Defense Saves Day for Aztecs : Football: With limited production from Faulk, SDSU tops Colorado State, 20-13.

FT. COLLINS, Colo. —  Fourth down and about six inches to go. Less than two minutes to play. San Diego State ahead by seven. Colorado State ball, at the Aztec 33.

Stop.

Isn’t this where the Aztecs blow a coverage? Miss a tackle? Snatch defeat from victory?

Maybe at certain times in SDSU history, but not in Saturday’s 20-13 victory over Colorado State.

The Rams lined up, the ball was snapped, and Aztec linebacker Mark Roberts stormed through the line as if someone had whispered something bad about his mother and stuffed Ram running back Leonice Brown for a three-yard loss.

And on a windy, chilly, dreary afternoon in front of 16,310 in Hughes Stadium, Colorado State’s upset bid fell short--even though Marshall Faulk’s Heisman Trophy bid took another blow when he ran for 60 yards in the first half but didn’t rush once in the second because of a strained left quadriceps.

“The fourth-quarter call was not conservative, but we probably went to the well once too often and they stormed the castle,” Ram Coach Earle Bruce said in his best Yogi Berra imitation.

Mixed metaphors aside, this was one strange game.

When the SDSU defense spends more time on the field than Faulk, the Aztecs normally are running for cover by the time the game ends.

When the opponent has a fourth-and-one in Aztec territory in the final few minutes, you can usually chalk up a first down before the play is even run.

Colorado State (3-6, 2-4 in the Western Athletic Conference) had one fourth-quarter touchdown called back and blew seven more points because of a kicker who is less dependable than a Rocky Mountain weather forecast.

The Aztecs (4-2-1, 4-1) could only squeeze 20 points out of a defense ranked 105th in the nation. And last week, they managed only 17 against an Air Force defense ranked 70th.

Still, they remained in control of their own destiny in the WAC championship race.

“As long as we win, it’s not a concern to me,” said Coach Al Luginbill. “When we don’t play well offensively, when we don’t put 40 points on the board . . . there’s a different mind-set in our community. We’re just going to have to learn to live with it.”

Or continue learning to tackle. The 13 points were the fewest allowed by the Aztecs in a Western Athletic Conference game since they held New Mexico to 10 in 1988.

“Obviously, we came up big when we had to,” SDSU defensive coordinator Barry Lamb said. “That’s probably the biggest thing we got out of this.

“I can’t say we played great. I’m not sure I can say we played well, to be honest with you.

“We didn’t do some things we practiced well against, and we were confused sometimes. I’m not sure why.”

The Rams out-rushed SDSU, 280-92, and converted 47% of their third-down situations (eight of 17).

But when late in the game they needed to rush for six inches, they couldn’t.

Although Bruce denied that the handoff was conservative, it seemed a strange call. Brown, who finished with 111 yards on 19 carries, is only 5 feet 11, 173 pounds--and the play called for him to run up the middle. Also, the handoff came deep in the Colorado State backfield, probably four yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Brown never had a chance.

“We were thinking of a play inside the tackles or something with the quarterback having the ball in his hands,” Lamb said. “We called a play and the kids just executed.”

Although neither team scored in the fourth quarter, Colorado State continually applied the most pressure. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Anthoney Hill dropped a short pass over the onrushing SDSU defenders to fullback John Ivlow, who went around SDSU’s Darrell Lewis as if Lewis had opened a door for him for an apparent 26-yard touchdown.

That would have cut SDSU’s lead to 20-19, with the Rams having the option to go for a one- or two-point conversion. However, Matt Phillips was caught holding Aztec defensive back Gary Taylor at the SDSU 5 and the play was brought back to the Aztec 15.

Eight plays later, Peter Rantzau badly missed a 23-yard field goal attempt.

Colorado State’s next possession ended with a punt, and the Rams’ final chance of the fourth quarter ended on the fourth-and-one play.

The Aztecs showed much more imagination offensively this week, incorporating into the game plan pitches to Faulk, play-action passes and a handful of passes to the tight end. Quarterback David Lowery completed 18 of 34 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns.

Still, SDSU spent much of the afternoon moving up and down the field but failing to score.

