1991 SDSU-BYU GAME REVISITED : Tie Still Haunts Aztecs : Football: Contest that helped decide the WAC title remains burned into the minds of the participants.

They will never forget the end.

The quarterback cried his eyes out. The star running back sat on the bench, disbelieving. The senior offensive tackle was angry, as angry as any of his teammates had ever seen him.

San Diego State 52.

Brigham Young 52.

November 16, 1991.

It was the largest crowd to see a home Aztec game--56,737.

Has the dust settled? The San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium grass is still smoking. The computers used that night are probably still burned out. Statisticians that evening should still be on comp time.

SDSU and BYU had a combined 67 first downs, 1,462 total yards and 1,167 total passing yards. There were 33 total points scored in the second quarter alone.

Aztec quarterback David Lowery set a school record with 568 yards passing. But the SDSU defense allowed a school-record 599 yards passing by BYU quarterback Ty Detmer.

Lowery’s 528 yards of total offense was also a school record--but, touche, so was the 767 total yards allowed by the Aztec defense.

Throughout the week, the Aztecs wore T-shirts signifying that the game was for the Western Athletic Conference championship. It was the game of their lives.

By halftime, when they took a 35-17 lead into the locker room, they thought they had it.

“At halftime, a lot of people were going, ‘Yeah, we’ve got ‘em,’ ” Lowery said. “I was like, ‘We’ve got to go play some ball.’ I remember I got mad at someone. Someone said, ‘We’ve got the ring.’ ”

No, they didn’t.

Although the Aztecs increased their lead to 45-17-- four touchdowns --they proceeded to stumble to what is probably their greatest collapse ever.

The epic tie caught even the WAC off-guard. Holiday Bowl officials visited the BYU locker room afterward and extended an official invitation to the Cougars--even though BYU still had to defeat Utah the next evening before winning the conference.

Nine months later--and, ironically, one week after another heartbreaking tie, 31-31 with USC--the Aztecs leave today for Provo, Utah.

They swear that this will be the year they finish off BYU. Privately, they cannot see how the Cougars can come close to matching up with them.

But no matter what happens Thursday night--win, lose or, gasp, tie--the Aztecs will never forget that crisp November night of a year ago.

Memories darken the corners of their minds. Misty, water-colored memories . . .

DAVID LOWERY

Quarterback

Lowery replaced Cree Morris five games into the 1991 season and, going into the BYU game, had guided the Aztecs to a 6-0 record. The most vivid post-game picture was of an inconsolable Lowery on the SDSU bench, wondering where the glory had gone.

“I think the worst feeling I had was watching that pitchout to Jamal Willis and when he ran into the end zone (with the tying touchdown with 30 seconds left). That’s when it hit me. We had it won.

“What are there, 60 minutes in a game? And we were leading for 58? When I saw him running across that goal line . . . it was horrible.

“I tried to hold it back and I couldn’t . . . .

“I can’t remember who I was with, but I was holding someone’s hand when they kicked the (final) extra point. I didn’t even watch the extra point.”

DARNAY SCOTT

Wide receiver

Scott, the sprinter from Kearny High, mesmerized people by catching a 75-yard touchdown pass on SDSU’s first play. Then, in the second quarter, he caught a 79-yard touchdown pass. Running rampant through the BYU secondary, he caught eight passes for 243 yards. The downside: He also set a school record with seven kickoff returns.

“The first play, (the coaches) just called the play for me and I went down and did what I had to do.

“I got nervous because I wasn’t a starter and it was my first game starting. It made me nervous because everybody was looking at me. But when I caught it, I was like, ‘Ain’t nobody going to catch me.’ ”

BARRY LAMB

Defensive coordinator

After some respectable--but not great--performances early in the season, BYU arrived in the midst of an Aztec defensive collapse. By the time 1991 was finished, the Aztecs were 103rd in the nation in total defense. Lamb, normally very cooperative, still cannot bear to talk about the 1991 BYU game.

“Nothing. It’s all a blur. Next question.

“I don’t want to talk about last year. It’s irrelevant now.”

CURTIS JOHNSON

Receivers coach

Johnson, the chief recruiter of Marshall Faulk, views each game from the press box. There, in the SDSU coaches’ booth, he wears a headset and is in communication with the Aztec bench. In San Diego, the SDSU and opponents’ coaching boxes are positioned where the each team’s coaches can see the other’s.

“I remember the first play, Darnay scoring that long touchdown. We could see the other coaches, and it seemed like every time we would score, they would score.

“The BYU coaches would look at us like, ‘What are you going to do next?’ Then we’d look at them like, ‘Now it’s your turn.’

“There were some great performances. Darnay, Marshall, Patrick (Rowe), Ty Detmer . . . .”

