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Show mi Ban McGwire seeks own fame Assistant Sports Editor Dangerous. That might be the best word to describe San Diego State's offensive attack. Quarterback Dan McGwire, at the tallest quarterback ever to play NCAA Division I football, is the trigger man. He is ranked fourth in the Western Athletic Conference in total offense after two games. He is averaging 216 yards per game in that category. His top receivers include Jimmy Raye, who has 10 catches in the two games, and Dennis Arey, who has eight catches. 'The Aztecs have an improved running attack, too. T.C. Booker has 158 yards in the two games and has scored a pair of touchdowns. Tommy Booker has 141 yards and Curtis Butts has 91. "We always want to be able to run the football," said Aztec coach Al Luginbill. "If they (BYU) gang up on the run, then we'll throw it." Luginbill said the Aztecs' offen1 loss to sive problems in a Oregon were the result of poor execution. That improved, he said, against Long Beach State. The Aztecs beat the 49ers Luginbill said McGwire is playing well. "Danny has had two excellent decision-makin- g games," he said. As a result, McGwire has suffered just one interception in 64 pass attempts. Senior wide receiver Patrick 42-2- 38-2- 0. 42-2- tlk V h Mr? k yy, s 63-1- first four possessions. Coincidental-ly- , that game was also nationally televised and was the last time the greater part of the nation had a chance to see a regular-seaso- n BYU game. It was the ABC national game and originated from San has caught just four passes so far. But, the Aztec press guide notes he is a home run threat "loaded with a ton of speed and potential." Rowe is among the league leaders in kickoff returns with a average. Teammate Mert Harris is averaging nearly 26 yards per return. Those marks are good for first and third in the WAC statistics. Defensively, the Aztecs have been stingy against the run, but have been susceptible against the pass. They are leading the league in rushing defense with just 177 yards allowed. But, they are last in total defense with 888 yards given up. Luginbill said the Aztecs will try to avoid allowing BYU the type of scoring surge the Cougars used to beat Washington State. "Fortunately for us, we've seen a Ty Detmer-calibe- r player (in Oregon's Bill Musgrave) already," Luginbill said. The Aztecs have eight returning on defense. Ends Pio starters Saga-polute- le and Jason Swaney junior nose tackle Eric Duncan anchor the line. Steve Matuszewicz has plenty of experience there, too. Sai Niu and Tracey Mao are back at linebacker. Back in the secondary are Larry Maxey, Clark Moses and Morey Paul. Fav. Team Rating Atlantic Coast Conference Opponent MARYLAND 149.0 149.9 N.C.St. 96.0 103.4 102.9 129.4 104.8 125.0 Virginia Rating Diff. 134.2 137.5 14.8 12.4 N. ARIZONA Weber St. MONT. ST. 89.4 92.1 97.3 6.6 11.3 5.6 N.Mex.St. 90.6 100.9 111.3 38.8 3.9 13.7 108.4 111.5 97.2 6.2 6.6 20.2 6.7 6.5 24.0 California 141.3 150.8 122.1 141.3 GEORGIA VANDY 144.7 124.1 2.9 16.6 San Diego St. Texas 124.2 108.5 125.7 128.5 23.8 27.8 3.5 10.8 138.5 141.8 124.5 131.7 11.4 11.7 6.7 31.2 6.5 19.4 2.9 7.8 6.8 23.6 24.0 7.5 8.1 26.7 30.9 11.3 2.4 6.1 3.2 22.2 3.9 5.9 7.1 DUKE Big Sky Conference E. Washington IDAHO Nevada Big West Conference FRESNO ST. LONG BEACH ST. San Jose St. Pacific UNLV Conference Photo: SDSU sports information The BYU secondary won't find 6 - 8, San Diego St. quarterback Dan McGwire a pushover. 247-pou- a matter of execution." The McGwire boys have definitely made headlines. First baseman Mark is one of the best players on the World Series champion A's one of the best talents to come into baseball since Jose Canseco hit the field on the same team about the same time. Dan, at 8 and 247 pounds, is the tallest quarterback in college football history. His 3,651 yards passing last year is the second most prolific in Aztec history. Famous Mark went to Damien High; budding Dan prepped at Clairemont High in California. Dan was a Parade Magazine at Clairemont High and made Street and Smith's Top 50 after leading his team to a 13-- 1 6-- record as a senior. He was California's offensive player of the year in 1985. SDSU coach Al Luginbill expects McGwire to have a much