Aztecs Enjoy Much Success On the Road : Football: San Diego State will try to maintain that momentum today when it faces Wyoming.

The Western Athletic Conference road has not been long and it has not been winding recently for San Diego State’s football team.

The Aztecs will attempt to win their seventh consecutive conference road game today in Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium at 12:30 p.m.

“We have really stressed road games during the last two years,” SDSU Coach Al Luginbill said. “When you stress something as much as we have. . . . Because of where we’re located and because of where we play, you have to have a year-round mind-set.

“It’s not so much the weather as it is taking it up a notch because you’ve got everything going against you.”

In a 20-13 victory over Colorado State last Saturday, warm-weather SDSU (4-2-1, 4-1) ignored temperatures in the 40s and a strong wind with gusts estimated at 40 m.p.h.

The weather forecast for today in Wyoming calls for temperatures in the 40s with a chance of snow flurries.

The WAC road, though, features more elements than weather. Another important aspect is the altitude. Air Force, Wyoming and Colorado State all are a few thousand feet above sea level.

“We condition very, very hard,” Luginbill said. “It’s much more difficult for a sea-level school such as Fresno State, Hawaii or us to play in the East than for those schools to come west.

“It’s just a tremendous advantage when you have the elements. They practice every day in altitude. When they come here, sea-level doesn’t affect them. Nine times out of 10, they have excellent weather. When we go there, we experience things that we usually don’t get.”

The Aztecs have won seven of their past nine WAC road games dating to 1990, and their two losses came by one point each--to Air Force in 1991, 21-20; and the 1990 debacle in Laramie, 52-51. In that game, the Aztecs set an NCAA record for most points scored by a losing team.

Before that, though, the Aztecs were crushed in a game at Brigham Young in 1990, 62-34.

Luginbill, who took over at SDSU in 1989, said he made a conscious decision to focus on road games after the 1990 disasters at BYU and Wyoming.

“The first two years, it stood out that we were not capable of playing as well as we could on the road,” he said.

“Now, we do everything we can do to remind our kids in the off-season that winning on the road is crucial to us. And until 1991 or 1992, there was much more of a college atmosphere for us on the road than at home.

“As I’ve said from the start, it’s been a total learning process in every aspect of the program here.”

Crucial road victories last season at Hawaii, Texas El Paso and Utah kept the Aztecs in contention for a WAC title until their final conference game against BYU.

Today, the Aztecs face a near must-win situation in their final road game in 1992. They are tied for first with Hawaii, which plays host to Colorado State tonight. If both teams win, it sets up a likely showdown for the WAC title and a $1.5-million Holiday Bowl berth between the Rainbows and Aztecs next Saturday in San Diego.

And Luginbill expects another command road performance today. He promises that the Aztecs will not be looking past Wyoming (4-5, 2-3) toward Hawaii.

“No way,” Luginbill said. “I’d be shocked. We got spanked two weeks ago (by Air Force), and if we’re not focused on Wyoming. . . .

“We haven’t even mentioned Hawaii to the kids. We need to win. I don’t care if it is by one point, if they want to give it to us, forfeit, whatever. We just need a win.”

To get it, the Aztecs will have to overcome the loss of strong safety Chris Johnson (severed arm tendon), defensive end Ramondo Stallings (sprained ankle) and offensive guard Joe Heinz (fractured ankle).

The Aztecs are also without defensive ends Tyrone Morrison and Steve Matuscewicz, both of whom underwent reconstructive knee surgery two weeks ago, and linebacker Terrill Steen (sprained ankle).

“We’ve had kids step in and do fine jobs,” Luginbill said. “If these injuries had happened one or two years ago, we would not be able to be competitive.”

But the Aztecs are deeper now. Redshirt freshman John McCartney will make his first start at strong safety and junior Mark Koenig will replace Heinz. Juniors George Glaze and Turaj Smith will rotate in place of Stallings.

Aside from the back-up troops, the Aztecs need to step up their offense. Although they are averaging 430 yards per game in total offense, they managed only 20 points against Colorado State and had only 17 in a loss the week before against Air Force.

“We’ve had a lot of drops in third-down situations,” Luginbill said. “We’ve been inconsistent offensively, but it’s not like we’re not moving the football.”

Heisman Trophy contender Marshall Faulk is expected back at full strength after a suffering a strained left quadriceps last week against the Rams. Faulk, who had 60 yards in the first half but didn’t carry the ball in the second, also has had a sore left hip.

Wyoming Coach Joe Tiller, though, is equally concerned with Aztec quarterback David Lowery, who passed for 299 yards against Colorado State. Lowery has thrown only two interceptions in his last 171 passes.

“I think the single biggest improvement in their football team is that their quarterback has made a real move,” Tiller said. “Lowery has made a big difference in that team. And the emergence of Darnay Scott is something to behold.”

Scott, with 6.4 catches per game, is rated eighth nationally. Wyoming’s Ryan Yarborough, though, is fourth at 7.2 catches per game. The Cowboys also rank second in the WAC in passing offense (267.2 yards per game) and quarterback Joe Hughes is tied for the best completion percentage (58.9%) among WAC quarterbacks.

Yarborough, though, collected 218 yards receiving against SDSU last season and had an 80-yard touchdown reception in 1990.

“The key is whether we can contain Ryan Yarborough,” Luginbill said. “He’s flat killed us the last two years with runaway days. He does that, we’re in trouble.”

Aztec Notes

Marshall Faulk, who leads the nation in rushing (168.85 yards per game), needs only nine yards to surpass Norm Nygaard’s school career record of 2,619 yards. . . . Wyoming’s Dwight Driver ranks fourth in the conference at 103.5 yards per game. . . . Wyoming is 5-2 against SDSU in Laramie. . . . The Aztecs have not had a turnover in two of their past three games.