AZTECS : Luginbill Has Little Interest in Utah Issue

As San Diego State sat through its second bye week in four weeks, Saturday’s action produced a final that must concern the Aztecs: Utah 38, Hawaii 17.

The Aztecs and Utes, both 2-0, are the only unbeaten Western Athletic Conference teams.

SDSU, trying to get back to the Holiday Bowl for the first time since 1986, can’t prevent Utah from getting the bowl berth if the Utes (4-1 overall) share the WAC title with SDSU.

SDSU and Utah do not meet this season. If tied, the team that last played in the Holiday Bowl must seek another bowl. The Utes have never been to the Holiday Bowl, played at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

SDSU Coach Al Luginbill was visibly disturbed Monday, but not about Utah’s victory or its possible ramifications.

“I’m not even worried about what the other people do in the conference,” he said. “It’s the luck of the draw. We don’t play Utah. We can’t force the issue there.

“For us to even think about that situation now, it takes away from our focus. We’ve got to take care of San Diego State. And the way we practiced today, that’s going to be every difficult to do.”

Luginbill said Monday’s two-hour workout was one of the Aztecs’ worst this year. The problem?

“I don’t know,” Luginbill growled, “but we were terrible. Thank goodness we don’t play today. This football team’s been around long enough to not allow things like this to happen. We cannot waste an opportunity to get better.”

Four teams from the WAC--the Aztecs (29 votes), Air Force (11), Utah (7) and Hawaii (4)--received votes for the Associated Press top-25 poll, though no WAC team has been rated in the top-25 since SDSU dropped out two weeks ago.

“We had our experience with the polls, and it was a very negative experience,” Luginbill said. “Everything we do here seems to be a true learning experience. We, for whatever reason, have to experience everything good and bad before we take the next step.

“Maybe that’s a part of the total rebuilding of a program that had a lot of success at one time and it became habit, and now . . . the tradition is gone. Now you have to establish your own tradition, your type of intensity and what it takes to win each week. To let polls enter into our minds right now would really hurt us.”

The Aztecs’ Oct. 24 home game against Air Force will be telecast by ESPN. Kickoff has been changed from 6:05 to 4:35 p.m. PDT.

Running back Marshall Faulk missed Monday’s practice because of the flu. Trainer Brian Barry said Faulk will be re-evaluated today.

Barry said defensive end Tyrone Morrison, recovering from knee cartilage surgery and trying to comeback and play with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, has looked strong in rehabilitation. Barry said the knee has shown durability in supporting Morrison’s 6-foot-3, 255-pound frame. He is listed week by week.