AZTECS UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : Team Isn’t Feeling Deflated by 52-52 Tie, Luginbill Says

After three days off, the Aztecs reconvened for practice Wednesday for the first time since Saturday’s wild 52-52 tie with Brigham Young.

And if you were thinking that there would be a letdown, Coach Al Luginbill recommends you think again.

“It was great,” Luginbill said. “We’ve got an exciting time ahead of us. How could we not be excited with the opponent we get a week from Saturday? The whole country is going to be watching.”

The Aztecs get No. 1 Miami on Nov. 30 in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPN.

“What a great opportunity,” Luginbill said. “What a great way to end the season, with Miami and then a bowl game.”

Luginbill did not deliver any special speech to the players telling them to get their heads up and forget about the BYU game.

“No,” he said. “I know and they know we shot ourselves in the foot. Once we stop doing that, there is no limit to what this team is capable of doing.”

Said quarterback David Lowery: “We’ve got to come into this week optimistic. It’s still difficult--we were in there watching films today, and it’s going to be difficult every time I watch that game.”

But Lowery is happy with the mood of the team.

“It’s good,” he said. “I don’t think anybody is down on anybody. I think everybody is fired up. We can’t dwell on it. We have to learn from it.”

Kicker Andy Trakas, who missed a 41-yard field-goal attempt with less than four minutes remaining Saturday, said he didn’t know what to think of the kick, which was both low and short.

“I don’t know, I can’t go into detail,” Trakas said. “I’ve never had a ball go off like that before.”

Despite breakdowns on offense, defense and special teams, Trakas said he couldn’t help but feel responsible for the tie.

“I had a job to do, a responsibility,” he said. “When you don’t do a good job and don’t fulfill a responsibility, you feel defeated.

“I never knew learning had to be that hard.”

On the injury front, Luginbill said running back Marshall Faulk’s bruised ribs are fine and receiver Patrick Rowe’s sprained ankle will be fine--by next week. Rowe, who will not practice this week, is receiving three or four treatments a day on the ankle. Luginbill said he could not play if the Aztecs had a game this Saturday but that Rowe should be able to be back on the practice field by Tuesday. “We’ll be the healthiest we’ve been all year (for Miami),” Luginbill said.