Sizing Up : San Diego State Quarterback David Lowery Is Small, but He Is Proving That He Can Play With the Best in Big-Time College Football

David Lowery swaggered up to the television camera, football helmet dangling from his belt. The San Diego State quarterback went through the interview with hands on hips, acting if this was routine stuff.

Yeah, it’s exciting to be playing in the Freedom Bowl.

Yeah, it’s great to play in Orange County again.

Yeah, it’s going to be a tough game.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The tape stopped rolling. Lowery took only two steps before being accosted by a kid, who thrust an Aztec program and a pen in his face.

Lowery playfully talked with the kid while signing the autograph. The entire time, the child’s mother gushed about how great Lowery was. He just smiled and nodded.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Don’t be fooled. Lowery is eating it up, every I-told-you-so minute.

“I’m not going to argue with any of it,” Lowery said. “It feels real good.”

Pardon Lowery if he revels in the situation. Excuse him for the moments of chest thumping or that occasional tone of brashness, or if there’s a little extra bounce in his step.

He has earned all of it.

Hardly anyone believed in Lowery, other than himself. He was too short. His arm wasn’t strong enough. He was just not a big-time college quarterback. Lowery heard it all.

San Diego State was the only Division I school to offer him a scholarship. But even the Aztec coaching staff needed some convincing before they actually gave him a chance.

Yet, Lowery, a redshirt sophomore, has persevered and won the right to thumb his nose at those who doubted him.

He stepped into the quarterback spot in time to salvage the Aztecs’ season. They are 6-1-1 with him as the starter, the only loss to No. 1 Miami. Before he was inserted into the lineup, San Diego State was headed toward oblivion. Now the Aztecs are in a bowl game.

Any wonder his teammates unanimously voted him the most valuable player?

“I think deep down David wants to prove to everybody that they were wrong and he belongs on this level,” Aztec Coach Al Luginbill said. “And that’s just what he’s doing right now.”

When the Aztecs face Tulsa on Monday in the Freedom Bowl, it will again remind a few folks that they could have had Lowery for their own.

You watching there at Utah and New Mexico? Those were only two schools that passed on Lowery after his record-setting senior season at Trabuco Hills High School.

Those are also two schools that Lowery helped the Aztecs defeat to reach only their second bowl game since 1969. And don’t think he isn’t keeping score.

“I remember the New Mexico coach called and said they wanted to make arrangements for my recruiting visit,” Lowery said. “He never called back. Utah was recruiting me, then they backed out at the last moment. I really enjoyed beating them. Too bad it wasn’t the same coach.”

Getting the idea this might be a personal vendetta? If it is, no Aztec is about to suggest a peaceful solution.

Lowery has thrown for 2,575 yards and 19 touchdowns in eight-plus games. Modest numbers, considering BYU’s Ty Detmer, the 1990 Heisman Trophy winner, was tossing footballs around the Western Athletic Conference.

But the difference in the Aztecs could be seen the moment Lowery took control of the offense. A floundering 2-2 team had found someone to keep it afloat.

“He was exactly what we needed at quarterback,” Luginbill said. “He plays with confidence. He walks with confidence.”

Lowery walked into the starting lineup after the UCLA game and the Aztecs proceeded to win six consecutive games. He even matched Detmer pass-for-pass in a memorable 52-52 tie, which cost the Aztecs the WAC title.

Never mind that or the 39-12 loss to Miami in the season finale. The bottom line is that Lowery pointed the Aztecs in the right direction.

“We needed a leader on the field and David definitely gave us that spark,” offensive lineman Jim Jennings said.

Lowery has been a leader, sometimes instigator, as far back as high school.

“I’ve never seen anyone so totally competitive,” said Trabuco Hills teammate Tim Manning, who now plays at California.

“We’d be sitting around the house and David would say, ‘Let’s call some people up.’ We’d play some tackle basketball. Well, it wouldn’t start out that way, but by the end, it would be tackle basketball. David just wants to win, at anything.”

That trait came in handy his senior season. Lowery passed for 3,325 yards, an Orange County record, and 29 touchdowns in leading Trabuco Hills to a 12-2 record.

Lowery wasn’t one of those lead-by-example guys. He pushed and prodded the Mustangs through the Southern Section Division VIII playoffs. They averaged 42 points and won every game by at least 20.

