Gutierrez’s Career Took Wing in Air Force Game

San Diego State’s Tim Gutierrez thought he was a jinxed player. Each time an opportunity came his way, it seemed sudden misfortune visited the quarterback from Santa Clara High.

But this year when the door opened again for Gutierrez, he kicked it down.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound backup replaced injured David Lowery and led a comeback victory at Air Force early in the season, claiming the starting job. He finished with 3,033 yards and 24 touchdowns passing.

“I was fortunate,” said Gutierrez, a junior. “The Lord blessed me for that (Air Force game) and the rest of the season.”

Gutierrez, who was benched moments before he was expected to start against UCLA in 1992, then suffered a back injury this spring as he made another strong bid for the starting job, now appears to be navigating smoothly through two turbulent weeks at San Diego State.

The Aztecs lost their best offensive player on Tuesday when running back Marshall Faulk, the Heisman Trophy favorite through much of the 1992 season, announced his intention to make himself available for the NFL draft. Faulk’s departure followed last week’s firing of Coach Al Luginbill and the hiring of former USC Coach Ted Tollner.

“I’m not sure about the (rest of the) team, but I feel partly accountable for (Luginbill’s firing),” Gutierrez said. “We didn’t execute at times and we fell short of our goals. Offensively, we felt we could move the ball at any time--and we did when we had to. But our defense struggled late in games. It wasn’t a lack of effort. They were just outexecuted and they lost their composure at times.”

Gutierrez, who completed 61% of his passes and was ranked No. 11 in the NCAA in passing efficiency after waiting in the wings, is confident he’ll uphold his end of the burden next year.

“For two years I questioned my ability,” he said. “But then I realized, ‘Hey, I can play this game.’ I’ve played quarterback since I was 9 years old. This wasn’t anything new to me. Just a different level.”

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More football: Fullback Jamal Anderson (El Camino Real) of Utah and tackle Todd Steussie (Agoura) of California were named to the 36-member West team for the 69th East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 15 at Stanford Stadium. . . .

LaKarlos Townsend (San Fernando) rushed for 553 yards in 126 carries and had the longest run from scrimmage (30 yards) this season at Ohio University.

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Checking the fax: This is how Pepperdine’s Dana Jones (North Hollywood) opened the 1993-94 season against San Francisco State: 21 points, 10 rebounds. Jones, the reigning West Coast Conference player of the year, had 14 double-doubles last season. . . .

Reggie Bell (College of the Canyons) is averaging 21.7 points through four games for Quincy University. . . . Point guard Tim Sebek (Nordhoff) is averaging nine points and six rebounds per game for Azusa Pacific, ranked seventh in the nation in NAIA Division I. . . .

Point guard Eddie Hill (Cleveland) was the only Washington State player to score in double figures in all three games of a tournament last weekend. He is shooting 44.4% from the field, but Coach Kelvin Sampson said, “I’m finally getting him to understand that he doesn’t need to shoot well to play well.”. . .

In women’s basketball, sophomore point guard Anjanette Dionne (Hart) is averaging nine points and five assists and is shooting 46.2% from the field for Oregon State. . . . Junior guard Jacinda Sweet (North Hollywood) is averaging 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds for Arizona (4-0). . . .

Freshman guard Suzi Shimoyama (North Hollywood), who missed last season with reconstructive knee surgery, has five points, five assists and two steals in 19 minutes so far for Cal.