better which was imyear than 1989 pressive on its own. "Danny had a good season last year but he is capable of having a great season. He has got to make the transition from being a thrower to being a passer." Luginbill points out that with all the fanfare out of high school, his celebrated transfer from the University of Iowa to San Diego, last year was still the first year he had played a college season and his best years are ahead of him. While other brother Mark has a corner on baseball, Dan definitely had the market at quarterback when growing up. Even now Dan is considered the better basketball player. So two out of three isn't bad. '.'We both lift weights, but I kick his butt in basketball," said Dan this summer at the WAC football meetings. Dan McGwire was considered the Bill Laimbeer of high school basketball at Clairemont. "Everybody hated me. I had those flying elbows." Dan used to get into it with current North Carolina forward Scott Williams, throwing elbows and muscling each other around. McGwire held his own. Cougars have big edge in series with Aitecs BYU is 10-- 2 against SDSU since the Aztecs entered the WAC in 1978. In five of those wins, the Cougars have held the Aztecs to single-figur- e scoring while scoring better than 20 points themselves. The biggest margin of victory was 4 in 1979, when Marc Wilson threw touchdown passes in BYU's 1990 Rowe is hiding in the lower echelons of the statistics. The speedster By NOLAND PARRY Week ending Sept. 22, 1990 to put points on the board." Detmer agreed. "I watch film of their defense, not of McGwire, and I probably won't see him on film all year. Craig Erickson (Miami) came in and I never saw any film of him either. People see it as a matchup between him and me, but it is us against each other's defense. He is a great quarterback." .McGwire said other than seeing news briefs on TV and reading some headlines, he hasn't had time to keep track of what Detmer has done the past three weeks. "I have enough to worry about getting myself ready to play." Detmer praised San Diego State's skill people on defense. "They cover very well and they'll come after us. We feel we can move the ball on anybody; it's just 21, ZZJ self. "It's a given that it's on national TV. It's a given he's up for the Heisman Tropy and it's a given that I'm rated up there as a quarterback. But each of us have Sept. By BOB HUDSON 38-2- J Aztecs' offense poses many dangers for BYU Aztec QB isn't just Mark's brother By DICK HARMON Herald Sports Editor Dan McGwire. He's the guy everybody calls the brother of Oakland A's slugger Mark McGwire. Some day Dan, a quarterback for San Diego State, hopes it will just be Dan McGwire, quarterback. Or Mark McGwire, you know, he's the brother of Dan the QB. Saturday in Cougar Stadium McGwire could go a long way toward stepping out of his brother's shadow by leading the Aztecs to an BYU on upset of fourth-ranke- d national TV. And in San Diego, site of a soldout Holiday Bowl, nothing would be sweeter than to have the hometown Aztecs in that bowl game as WAC champion. Saturday's game matches the WAC's top two passers in BYU's Ty Detmer and McGwire. In three games Detmer has thrown for 1241 yards and nine touchdowns. In two games McGwire has thrown for 458 yards and two touchdowns. "I think we're improving from week to week," said McGwire of the Aztecs' two outings, a 1 loss to Oregon and last week's 0 win over Long Beach State. "We have yet to put everything together. The first week (Oregon) was not a good week. We didn't execute on offense or defense and we took it on the kisser. This past week we won, but it wasn't a good win. We need to improve. We haven't been on the same page yet. But we're like a time bomb ready to explode. Hopefully it will happen this week at BYU. We'll need to play our best to beat BYU." McGwire said he hasn't had a good game yet. "My decision-makin- g ability has been good, but my execution hasn't. I've thrown some bad passes and there have been soi.ve drops. We need some good practices and keep focused." McGwire knows the attention Saturday will be focused on a matchup between Detmer and him- hi Friday vs. San Diego St. B YU i receiving with game. 8.7 catches per second-lowe- a WAC game at Cougar Stadium was in 1987 