AZTEC UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : Six Texas El Paso Players, Including Three Starters, Suspended for Game

Texas El Paso, already 0-5, will be reeling even further for Saturday night’s game against San Diego State because of the suspensions of six players.

The players, including all-Western Athletic Conference defensive end Ricky Massey, starting fullback Patrick Bailey and starting defensive back Greg Shead, were caught after sneaking out of the team hotel the night before last weekend’s 42-24 loss at Colorado State.

“My understanding is that they were at a party the night before the Colorado State game and (the coaches) didn’t find out about it until the early part of the week,” SDSU Coach Al Luginbill said.”Then, it took a while to find out who it was.”

Also suspended for Saturday’s game were fullback Darryl Phillips and defensive backs Craig Pringle and Dwight Conley.

Saturday’s game marks the first meeting in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium between Luginbill and UTEP Coach David Lee since they nearly came to blows after the game two years ago.

The incident started when Lee became infuriated that the Aztecs passed to Patrick Rowe near the end of a 58-31 rout. Rowe, then close to setting the NCAA record with 100 or more receiving yards in nine consecutive games, needed a handful of yards to continue the string.

Lee screamed at Luginbill afterward and the two nearly fought. Lee later sent Luginbill a letter of apology and Luginbill telephoned him upon receiving it.

“Except for that one time, I don’t think our relationship has ever been anything but excellent,” Luginbill said.”That’s something you look back on and it should never have happened.”

Defensive lineman George Glaze and defensive coordinator Barry Lamb returned to practice on Thursday after bouts with the flu. Glaze missed Tuesday and Wednesday practices; Lamb missed Wednesday. Both will be ready for Saturday’s game.