Ordeal Ends Happily for San Diego State’s Oatsvall : College football: Doctors find nothing wrong with Aztec punter, who collapsed on sideline Saturday and stopped breathing.

They gave him cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the San Diego State sidelines, transported him to Mercy Hospital via LifeFlight, and it was one of the scariest 24-hour periods of Scott Oatsvall’s life.

Yet Oatsvall, SDSU’s punter, remembers very little of it. Oatsvall, who collapsed on the sidelines and did not breathe for two minutes during SDSU’s 52-28 victory over Hawaii on Saturday, was released from the hospital Sunday morning after doctors could find nothing wrong.

According to SDSU trainer Brian Barry, an unusual chain of events conspired against Oatsvall: Back spasms tightened his diaphragm, which caused him to stop breathing.

By Sunday evening, the Aztecs were in position to win the Western Athletic Conference championship with a victory over Fresno State but, more importantly, their punter was safe.

Oatsvall spent the evening at home with his wife, Gwen, taking medication and taking telephone calls, attempting to resume a normal life.

“I don’t remember any of it,” Oatsvall said. “I feel fine. Listening to the doctors (Saturday) night, I cannot believe they were talking about me.

“They were telling me the events that had happened to me and if nobody had told me that they were talking about me I would have thought it was someone else.”

According Barry, Oatsvall collapsed on the Aztec sideline with three minutes to play. Barry said a team physician administered CPR and that Oatsvall regained consciousness.

A CAT-scan taken late Saturday night revealed nothing abnormal. Other tests checked out OK and Oatsvall was sent home.

“I had felt back pain before the game,” Oatsvall said. “And then my stomach started cramping up. I should probably have taken myself out of the game.

“Throughout the game, my stomach started cramping up worse.”

A teammate said that Oatsvall complained to him at halftime of stomach pain, and the player said he thought Oatsvall was simply ill.

“It was a real freak thing,” Barry said. “Thank goodness that we had everything there and everyone moved the way they did.”

Said Oatsvall: “It was just a freak type of accident. The bottom line is, I’m fine. They don’t anticipate this happening again.”

Oatsvall, a senior, punted three times Saturday night for an average of 30.3 yards. Oatsvall, an El Camino High graduate who walked onto the SDSU team last season, is averaging 38.5 yards per kick.

Oatsvall said the fright didn’t catch up to him until after it was all over.

“Once you look back at it, it is scary,” Oatsvall said. “You realize how perishable life can be. My wife had to go through most of it. I just have to give (credit) to the trainers and the people who were there for her and rallied around her and rode with her to the hospital.

“I couldn’t ask anything more. Brian and the trainers did wonders for her.”

SDSU Coach Al Luginbill expects Oatsvall to punt Saturday as the Aztecs aim for their second WAC title.

“I sure hope I can,” Oatsvall said.

For one night, though, football was in the back of his mind. On his first night at home since Thursday--SDSU stays in a hotel Friday nights before games--Oatsvall was attempting to settle down and have a quiet evening with his wife.

“Just rest and relax and enjoy each other,” he said. “That’s the most important part.”

Aztec Notes

According to trainer Brian Barry, defensive end Turaj Smith (dislocated toe) is doubtful for Saturday’s game against Fresno State and defensive lineman Ramondo Stallings (ankle) and linebacker Terrill Steen (knee) are probable. . . . ABC will televise Saturday’s SDSU-Fresno State game, so kickoff has been moved up to 12:30 p.m. The Aztecs are 0-2-1 on ABC this fall. . . . Marshall Faulk continues to lead the nation in rushing with an average of 178.78 yards per game. He is second in all-purpose rushing at 193.0 yards per game. And in scoring, his is fourth with an average of 9.56 points per game. . . . Faulk’s 300-yard rushing game against Hawaii on Saturday is the best single-game total this season in Division I-A.

* HOLIDAY BOWL

Bowl officials announced they would take one of three teams from the Big Ten: Michigan State, Iowa or Illinois. C13