Erickson Looking to Avoid a Squeaker : College football: Miami coach doesn’t want a repeat of last week’s scare against BC or last year’s thriller against San Diego State.

There are at least two things that Miami Coach Dennis Erickson hasn’t completely figured out.

One is what happened to the Hurricanes last week against Boston College. Sure, Miami won, 19-14, but when you’re No. 1 in the nation, you’re expected to pick apart the Boston Colleges of the world like a Thanksgiving turkey.

The other is what happened to Miami last year in San Diego. Yes, the Hurricanes won, 30-28, but it took every ounce of bravado they could muster.

“I don’t know what happened last year,” Erickson said Tuesday. “But we got the living dog kicked out of us. We were very fortunate to win the game. They physically knocked us around. We didn’t play well and they played good.

“Hopefully, the same thing won’t happen this year. We’re looking forward to the game.”

The Aztecs, who have never faced a No. 1 team in Divison I football, travel to Miami Saturday for a nationally televised game. They face not only the Hurricanes, but all of Miami’s excess baggage as well: SDSU will battle the ghosts of last year’s SDSU-Miami game, which was closer than Miami thought it should have been, and the looming shadow of the polls. Talk in Miami this week is of how No. 2 Washington closed the points gap in the polls after Miami’s mediocre game Saturday.

“If you play like we played, (Washington) should inch closer,” Erickson said. “The old saying, ‘What can you do for me this week?’ is true if you’re battling for No. 1.”

When asked if he thought he was in a position where he had to run up the scores to stay ahead of Washington, Erickson sidestepped the issue.

“I just think it’s how you play,” he said. “If you play well, I guess the score is going to take care of itself.”

And he figures the Hurricanes need to play much better Saturday.

“I’m very concerned with San Diego State,” he said. “San Diego State is a better football team than the one we just played. They are going to a bowl game. They’ve got a lot of explosiveness on offense and obviously, we had our problems with them last year.

“And they’ve had a week off--an extra week to get ready for us.”

Erickson said that there might have been a bit of a letdown for Miami in the Boston College game, which came one week after the Hurricanes’ big victory over Florida State. The defense was OK, Erickson said, but wasn’t as tight against the run as he would have liked.

“We can’t play like that against San Diego State or we’re going to get points scored on us,” he said.

Erickson knows all about SDSU’s points. He watched the SDSU-Brigham Young 52-52 tie.

“I stayed up until 3 a.m. out here watching that,” he said. “I think I dozed off one time when San Diego State was way ahead and when I woke up, it was tied. I only slept five minutes--that’s how fast it happened.”

Erickson, like UCLA Coach Terry Donahue before him, compared SDSU running back Marshall Faulk to Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions.

“He’s as good as I’ve seen in the country,” Erickson said. “He’s got it all. . . . You don’t gain as many yards as he does without being a great player.”

SDSU quarterback David Lowery also has impressed Erickson.

“He’s made the difference in their team,” Erickson said. “The biggest compliment I can give him is that he’s a winner. He’s got great athletic ability, he understands what’s going on and he’s got great touch. He’s made a big difference.”

Miami will be without fullback Steve McGuire, who underwent reconstructive knee surgery Monday. McGuire, with an average of 68 yards a game, is Miami’s top back.

He will be replaced in the starting lineup by sophomore Martin Patton, who has 215 yards in nine games.

But whoever gets the ball, Erickson said, needs to do something with it. The Aztecs held Miami to 62 yards rushing during a 42-6 loss in 1989 and to 61 last year.

Erickson’s biggest memories of last season’s SDSU-Miami game are of things he would like to forget.

“They blitzed the living heck out of us,” he said. “They knocked the crap out of our receivers.

“And they moved the football up and down the field like nobody has done for a couple of years. Patrick Rowe had a real good game and their offensive line moved us around. I remember us being lucky to win it.”

One way or another, though, Erickson has managed to win. The Hurricanes are 31-3 during his three years there. In his 10-year career, covering spans at Idaho, Washington Stat and Miami, Erickson is 81-34-1.

“I respect what they do,” SDSU Coach AL Luginbill said. “I think Dennis Erickson is not a good football coach, but a great football coach. I don’t say that often, but look at his background. He’s done it everywhere he goes.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for him.”