“I remember after we won the championship, I went looking for David because the bus was about to leave,” said Todd Norman, a teammate at Trabuco Hills. “I found him walking through the school looking for a water fountain. He was crying because he was so happy. I could feel the intensity. That kind of desire impressed me.”

Still, Division I schools stayed away in droves. Trabuco Hills Coach Jim Barnett made a pitch to every college coach he knew, but found no takers.

Lowery attracted interest from some Division II schools and said he was about to go with Idaho State when San Diego State entered the picture. A month later, he signed with the Aztecs.

Of course, that same year, Luginbill also signed Cree Morris, a 6-foot-7 all-everything quarterback from Escondido Orange Glen High School. Lowery, on a good day, stands 6 feet.

The two were brought in to study under Dan McGwire, the Aztecs’ starter the past two seasons. Because Morris was similar in size to the 6-8 McGwire, most felt he would get the job and Lowery would hold a lot of clipboards during the next four years.

Even Lowery saw it that way.

“I guess they just needed another quarterback in case something happened, so they signed me,” Lowery said.

As an insurance policy, Lowery has paid off in a big way.

Last spring, a showdown for the quarterback job was all set. Lowery and Morris, both redshirt sophomores, were to spend spring practice battling for the starting spot.

The smart money was on Morris going into spring practice.

“We always thought a lot of David’s abilities,” said offensive coordinator David Lay, who had been Morris’ coach at Orange Glen. “But at 6 foot, or whatever he is, we just weren’t sure. We tend to like those taller guys.”

Lowery’s chances seemed even slimmer after an incident at a fraternity party. A fight had started outside a party and he and some friends had stepped outside to see what was going on.

The next thing Lowery knew, he was laying in a hospital bed with his broken jaw wired shut.

“I was talking to one of the guys and I got blindsided,” Lowery said. “I never knew why. When they told me in the hospital that I had a broken jaw, tears came into my eyes. I thought I had blown my chance.”

Lowery lost 15 pounds and could only do light workouts the first two weeks of spring practice. However, Luginbill decided to hold off a decision until the fall, partly to give Lowery a chance and partly because neither quarterback looked sharp.

Luginbill postponed naming the starter two more times, then chose Morris--four days before the season opener against Cal State Long Beach.

“It was the toughest decision I’ve ever made,” Luginbill said. “What it comes down to was we were wrong.”

During the third quarter against UCLA, Luginbill realized this. With the Aztecs trailing, 24-0, Lowery, who had thrown all of nine passes in real games during his career, was sent in.

His first act was to tell the offense it was going to score, then follow through on it. UCLA won, but the Aztecs scored two touchdowns, including a 26-yard pass from Lowery to Darnay Scott.

Was Lowery grateful to finally get the chance? Yeah, but . . .

“I was hoping to start the second half that day, but they waited until almost the fourth quarter,” Lowery said. “But I knew I was going to get my shot and I had to make the most of it.”

He did.

The next week he started against Hawaii and completed his first nine passes. The Aztecs led, 33-0, by halftime and won, 47-21.

The next game, five of his passes had been intercepted, but Lowery directed two fourth-quarter scoring drives to clinch a 38-24 victory over New Mexico.

“He really opened things up for us,” wide receiver Patrick Rowe said. “Even if he makes a mistake, he comes right back. If he throws an interception, he’ll come right back with a big play.”

Lowery has ended the questions about his size. Any problems he may have are balanced by his mobility and competitive drive.

“He’s a tough kid, I like that,” Lay said. “I know it’s trendy for quarterbacks to do that little slide before they get hit, but I’m old-fashioned. David goes right at them.”

Such spirit has been contagious.

Against Utah, the Aztecs trailed, 21-10, in the fourth quarter. Lowery guided them on two drives of more than 80 yards. He threw two touchdown passes and ran a two-point conversion in the 24-21 victory.

“You need someone like David at quarterback,” Rowe said. “A guy who’s going to play like a veteran in those critical situations.”

Said defensive back Damon Pieri: “You can just look in his eyes and see the confidence. That wasn’t always the case with Cree.”

That confidence brought the Aztecs to the brink of the WAC championship. They had BYU beaten, leading by 28 points in the second half.

Lowery threw for 568 yards, a school record, and five touchdowns. However, Detmer threw for 599 yards, and the Cougars tied the score with 34 seconds left, sending San Diego State to the Freedom Bowl.

“Watching BYU score and take the championship away is something that will stick in my mind,” Lowery said. “I don’t like being denied a thing.”