Offensive coordinator Bret Ingalls blamed it partially on dropped passes. Keith Williams, for one, dropped a sure touchdown pass of 13 yards--the Aztecs’ third dropped touchdown pass in three games--on a drive in which SDSU had to settle for a field goal.

“Any time you drop balls, it hurts your momentum,” Ingalls said. “We moved the ball consistently all day. It was just a couple of drops that hurt scoring drives.”

SDSU went 76 yards on its first drive but it ended with a 21-yard Andy Trakas field goal.

Colorado State had a chance to tie the game with 2:15 left in the first quarter, but Rantzau’s 32-yard field goal attempt bounced off long snapper Lance Jones’ shoulder.

Still, the Rams took a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter when they shredded the SDSU defense for 75 yards in eight plays. Jeremy Burkett went 18 yards on a reverse, Brown went 16 yards off of right tackle, Ivlow ripped up the middle for 10 yards and then Hill passed 12 more yards to Greg Primus. Hill finally scored on a five-yard keeper.

Trakas’ 31-yard field goal with the wind made it 7-6, Colorado State, before the Aztecs put together their first touchdown drive of the day, a 60-yarder that culminated with a six-yard pass from Lowery to tight end Marc Ziegler.

Another Hill touchdown run, this one of six yards, tied the game at 13-13, but a bad snap on the conversion denied Rantzau an opportunity to try his luck again.

The clincher for SDSU came with 7:17 left in the third quarter, a 55-yard pass from Lowery to sophomore Curtis Shearer.

“We haven’t thrown a completion on that route in, I don’t think, two years,” said Lowery, who was happy to see the Aztecs use a few different plays.

“It was definitely nice getting different plays,” he said a few minutes later. “We need to get different plays so they’re not guessing right all the time.”

Aztec Notes

The first touchdown pass of Curtis Shearer’s San Diego State career came with about seven minutes left in the third quarter Saturday, and it was nearly as electric for his teammates as it was for the sophomore from San Jose.

The game was tied, 13-13, when David Lowery dropped back to pass and found Shearer open about 20 yards downfield, cutting across the middle. Shearer grabbed the ball, turned up field and turned it into a 55-yard touchdown play.

“Finally,” Shearer said. “I’ve been waiting for one for a while. I got around the corner and saw the end zone. I said, ‘This is my opportunity.’

“I was tired when I got there, but it was worth it.”

It turned into the biggest day of Shearer’s career. He caught three passes for a career-high 101 yards. . . .

SDSU received some help from Utah on Saturday. The Utes defeated Air Force, 20-13, knocking the Falcons (6-3, 4-3) out of contention in the Western Athletic Conference.

The Aztecs (4-1 in the WAC) remain tied with Hawaii (4-1) for the WAC lead. Hawaii defeated Texas El Paso, 41-21. SDSU and Hawaii meet in San Diego on Nov. 14. . . .

It was 52 degrees at game time with winds 10-12 m.p.h. and gusts up to 40 m.p.h.

“I’ve never played in conditions like this before,” said SDSU’s Andy Trakas, who kicked two field goals. “I’ve never seen real hard gusts of wind before.”

Still, Trakas was true from 22 and 31 yards and also made a conversion kick on what may have been the most unusual play of the day. On a six-yard touchdown pass from Lowrey to Marc Ziegler, the Aztecs were called for having an illegal receiver downfield and Darnay Scott was called for a personal foul.

So Trakas set up--and made--a 41-yard conversion kick.

“Isn’t that something?” Trakas said. . . .

SDSU suffered a damaging injury in the second quarter when offensive guard Joe Heinz went down with a fractured ankle. Defensive ends Jamal Duff and Ramondo Stallings each sprained ankles. Neither is thought to be serious. They will be re-examined today. . . .

With their victory, the Aztecs still have not lost two consecutive WAC games since 1988. . . . Faulk’s 60 yards left him nine short of surpassing Norm Nygaard for the all-time rushing record. . . . Yes, the Aztecs had to face the fumblerooski again. This time, it came in the fourth quarter and they stopped Colorado State guard Pat Meyer for a four-yard gain. . . . Ram receiver Greg Primus caught three passes for 40 yards, making him only the second WAC receiver to surpass 3,000 career receiving yards. He has 3,013.