Big Games Bring Out Best in Aztecs

SAN DIEGO —  Some of the players came up the tunnel in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium in groups, and some came alone. They were shouting and waving, and laughing and grinning.

Outside, the crowd was cheering, the music was playing and the scoreboard read: San Diego State University 27, Brigham Young 15.

Inside, the Aztec victory march continued up the tunnel and into the locker room, and it got louder and louder.

Finally, it was quiet. The door closed, the coach spoke and then the whole place erupted again.

Relief?

Certainly, as well as a lot of elation, a little bit of surprise and even a touch of sadness. And that’s just a start.

It wasn’t just a victory that unfolded in the stadium Saturday night. It was what will be a lifelong memory for SDSU fans, Coach Denny Stolz and 16 seniors who were wearing Aztec black at home for the last time.

The Aztecs entered the game 1-7 overall and 1-4 in the Western Athletic Conference. BYU came to town 7-1 and 4-1 and ranked No. 20 in the nation.

SDSU hadn’t defeated a top-20 team since 1981, when the Aztecs beat Iowa State, then No. 12, 52-31. Never before had SDSU defeated both Air Force and BYU in the same season. So guess who was celebrating late Saturday night? The Aztecs may have only 2 wins this year, but they certainly are big wins. They defeated Air Force, 39-36, Sept. 11.

“This is a huge win,” said senior center Kevin Wells, dragging the word huge over about 4 seconds. “The problem with this team isn’t talent, (rather) it’s coming together. We came together against Air Force and had a hell of a game. And we came together against BYU and dittoed that.”

The question is, if it’s only a matter of coming together, why have the Aztecs been able to do so just twice this fall?

“I don’t know,” Wells said. “I think it has something to do with big games. BYU and Air Force are the 2 teams we’ve always slobbered over to beat.”

Across the locker room, senior cornerback Mario Mitchell was soaking up the rare atmosphere.

“I’m the grandpa,” he said. “I’m a fifth-year senior. I said before the game, ‘Let grandpa get a win over BYU.’ ”

It was a night dedicated to the seniors from start to finish. Mitchell spoke to the defense before the game, imploring them to finish their 1988 home season, and the home career of the seniors, as winners. During the game, the departing seniors’ names were flashed on the scoreboard. And afterward, the teams left the field as Frank Sinatra’s “The Times of Your Life” was piped over the loudspeakers.

“As a senior, you can’t ask for anything more than that,” tight end Kerry Reed-Martin said. “I wanted to stay out there and play some more.”

Instead, Reed-Martin took one last long walk off the field. “I just remember the music playing in the background, something about memories and I remember being sentimental,” Reed-Martin said. “I’ve been here 4 years, including the Holiday Bowl year, and I was thinking of everything I accomplished at SDSU.”

If the 1988 season were a movie, like “Hoosiers,” it would have ended with Saturday night’s fever of excitement. But alas, two scenes remain for the 1988 Aztecs: at Texas-El Paso Saturday and at New Mexico Nov. 19.

Patrick Rowe broke the school record for best kickoff return average in a game by returning 3 kickoffs for 145 yards--including an 82-yard return--a 48.3 average.

“I’d like to give credit to the people up front,” Rowe said of his 82-yard return. “I had a couple of seams to choose from. I picked one and was off to the races.”

Jim Sandusky set the previous standard by averaging 45.3 yards per return against New Mexico in 1983.

Aztec Notes

The Aztecs drew 111,992 fans in 5 home games this year, their worst home attendance since 1983, when they drew 89,743 in 5 home games. It also ranks as the second-worst season in terms of total attendance since the Aztecs moved into San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium in 1967. SDSU’s average of 22,398 per game is its lowest since 1985, when the team averaged 19,485.