WAC Checking Luginbill’s Call : Football: Representatives are looking at game film to determine if SDSU coach has a legitimate complaint.

While San Diego State Coach Al Luginbill will focus on getting his struggling offense back on track against Colorado State, John Adams, Western Athletic Conference supervisor of officials, will fix his eyes on the tape of SDSU’s 20-17 loss to Air Force Saturday.

Adams said he will determine whether Luginbill was correct in saying the officiating crew muffed three crucial calls. He will also decide whether a reprimand is justified after the coach offered candid criticism of the WAC crew’s competence.

Luginbill said the officials did a poor job selling two of the calls--one, an apparent fumble by the Falcons at the SDSU three-yard line, the other for interfering with a punt returner’s ability to catch the ball. But he went further, calling the crew “blatantly incompetent.”

“I have not talked to (commissioner Joe Kearney), and I’ve not seen the tape of the game,” said Adams, who watched from the press box at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium Saturday. “I couldn’t tell from the press box whether they were the right calls or not.”

“I think it’s an absolute shame that we cannot get people to be competent enough in the officiating area to make the obvious correct calls,” Luginbill told the Times Sunday.

Luginbill made several remarks after dissecting the game film and said he wouldn’t be surprised Adams reprimands him for his statements. He said the criticism was necessary for the sake of change.

Luginbill said the officials deserve as much criticism as players and coaches. Players can be benched and coaches fired, but “if an official is incompetent, he shows up next week and gets a paycheck.”

The coach also said he advocated reform in the areas of training and discipline for consistently poor work. Adams said some of Luginbill’s comments were read to him over the phone.

“(Public criticism of officials) is not one of my favorite things,” said Adams. “(But) it would not be appropriate to say anything until I meet with the commissioner and prepare a joint statement.”

Luginbill wasn’t blaming the officials for the upset loss; he wasn’t blaming anybody. Only bad fortune. In fact, the coach who vowed to take the Aztecs to a new level suggested outside expectations have become too high.

“There was nothing wrong with our effort level,” he said. “The team played hard. “Everything that Air Force needed to do, it did. Sometimes it’s not meant to be. Maybe I see it differently than everybody else.

“We’re going to have to get used to the fact that we’ve got the total respect of every football team in this league. We’ve gone through temporary setbacks before. We’ll have to see how we respond. The coaches have got to learn to coach better . . . everybody’s going to have to take it to a different level in this program. All of a sudden, there’s an expectation that San Diego State is a super power.”

Aztec trainer Brian Barry said linebacker Terrill Steen’s sprained knee is “responding remarkably well.” He will miss the Colorado State game and be listed as day-to-day thereafter. Running back Marshall Faulk said his sore hip felt better than a week ago--despite having it X-rayed after Saturday’s game. Receivers Jake Nyberg (groin) and Will Tate (knee, hamstring, and who has yet to play this season) have been cleared to play.