By Tom Ables
(Editor's Note: Tom Ables may be San Diego State's No. 1 fan. He served as the school's first publicity director for athletics and also served as the Sports Editor of the Daily Aztec. He is a member of the Aztec Hall of Fame. Ables has seen over 600 Aztec football games in person.)
You might call them "Great Moments in Aztec Football," or you might call them a great way to start an argument! Out of over 600 Aztec games that I've seen, it's tough to boil it down to a few. And yet, if they really stick in my mind, they must have had something going for them. Of course, I realize that any sports list will create challenges; that's what makes them fun. Anyway, here we go...
Most Memorable Season As I jotted down a list at random, and came up with 12 games that are etched in my memory, it was surprising to discover, after the fact, that three of them were from the same season - 1966. For me, that's surely the most memorable season.
Most Memorable Games There are many not included here that certainly could have been (the great shootout with North Texas; the heartbreaking losses to Iowa State and Arizona; the UOP game in which Marshall Faulk set the NCAA rushing record; maybe some of the Long Beach State battles, when they meant something; or even the 13-13 tie that made Don Coryell's start toward his Aztec dynasty, or the last-play TD to tie Fresno State 20-20 in 1950, to name a few). But here are the 12 that leap to my mind when I play the game of "nostalgics" with Aztec football. These are from memory, and I admit a few details could vary, but this is the way I remember them.
Weber State (1966) - The incredible 38-34 come-from-behind win on a stormy night in Ogden, Utah, is still one of our best ever. Sarkis Arslanian's Wildcats were huge and the Aztecs had just opened against a tiny team from Mexico Poly. Big fullback Lee White (who went on to NFL fame) ran wild in the opening quarter, but the Aztecs revamped their attack at halftime and came back to take control on both sides of the ball.
North Dakota State (1966) - The battle for No. 1 national small college ranking, with the Aztecs winning, 36-0, before the largest crowd ever in Balboa Stadium, larger than the old AFL title game, and with thousands left outside when they closed the gates. The icing on the cake was Bobby Jones' interception to preserve the shutout. I still think he ran it back 100 yards, but officially it was 98 yards.
San Jose State (1966) - The Aztecs went to San Jose to face Danny Holman, who was leading the nation in total offense. Still studying film the night before the game, John Madden spotted a "sure key" to reading the Spartans' complicated offensive scheme, and, led by Cliff Hancock, the Aztecs won, 25-0. The victory led Sports Illustrated to change its planned story about Holman and San Jose to a feature headlined (as best I can remember), "On a clear day, the Aztecs could see forever!" After the game, Holman (who wound up with something like -12 yards for the night) came to the visitors' locker room, saying he didn't want to interrupt our celebration, but he wanted to meet that "12th man" we must have had playing for us!
Southern Mississippi (1968) - Leading the nation in total defense, Southern Miss had just lost a heartbreaker to Alabama at the end of the game. To make amends to their old coach, Pie Vann, who was retiring at the end of that season, they were determined to score 100 points on the Aztecs, according to assistant coach Barney Poole. Final score: Aztecs, 68-7.
Florida State (1977) - Bobby Bowden's Seminoles were not as awesome as they are today, but they were nationally ranked and already were set for a major bowl when they came to San Diego to sharpen their game a little. Surprise! Aztecs 41; Bowden's FSU 16. A crowd of more than 50,000 went home happy.
Iowa State (1981) - The nationally-ranked Cyclones came in heavily favored, but the Aztecs had a few surprises for them, starting with a successful on-side kick to open the game! The Aztecs went right in for a TD, and won handily, 52-31.
Colorado State (1986) - The Aztecs had blown their lead. With less than a minute to play and no timeouts left, and set back by a penalty on the kickoff, it did not look promising. But Todd Santos calmly took the Aztecs down the field - throwing down the middle - and scored the winning TD to make it 27-26 as time ran out on the Rams.
Miami (1990) - It's not often you put a loss among your favorites, but the Aztecs played one of their great games against the powerful Miami Hurricanes, battling to the end before losing, 30-28. Dan McGwire was great. Carlson Leomiti, as a freshman offensive lineman, outplayed Miami's great All-American defensive lineman -- I think it was Russell Maryland.
USC (1992) - Another non-win, but at least it was a 31-31 tie. Marshall Faulk ran over, around and through the "mighty" Trojans. Missed field goals cost us the win, but the satisfaction was pushing USC around. Again, it earned us a Sports Illustrated feature, pegging us as a program on the rise; SC on the way down.
Brigham Young (1992) - Led by Marshall Faulk, the Aztecs beat BYU in Provo for the first time, 45-38, on the ESPN game of the week. One of Marshall's great runs was so spectacular that ESPN used it as part of its promos for a long time.
Air Force (1993) - Trailing badly late in the game, and playing at Air Force in the rarefied air, the Aztecs launched an unbelievable comeback, led by quarterback Tim Gutierrez (filling in for injured David Lowery). The contest was climaxed by a long scoring pass to Darnay Scott, when the Academy was looking for an out-pattern to stop the clock (at least that's my interpretation). After the 38-31 Aztec win, Fisher DeBerry said "nobody ever does that to us in the fourth quarter on our field at our elevation! Nobody!" But the Aztecs did it that day!
Brigham Young (2000) - Another stunning come-from-behind win, that shut the Cougar crowd to dead silence with the swing of Nate Tandberg's leg. After it appeared BYU had pulled the game out with less than a minute to play, the Aztecs roared back and, as the clock ran out, won it by a 16-15 score on a field goal.
It's interesting to note that six of the 12 I've named were road games! Makes me more sure than ever that all those trips were certainly worth it! And who were the coaches?
Don Coryell 4
Al Luginbill 4
Claude Gilbert 1
Doug Scovil 1
Denny Stolz 1
Ted Tollner 1
So each of the last six Aztec coaches contributed to at least one of the Great Moments in Aztec Football, at least by my count. I'm sure you have your own personal list. And I also sure there are many great ones still to come. Maybe today?
You might call them "Great Moments in Aztec Football," or you might call them a great way to start an argument! Out of over 600 Aztec games that I've seen, it's tough to boil it down to a few. And yet, if they really stick in my mind, they must have had something going for them. Of course, I realize that any sports list will create challenges; that's what makes them fun.
(Editor's note: Video of many of the games mentioned above can be seen in the Aztec Hall of Fame.)