Luginbill Adds a Kicker to Roster for BYU Game : College football: Freshman Holt is on travel squad after Trakas’ performance against USC.

SAN DIEGO —  Saying he is “not in the business of destroying young men” but also realizing that he needs a clutch kicker, Coach Al Luginbill has placed freshman kicker Peter Holt on the travel squad for San Diego State’s Western Athletic Conference showdown Thursday at Brigham Young.

Luginbill, still stinging from Saturday’s 31-31 tie with USC, said Sunday he is undecided if he will replace Andy Trakas in the BYU game.

“I just need to see how this week goes,” Luginbill said. “Peter definitely will go to BYU. Whether we use Peter or not remains to be seen.

“It was the first game of the season, so I don’t want to panic.”

Trakas, SDSU’s all-time leading scorer and third on the all-time WAC list, was wide left on a 30-yard attempt with 58 seconds remaining and the score tied, 31-31. He got another chance with 3 seconds left, but his 55-yard attempt was wide right.

Holt, who made seven of 15 field goals last season for Antelope Valley High, learned Sunday afternoon that he would go to BYU.

“Yeah, it surprised me, it really did,” Holt said. “It was originally planned that I would redshirt this year, only go to home games and provide Andy pressure (in practice).”

Holt has been told to concentrate “from 35 yards in” this week.

“I’m anxious,” Holt said. “If coach puts me in, I’ll do my best. I’m still behind Andy all the way. Things like this happen, and you have to overcome them.”

Though five of Trakas’ six kickoffs could not be returned in the USC game, it appears Luginbill’s patience may be wearing thin.

Although the USC game was the first in which Trakas has attempted a final-minute field goal with the game in question, it was not the first time the senior from Patrick Henry High has disappointed the Aztecs.

Two seasons ago, during SDSU’s 30-28 loss to then-No. 1 Miami, Trakas failed on three fourth-quarter field goal attempts.

Last September, during a 21-20 loss at Air Force, Trakas missed a conversion kick in the fourth quarter.

And last November, during the 52-52 BYU tie, Trakas missed a 41-yard field goal attempts with less than three minutes remaining. They would have put the Aztecs ahead by 10, 55-45.

Holt, who has yet to attempt a college kick, made a 27-yard, overtime field goal to lift Antelope Valley to a 17-14 victory over La Puente Bishop Amat in the Southern Section CIF playoffs last fall.

SDSU coaches have not placed the entire blame for Saturday’s result on Trakas. During film sessions Sunday, in which each player is graded, they docked long snapper Thomas Fletcher two points for a low snap on Trakas’ 30-yard attempt.

“It was low,” Fletcher agreed. “I’m sure it made him take an extra step.”

Luginbill said he sympathizes with the frustration of SDSU followers and said he probably will not decide whether to use Holt until game-time.

“I understand the mentality out there right now,” he said. “It’s a Catch-22 situation. Andy is either a hero or a goat. Right now, he’s a goat. . . .

“I’ve heard all of the explanations of the Miami game, the BYU game and now this. I have ears. But I’m also not in the business of destroying young men.”

Trakas was emotional Sunday as he talked about the game.

“For awhile (Sunday), I was kind of pinching myself to see if it was a bad dream,” Trakas said.

After practice Sunday, Luginbill told Trakas of Holt’s addition.

“If I was the coach in that situation, I’d probably take two kickers, also, after what happened in the (USC) game,” said Trakas. “I just have to worry about what I have to do.

“If I worry about who goes where, that’s not going to help me out at all.”

*

A depressed Marshall Faulk re-emerged after Sunday evening practice. Faulk, who rushed for 220 yards Saturday, left before talking with reporters after the game.

“I just didn’t feel like talking about the game,” Faulk said. “It happened and it’s gone.

“I had a lot of things running through my mind.”

Faulk, whose mother was in the stands for the first time in his college career, said his own performance was tempered by what felt like a loss.

“It doesn’t really matter,” Faulk said when asked to assess the third game in which he has run for more than 200 yards. “We tied.”

Aztec Notes

Aztec trainer Brian Barry said there were no injuries. The Aztecs are listing H-back Will Tate, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last month for a torn cartilage, as questionable. . . . BYU had no major injuries during its 38-28 victory Saturday over Texas El Paso. . . . A BYU spokesman said the Cougars did not practice Sunday. They had returned from UTEP at 2 a.m. Sunday.