McGwire’s Run Wins for Aztecs : Aztecs: It was a crazy game in which quarterback Dan McGwire turned over everything to Texas El Paso . . . but victory.

EL PASO, Tex. — For San Diego State quarterback Dan McGwire, one hard-earned half-yard made up for all his mistakes.

His fourth-quarter touchdown sneak provided the winning points Saturday night as San Diego State defeated Texas El Paso, 34-31, in a Western Athletic Conference game in front of 17,070 at the Sun Bowl.

The touchdown was the final touch on a comeback that gave the Aztecs (4-3-1, 2-2 in the WAC) their third consecutive victory, fourth in their past five games and pushed them over the .500 mark for the first time since their 1986 WAC championship season.

Those kind of accomplishments helped take the bite out of what was a potentially disastrous performance by McGwire.

McGwire, who entered the game having thrown eight interceptions in seven games, was picked off six times by the Miners, three times by linebacker Ken Sale.

“I just stunk up the place,” McGwire said. “That was my worst game ever.”

He only has Mark Halda to thank for avoiding a dubious place in the Aztec record book. Seven of Halda’s passes were intercepted in a 45-14 season-opening loss to Missouri in 1979.

But when McGwire looks back on this game, he said, it will be thrusting the ball over that final 18 inches of artificial turf he will remember, not the interceptions.

“I didn’t get my chest across, but I got the ball across,” McGwire said. “I’ll definitely think about that touchdown. That won us the game.”

Not to say the interceptions had no impact--they helped account for three UTEP touchdowns--it is just that when a team wins, the big mistakes do not hurt so bad.

“It feels great to win,” McGwire said. “That’s what counts.”

McGwire had plenty of teammates to thank for that, starting with running back Darrin Wagner.

Wagner, who missed the team flight Friday morning and did not arrive in El Paso until 6 1/2 hours before kickoff, ran for a career-high 194 yards and one touchdown on 27 carries. He also had a lost fumble, which combined with McGwire’s interceptions, gave the Aztecs seven turnovers, their most since making nine in a 28-0 loss to Cal in 1982.

But this was a game in which everyone’s sins were washed away. And the heartiest congratulations might have been saved for the much-maligned Aztec defense. For the first time this year, they stopped an opponent with the game in the balance.

The defense forced the Miners (2-7, 1-4) into a game-tying 58-yard field goal attempt by Dominick Cefalone that landed well short with 1:44 to play. Miner Coach David Lee elected to try for the field goal on fourth-and-six from the SDSU 41 rather than test the stamina of quarterback Howard Gasser, who had been sent to the sideline three plays earlier after he injured his knee on a hit by safety Morey Paul.

“They were screaming for a face mask,” Paul said “But it was a good, clean hit. It felt great for the defense to finally rise up and stop somebody.”

McGwire had to be especially pleased at the result because it was his sixth interception that put the Aztecs in that predicament.

But this was one of those games in which for every mistake their was a countering hero.

“We have some kids that will flat compete,” SDSU Coach Al Luginbill said. “I can’t say enough for our defense. I know we don’t have (statistics) to show for it, but those young men came up big.”

That the the Aztecs led at the half, 24-21, after trailing, 21-7, was the most improbable statistic of the night. And that is saying a lot for such a crazy game.

Consider the first-half madness alone. There were seven interceptions thrown, a blocked punt by SDSU nickel back John Wessleman and a blocked field goal by SDSU senior defensive tackle Brad Burton, his third of the season and fourth of his career.

Gasser, who entered the game with a conference high 15 interceptions, threw three in the second quarter and the first two led to Aztec scores.

McGwire, who entered the game averaging an interception every 33.5 passes, a conference-low, threw four in the first half. That was twice as many as he had thrown in any of the first seven games. Three of them came in a 2:28 span midway through the first quarter.

The first were by Sale and led to Miner touchdowns. Sale did all the work on the first one, returning McGwire’s pass intended for Robert Claiborne 27 yards for a touchdown to give UTEP a 14-7 lead with 8:38 left in the first quarter. The interception came less than a minute after UTEP had tied the game on Gasser’s 62-yard scoring pass to split end Reggie Barrett.

Sale made his second interception on the next series when he came down with a McGwire pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Two plays later, Barrett scored his second touchdown on a 45-yard pass play from Gasser for a 21-7 lead.

That was the Aztecs’ worst first-quarter deficit since they trailed by the same score in a season-opening, 52-36, loss at Air Force. But unlike that game, the Aztecs mounted their comeback early enough for it to matter.

The Aztecs cut the lead to 21-14 on McGwire’s nine-yard touchdown pass to Claiborne with 13:54 left in the half. Then it was time for Gasser to return the favor.

The first two interceptions he threw led to 10 SDSU points. Senior cornerback Clark Moses, who had been beaten by Barrett on his first touchdown, came back to intercept a Gasser pass and return it 23 yards to the UTEP 22. That set up a 35-yard field goal by Andy Trakas to bring the Aztecs to within, 21-17, with 11:59 left in the half.

Seven minutes later, senior cornerback Kevin Drayton made the second interception of a Gasser pass and returned it 28 yards to the UTEP 40. Eight plays later, Wagner ran over from five yards for his team-high 11th touchdown to give the Aztecs a, 24-21, lead at 2:08.

But the comeback was quickly wasted in the second half as McGwire picked up where he left off. His first pass of the third quarter turned into the third interception by Sale. This time the Miners took over at the SDSU 17 and needed seven plays to score the go-ahead touchdown on tailback Larry Sims’ one-yard run on fourth down.

The UTEP lead remained at four points (31-27) as teams exchanged field goals. The Aztecs scored first on Trakas’ 44-yarder before Cefalone kicked a 25-yarder 17 seconds into the final period.

That set up the scene for McGwire’s drive of redemption.

Aztec Notes

Senior wide receiver Monty Gilbreath extended his school-record streak of consecutive games in which he has caught at least one pass to 33. Gilbreath, playing despite a pulled groin, had five receptions for 61 yards. That gave him 2,001 career receiving yards, moving him past Darius Durham (1979-82) and Tom Reynolds (1969-71), and into fifth place on the school’s all-time list. Durham and Reynolds had been tied for fifth with 1,988 yards. . . . Milt Maples and Derrick Williams started in place of Todd Coomes (knee) and Steve Matuszewicz (groin). The start was the first for Maples, a senior from Albany, Ga. . . . The Aztecs play three of their remaining four games at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, starting Saturday with a Western Athletic Conference game against last-place New Mexico (1-8, 0-5 in WAC). The Aztecs finish with WAC home games against Wyoming November 11 and Brigham Young November 25 sandwiched between a nonconference game at No. 2 Miami November 18.