COLLEGE FOOTBALL : DAILY REPORT : SAN DIEGO STATE : Lowery’s Back Condition Improves

San Diego State quarterback David Lowery was listed as probable to start Saturday’s game against UCLA at the Rose Bowl. But Lowery said Wednesday he is nowhere near 100% because of an ailing back.

Lowery, who has not practiced since last Thursday and has been out with back spasms and a lower-back strain, has been cleared to play by trainer Brian Barry if he continues to progress and experiences no setbacks.

“I’m day to day; I can’t make any guarantees,” said Lowery, who passed the football Wednesday for the first time since the spasms began Friday. He threw 45 passes at distances of five to 20 yards.

“I wasn’t on medication; they wanted to see how (the back) felt,” Lowery said. “It was really tight. I could go through my full motion, but there was a little bit of pain.”

Lowery had an electrical device that reduces pain attached to his waist Wednesday, and he has worn a back brace in classes. Barry and assistant Russ Romano said they were impressed with the crispness and zip on Lowery’s passes.

“He had excellent motion,” Barry said. “Right now, all the diagnoses are limited to pain. Maybe (today) we’ll do some stuff as far as functional mechanics. We’ll work on some snaps, handoffs, longer passes. If he has no setbacks, then we’re OK for Saturday.”

Lowery said all of his movements Wednesday were in slow motion, that if he had thrown his passes with the explosion that he does in games, he would probably have collapsed in pain.

“It’s fine just doing it all slow motion, but when I go full speed, that’s when its . . . whew ,” Lowery said, wincing.

Coach Al Luginbill deferred all questions about Lowery to Barry, but said, “Right now, I’m not sure who will be quarterback Saturday. But I know (backup Tim Gutierrez) is ready to play.”

Lowery’s injury stems from a helmet blow to the back in the USC game. The Aztecs are 7-2-2 since Lowery, the 1991 team MVP, has become a starter. Lowery has helped SDSU (1-0-1) to a No. 21 ranking in the Associated Press poll.

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SDSU Athletic Director Fred Miller said he has changed the school policy on postgame interviews in the locker room. SDSU will have a separate room for interviews and no reporters will be admitted into the locker room. Miller said the small facility at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium made it impossible to put up a partition between showers and lockers.

“Logistically, at our home stadium, you can’t do it,” he said. “We can’t have female reporters invading the male locker room because of the traffic patterns.”