztecs hadn’t thrown in a goal-line situation all season. Now seemed like a good time. Lowery faked a handoff to Pittman, the line pulled left, then Lowery threw to a wide-open Wright in the right end zone. Lowery’s two-point conversion gave the Aztecs a 24-21 lead.

“I’ve been wanting to run that all year,” Lowery said. “They weren’t even close to covering that. It was a great call.”

Wright also approved: “Lowery looked at me in the huddle. He said, ‘Can you catch a ball?’ I said, ‘I catch punts. Just throw that thing.’ He started screaming, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna score a touchdown.’ ”

Utah took over on its 20 with 5:28 left--seemingly plenty of time for Ute quarterback Frank Dolce, who threw for a career-high 316 yards and two touchdowns.

Passing nearly every down, Dolce drove the Utes to the SDSU 44. A receiver was open but his pass was long on first down. A second-down pass was well defensed and only picked up two yards. A third-down pass fell short, setting up fourth-and-eight, with time running short.

Utah went for it all. Two receivers converged toward the middle of the field. Two Aztec defenders were right there. All went airborne and collided inside the five. It was several moments before the Aztecs realized they had broken up the play and held the Utes on downs. They jubilantly ran off the field.

Defensive back Robert Griffith said, “I saw the ball in the middle of the field and we all went for it, it was a desperate last hurrah. Then there was a tremendous collision. I didn’t know what happened until my teammates told me (the receiver) didn’t catch it.”

Luginbill said, “I never felt we were out of the football game because we kept making phenomenal plays. We came up big at the end. We missed some open-field tackles that put us in problems but . . . we had some people come up big that we weren’t counting on.

“Dolce’s a flat-out player. I said that all week. In the end we came up big defensively. On the last play we had three (Aztecs) going for the football with incredible intensity. We had heat on the quarterback--he got away with it a few times, but not then.”

Though the Aztec offense produced only three points in the second and third quarters, the Aztecs outgained Utah, 471 yards to 381, and kept the ball nearly 15 minutes longer. Eight different players caught passes, led by Patrick Rowe with eight for 101 yards.

“I think we wore down their defense,” Luginbill said. “We just flat wore ‘em down to where we went straight at ‘em and took it to ‘em. Nobody’s really tried to run the ball on Utah. I think that’s our strength. I figured we’d run it till they stopped us, and I don’t think they stopped us.”

Pittman, starting for the second week in a row, gained 95 of his yards in the first half and Utah did slow the ground game after that. Utah Coach Ron McBride disagreed that the Aztecs wore down his team.

“We got much more responsible in the second half stopping the run,” he said. “They had to come back and beat us in the fourth quarter--we have a good defense--you just have to give their offense credit.”

The Aztecs dominated the first half statistically but had only a 7-7 tie to show for it. They controlled the ball more than 21 minutes, outgained the Utes, 227 yards to 145, and had 17 first downs to Utah’s six.

The Aztecs broke out quickly, taking their opening drive 80 yards in 16 plays and using more than six minutes. Pittman did most of the work, carrying 10 times for 52 yards, but the Aztecs actually were lucky to come out with points.

The drive stalled at the Utah 36 and kicker Andy Trakas, kicking into the wind, missed but was knocked down by a defender. The five-yard penalty gave SDSU a fourth-and-one situation, and Pittman’s four-yard run was good for a first down. Pittman then ran 15 yards on a draw for a first down inside the 10, and Lowery capped it with a touchdown pass to Patrick Rowe.

The Aztecs’ next drive ended when Lowery telegraphed a pass along the right sideline and it was picked off by cornerback Lavon Edwards, who returned it to the Aztecs’ 23. Utah cashed in the turnover on the next play, Dolce finding tight end Scott Murry, who fought his way into the end zone.

The Aztecs nearly broke the tie on their final play of the half, but Trakas’ field goal attempt from 52 yards hit the crossbar.

Utah grabbed the momentum after halftime. scoring on its first possession on a 38-yard pass from Dolce to Bryan Rowley, who caught seven passes for 157 yards. After a 22-yard Trakas field goal, Utah scored in the final minute of the third quarter on a one-yard keeper by Dolce. The play was set up by a 39-yard diving fingertip catch by Rowley to the two. The score gave Utah its 21-10 margin.

“We were our own worst enemy in the first half,” Luginbill said. “Really, we didn’t stop moving it. They never truly stopped us. We dominated the line of scrimmage. We’ve taken everybody’s best shot on the road, now they’re gonna have to come to our place.”