Initiative Puts Lowery In Game : Football: Aztecs quarterback showed early on that he could motivate and produce on offense.

So what is it about this David Lowery kid?

What is it about this Hawaii-trashing, New Mexico-bashing, Texas El Paso-thrashing, Utah-smashing, Wyoming-gashing, Colorado State-mashing quarterback that allowed San Diego State to reel off six consecutive victories after he became the starter?

How come SDSU was shooting itself in the foot through four games but, suddenly, when Lowery took over, the Aztecs began marching along as smartly as Sherman through Georgia? And how in the world, on a team boasting first-team All-American Marshall Faulk, was Lowery elected most valuable player?

“David Lowery gets it done because he has a fire about him,” SDSU tight end Ray Rowe said. “Once the gun sounds at the beginning of the game, he just ignites.”

He wasn’t supposed to. For one thing, he is young--a redshirt sophomore who didn’t make his first start until Oct. 5, when SDSU was at Hawaii.

For another, this was to be fellow redshirt sophomore Cree Morris’ year. Morris was named SDSU starter at the end of fall camp, but Morris sputtered and Lowery, when given a chance, clung to the quarterback position like a politician to a dark suit.

“It’s rare you get such a young leader,” Rowe continued. “But everybody looks up to that. I look up to that and I’m a senior. Everybody likes the way he takes charge. It got me going.”

Talk to 10 different Aztecs, and “leader” is one of the most frequently used words. They took notice on Sept. 26, when Lowery was sent into the Aztec huddle three games and three quarters into the season with SDSU trailing UCLA, 24-0.

Lowery surveyed the situation, looked at the players standing in front of him and spoke firmly.

“We’re going to get our . . . into the end zone,” he told the offense. “There is no way we’re going to get shut out.”

There have been other moments that have captivated his teammates. Moments such as those against New Mexico, when five of Lowery’s passes were intercepted during a 38-24 SDSU victory. It was by far Lowery’s worst game of the season.

Defensive end Eric Duncan remembers one interception vividly.

“He was so pissed off at himself that he was actually crying coming off of the field,” Duncan said. “For a guy to take that much pride in what he’s doing. . . .”

And then there were moments such as one against Brigham Young, during a crazy, 52-52 tie, when Lowery was coaxing his teammates to keep going in the face of a furious BYU comeback.

“On every play I was in on (during a fourth-quarter drive), he was like, ‘Move the chains, let’s go,’ ” said receiver Keith Williams. “We were tired and hurting, and he was taking charge. It was, ‘Get in the huddle, let’s go.’ He’s a real go-get ‘em guy. If he notices any kind of letdown, he’ll try to get you going.”

He looks his teammates dead in the eyes when he calls a play in the huddle. This is the play we’re going to run, now let’s go out and make something happen.

He is not a rah-rah guy, but rather, it is his sense of timing that makes his words effective. We’re lagging, we’ve got to take the ball down and score now.

He is not afraid to scold a teammate. Run the route. Get yourself open.

Intangibles contribute to his success as much as anything. Other quarterbacks throw prettier spirals, have stronger arms or are taller. Morris had all of these over Lowery, who is listed at 6-feet but is closer to 5-11, and that’s why Morris started the season.

But Morris was inconsistent and, at times, seemed hesitant and unsure of himself. Lowery is never unsure of himself.

So Morris is contemplating tranferring; Lowery is No. 1 with a bullet.

“What I like most about David is that when he didn’t get the job (after fall camp), he kept his cool,” receiver Patrick Rowe said. “He worked hard and when he got his chance, he took advantage of it.”

He passed for 273 yards in the Hawaii game and, after the New Mexico fiasco, led SDSU to road victories at Texas El Paso and Utah.

Against Utah, Lowery keyed a fourth quarter comeback--during which the Aztecs outscored the Utes, 14-0--by completing eight of 11 passes for 115 yards in the final 15 minutes. Both touchdown drives were 80-plus yards.

“They were must-score drives, and he got the job done,” Patrick Rowe said. “That’s what you expect out of a senior quarterback who has been in the system for a while. For him to do that was great.”

The Aztecs won two more under Lowery before the tie with BYU--a game in which Lowery set an SDSU record with 568 yards passing.

By season’s end, he had completed 56% of his passes (176 of 311) for 2,575 yards and 19 touchdowns, and his 138.6 pass efficiency rating placed him third in the Western Athletic Conference and 19th nationally.

But Lowery’s most important numbers were probably these: In games he started, SDSU went 6-1-1.

Funny how, now, people can only find one significant problem with Lowery’s lack of height. The Aztecs huddle in two lines, with Lowery facing them, and. . . .

“He keeps hitting me in the helmet, telling me to bend over,” said 6-4 center Kevin Macon, who stands directly in front of Lowery in the huddle. “He stands on his tippy-toes so he can see the back row and make sure everybody is there.”

Otherwise, Lowery’s stature is no longer an issue. The Aztecs have placed a few wrinkles in their offense, things such as a quarterback sneak and pass plays allowing Lowery to roll out a bit more than SDSU quarterbacks of the past, and they have overcome a rocky beginning.

The MVP award, then, was not much of a surprise. Lowery received about 90% of his teammates votes.

“I voted for him,” Ray Rowe said. “I knew he was going to get it.”

How?

“Me and Macon were talking about it one night,” Rowe said. “A most valuable player is the person who, if he’s out, things will be a little rough. We were trying to see who that person was.

“We looked at each other and said, ‘It’s David.’ ”

Freedom Bowl Quarterbacks

Name, School G/GS Att Cmp Pct Int Yds Yds/G David Lowery, San Diego State 10/8 311 176 .566 12 2575 257.5 Cree Morris, San Diego State 4/4 122 51 .418 3 675 168.8 T.J. Rubley, Tulsa 11/11 260 148 .569 9 2054 186.7 Gus Frerotte, Tulsa 11/0 12 5 .417 2 76 6.9

Name, School TDs David Lowery, San Diego State 19 Cree Morris, San Diego State 3 T.J. Rubley, Tulsa 18 Gus Frerotte, Tulsa 0