JOE HEINZ

Offensive lineman

After sitting out SDSU’s opener against Cal State Long Beach least season, Heinz started each of the next 12 games. He has seen the Faulk phenomenon unfold, he has seen a near-miss against then No. 1 Miami two years ago ... he has still not seen a crucial victory.

“Everything we were playing for, the Holiday Bowl, to play in a bowl at home, practice in our own facility . . . . After we lost, it was like, ‘Oh, man, everything we were striving for is down the toilet.’

“Not that the Freedom Bowl was the toilet. It’s just that, everything we were shooting for was lost. I remember I had a hard time sleeping that night.

“We’ve got to make sure we don’t let it slip away this year.”

BRIAN BARRY

Trainer

Barry was in his sixth season at SDSU last fall. He was an assistant trainer in 1986, when the Aztecs won the WAC and made their only Holiday Bowl appearance. He was planning on another.

“I remember the disappointment for myself and my staff in not winning the conference, going through plans in my head for staying at home for the Holiday Bowl . . . . How exciting it was going to be and how neat it would be for my staff, who had worked their tails off--and then to have it dissolve in front of us. That was the biggest disappointment . . . .

“I still think about it. It still makes me mad. I remember David (Lowery) looking like his dog had just been shot, and (senior offensive lineman) Jim Jennings’ rage. He was furious. He turned about as red as you can be. I thought he was going to explode.

“Another thing I remember is BYU cheering about a tie. That absolutely blows me away.”

DAMON PIERI

Defensive back

SDSU’s defensive leader in 1991, Pieri was an all-WAC defensive back. The play that he remembers most was BYU running back Mark Atuaia catching a wide-open four-yard touchdown pass with 6:19 left to play. It cut SDSU’s lead to 52-45.

“Two plays in a row, late in the fourth quarter, we misaligned defensively. We didn’t get the proper strength call on defense. The whole defense was lined up wrong--the defensive line, the linebackers, the cornerbacks. Everybody was confused.

“I realized (the misalignment) too late. We were in man-to-man coverage and we had two men on one guy and left one guy wide open. He was the guy who scored.”

JASON SAVORN

Punter

Only a few people get to play in championship games, and that has been ingrained into Savorn, the SDSU starting punter in each of the past two seasons, this year. As the final seconds ticked away last November, he had no idea that Scott Oatsvall would beat him out for the punter’s job this season.

“I could see my girlfriend sitting there in the stands. She was kind of far away. When we were ahead, I was thinking, ‘My gosh, we’re going to win the WAC.’ I was envisioning the ring.

“Then things started to deteriorate. She was my anchor. I was like, ‘Let me tap my shoes; I want to get out of here.’ ”

WAYNE PITTMAN

Running back

With Marshall Faulk in a one-back backfield, Pittman, from Mira Mesa High, had to wait his turn. Pittman was a true freshman in 1991 and, when Faulk missed three games with injuries, Pittman stepped in and ran for more than 140 yards in each. His biggest memory of the BYU game? It wasn’t carrying the ball 14 times for 49 yards. It was watching Earl Kauffman’s conversion kick with 30 seconds left to tie the game.

“I was on the sideline, sitting next to Marshall, Darnay and Keith (Williams). I saw the ball go up and I saw the ball go through, and our heads just dropped. I don’t think anything was said. There were no words. I sat there for a little while and just walked on in.”

CARLSON LEOMITI

Offensive lineman

Leomiti sprained an ankle at mid-season and missed two games. By the BYU game, he was back at full strength. He spent the season opening holes for Faulk. About midnight on Nov. 16, he was looking for one to crawl into.

“When we first got into the locker room (afterward), it was real quiet, like somebody had died. Coach Luginbill walked in and told us we still had a game to play (Miami)--and a bowl game.

“I was crying. This was important to me and a lot of guys--especially the seniors. I went around to all of the seniors and talked to them. I told them I was sorry. I felt I let them down. They were all in tears, too.

“I was real close to (former center) Kevin Macon. He was the first guy I went up to. I went up and gave him a hug and said, ‘I’m sorry, bro.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ It was very emotional.”

AL LUGINBILL

Coach

He still has never defeated BYU--his SDSU teams are 0-2-1 against the Cougars. He started preaching “Mental Toughness” to the Aztecs last spring, partly as a result of the BYU game, and it is a theme that is constantly talked about to this day by Aztec coaches.

“There’s a certain maturity, a look back, that BYU had and we didn’t. We had a letdown. It was an absolute nightmare . . . .

“We had a 28-point lead and the football. The team should have had the personality in that game to close the door. We not only didn’t close the door, we broke the hinges opening it up . . .

“There was just total humiliation and embarrassment. I remember that empty feeling we had in the locker room.

“That feeling drives me harder than any other I’ve ever had. I’ve never felt so helpless.”