when eventual league champion Wyoming edged the Cougars The against San Diego State last year was the passing out- last time BYU lost 29-2- 7. continues his pass completion pace, he ll almost double the number of pass completions he had last season. In 1989 regular-seaso- n tilts, Detmer completed 223 passes (18.6 per game). In three games1 this season, the junior QB has completed 103 passes (34.3 per game). If Detmer Detmer's 327 passing yards st put in his starting career. He threw for 323 against New Mexico in the 1989 season opener. San Diego State has never beaten a team ranked in the Top 10. The team SDSU has ever highest-rate- d Iowa State beaten was (a 1 victory in 1981). h How many times does BYU its opponents? Not often. But this year the Cougars have more rushing yards in their first three games than their opponents have. 12th-rank- 52-3- out-rus- pass-happ- y Cougars have 114.6 118.1 117.4 148.0 157.3 146.1 141.4 Southeastern Conference 147.6 Alabama LSU 140.7 rushed for 369 yards in three games, a 123.0 ypg average, while the stingy BYU defense has held UTEP, Miami and Washington .State to a total of 350 yards, a 116.7 ypg average. Maybe "running back" isn't the best name to apply to Bellini. The Cougar senior has carried only twice on running plays, gaining 11 yards for a 3.7 ypg average. On the other hand, he leads the Cougars in pass catching, having snagged 26 aerials (8.7 per game) for 302 yards. How about back?" B.Green BALL ST. Kent St. Oregon WASH. Oregon St. .1 Western Athletic Conference BRIGHAM YOUNG COLORADO ST. 148.0 136.3 129.2 139.3 Hawaii WYOMING El-Pa- UTAH Air Force Games ARKANSAS 149.9 153.5 131.2 162.9 115.5 140.1 135.0 128.9 102.3 163.7 156.1 118.8 161.7 151.8 153.0 126.0 139.6 148.0 128.9 145.3 138.9 138.2 129.9 Colorado E.Carolina Florida St. FullertonSt. INDIANA IOWA Kentucky Miami O. MICHIGAN NEBRASKA N.ILLINOIS Notre Dame "catch-and-run-ni- The C.MICHIGAN Toledo W. MICHIGAN Pacific Ten Conference ARIZONA S. Calif. STANFORD WASHINGTON ST. OKLAHOMA PENN. ST. RICE Southern Miss. SYRACUSE TCU Texas Tech VIRGINIA TECH WEST VIRGINIA WISCONSIN Mississippi TEXAS SW LA. TULANE AKRON Missouri Iowa St. 109.0 120.7 132.1 N. CAROLINA121.1 CINCINNATI 95.5 UCLA 140.1 Minnesota Kansas St. MICH. ST. 132.1 111.3 Tulsa Rutgers Northwestern 153.6 125.1 122.1 114.7 MISS. ST. 137.2 141.9 Pittsburgh Oklahoma St. 125.7 N. MEXICO 123.1 South Carolina 135.0 Louisville 132.3 Temple 122.8 Home Team in CAPS Home team rating includes three additional points. Copyright 1990 by Noland Parry Last week's record: Year to date record: 34-1- 1 82-3- 3 75.5 71.3 Diego. A BYU 1984 son. victory Saturday would give its first 0 start since the National Championship sea- Linebacker Alema Fitisemanu has taken over the lead in the defensive points category. Fitisemanu has 59 defensive points. Defensive tackle Rich Kaufusi, the leader for the first two weeks of the season, is second with 48 and defensive back Brian Mitchell third with 47. Several Cougars are high in NCAA stats. Quarterback Ty Detmer is second in total offense at 413.7, but first in passing 412.0 1. Houston's Dave Klingler leads in total offense with 431.5 per game and Miami's Craig Erickson is third at 375.5. Detmer is eighth in passing effiency at 151.3. Southern Cal's Todd Marinovich is fourth at 157.5, Klingler ninth at 150.3 and Erickson 23rd at 136.9. Punter Earl Kauffman leads the nation with a 49.1 average and running back Matt Bellini is tied for fifth in The Road To 1!!! 3SL W L W L UTEP OtTQ NEW MEXICO MIAMI &q AIR FORCE WASHINGTON STATE iift SAN DIEGO STATE OQ WYOMING UTAH QQ COLORADO STATE Q UTAH STATE QQ HAWAII Q NEW NEW TO SERVE YOU ON RVIJ GAME DAY UI W way to serve you. Just walk rich! up to cur booth outside and pick up a BMT, CLUB, or CRAB sandwich made with everything on it. In fact, when you purchase one of these sandwiches you will also receive a FREE. ALREADY FILLED. 320Z SPORTS QUART AT NO EXTRA CHARGE, iust for buyini a premade sandwich! THESE SPORTS QUARTS WILL BE REFILLED FREE EUERV TIME YOU PURCHASE A FOOT LONG SANDWICH UNTIL DEC 31. 1990!! PREMADE Our SUSSnewest ( OREGON EW OFFER FOUND OMLV AT THESE TWO STORES. 271 N. STATE 1474 N. 200 W. IN OREM IN PROOO 225-488- 8 375-SUB- S SEE YOU ON GAME DAYI GO COUGARS! is |