WESTERN ATHLETIC ROUNDUP : Even Injured, Faulk Helps San Diego State

Chalk up another achievement for Marshall Faulk: Even injured, he becomes the most effective decoy in college football.

Faulk, the San Diego State sophomore who leads the nation in rushing, strained his left quadriceps muscle late in the first half and didn’t carry the ball again, making only a half-dozen cameo appearances in the second half. Faulk, who came into the game averaging 187 yards per game, managed only 60 yards in 18 carries.

But his presence demanded respect from the defense and enabled the Aztecs to be effective through the air as David Lowery threw a pair of touchdown passes in a 20-13 victory over Colorado State Saturday at Ft. Collins, Colo.

“I could have played (in the second half), but I would have been half-speed and I felt like with Wayne (backup Wayne Pittman) in there at least we had someone at 100%,” Faulk said. “I felt like I’d be hurting the team.”

Without their main weapon, the Aztecs reverted to their passing game in the second half. Lowery’s 55-yard pass play to Curtis Shearer for a third-quarter touchdown proved to be the clincher.

After that, the Aztecs, 4-2-1 overall and 4-1 in the Western Athletic Conference, withstood two scoring threats by Colorado State (3-6, 2-4), which lost at home for the fourth time this season.

Hawaii 41, Texas El Paso 21--Michael Carter passed for two touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Rainbows to a WAC victory over the Miners at El Paso.

The Rainbows (7-1, 4-1) rolled up 637 yards, including Travis Sims’ 202 yards rushing in 28 carries, as they moved within one victory of earning an invitation to the Aloha Bowl.

Hawaii led, 24-0, before the Miners (1-7, 1-5) scored on Shawn Gray’s 21-yard pass play to Patrick Bailey in the second quarter.

Fresno State 42, Wyoming 31--Trent Dilfer, who completed 19 of 30 passes for 282 yards, threw for two first-quarter scores as the Bulldogs beat the Cowboys in a WAC game at Fresno.

Dilfer’s first pass, to former Carson High star Michael Ross, went for 52 yards and a touchdown and he later teamed with Malcolm Seaborn on a 27-yard touchdown pass play as the Bulldogs (5-4, 3-2) went ahead, 28-0.

The Cowboys (4-5, 2-3) rallied to get within 28-25 before the Bulldogs, getting two fourth-quarter touchdown runs from Anthony Daigle, pulled away.

Utah 20, Air Force 13--With starting quarterback Frank Dolce on the bench with an injury, the Utes used their ground game and a pair of field goals to beat the Falcons at Air Force Academy, Colo.

Utah (5-3, 3-2) is still in contention for the WAC championship, but the defeat knocked Air Force (6-3, 4-3) out of the race.