S.D. State’s Gutierrez Stoic Despite Not Starting

Give Tim Gutierrez credit. He can take a good shot to the stomach.

With San Diego State quarterback David Lowery missing the entire week of practice because of an injured back last week, Gutierrez, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound backup, was being groomed to start last Saturday in the Aztecs’ game against UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

After SDSU coaches gave him every indication that he would get the call, Gutierrez scraped together more than 50 tickets for his friends, relatives and Larry Lawrence, his former coach at Santa Clara High.

But Saturday, as the sophomore from Oxnard was zipping passes into the north end zone during pregame warm-ups and mentally preparing for his first start, Coach Al Luginbill told him that Lowery would get the nod.

Like a good backup, Gutierrez held his emotions in check. “Before the game, David said, ‘I don’t know if I can make it through the whole game,’ ” Gutierrez said. “I gave him a big hug and said, ‘Let’s try to win this thing together.’ ”

Gutierrez was recruited by SDSU after crafting the ninth most productive high school career in the nation. In three years at Santa Clara, he passed for 7,272 yards. He threw for 18 touchdowns as a senior.

Was this a vote of no confidence?

“You really don’t think about that,” Gutierrez said. “I’m a competitor and it’s hard going in there with the mind-set that you’re going to start (and then not starting).”

Frank Gutierrez, 32, himself a former Santa Clara quarterback, watched intently from the north end zone and finally saw his brother enter the game with 11 minutes 2 seconds remaining and SDSU trailing, 21-0. By then, he had formed his own opinion. “I feel they didn’t have confidence in Tim,” he said. “We were pumped that he finally came in. He moved the ball.”

Lowery, a junior, completed seven of 19 passes for 102 yards in a game the Aztecs eventually lost, 35-7. He got to his feet gingerly after being hit by UCLA rushers, and his sideline passes sometimes weren’t strong enough to reach his receivers. Lowery might have looked good in warm-ups, but he was not in top shape.

Gutierrez took 15 snaps and completed three of eight passes for 40 yards. The first play will be memorable for the 21-year-old who grew up dreaming of playing in the Rose Bowl. He handed off to Marshall Faulk, who bolted 46 yards through a gaping hole for the Aztecs’ only touchdown.

Gutierrez nearly engineered another 46-yard scoring drive but the clock expired with Gutierrez hurrying the Aztecs into formation at the UCLA two-yard line. He had completed a 20-yard pass to Jake Nyberg two downs earlier.

“I was feeling great at the end of the game,” Gutierrez said. “The offense was clicking. I felt I was seeing the field like I was taught to.”

Instead of complaining, Gutierrez talked as though he was happy simply to finish the game.

“I’m disappointed,” he said. “I was anxious to run this offense. But Lowery is our team MVP. If I was the coach, I would have made the same decision.”