November 5, 1999
Television: Saturday's game will be televised live on Cox Channel 4 with David McCann calling the play-by-play and Blaine Fowler providing the analysis.
Radio: Broadcast live on KFMB (760 AM). The pregame show begins at 5 p.m. Ted Leitner and Mark Halda call the action. The broadcast is also on the SDSU website at goaztecs.com.
The San Diego State Aztecs, 3-5
overall and 1-3 in Mountain West Conference action, return to
play Saturday, hosting the Brigham Young Cougars. The BYU contest
is sandwiched in between a pair of open weeks for the Aztecs.
San Diego State will not play again until a Nov. 20th trip to
UNLV.
San Diego State tries to play the role of spoiler as the Cougars hit southern California in hot pursuit of the first-ever Mountain West Conference football title. The San Diego State contest is part of a tough closing stretch for BYU that includes a trip to Wyoming and a closing battle with Utah. Brigham Young is the first ranked opponent to visit Qualcomm since No. 17 Arizona came to town Sept. 24, 1998. The Aztecs are hosting the Cougars for the first time since 1993.
For the second straight game, the Aztecs will be involved in a contest that features the two best defenses in the Mountain West Conference. Last time out, San Diego State had the nation's 12th best defense while Utah entered ranked 20th nationally in total defense. This week, BYU's defense is ranked 11th nationally and San Diego State is 17th. Incidentally, San Diego State and Utah combined for over 900 yards of offense.
Brigham Young enters this week's game with a 7-1 overall record and is the only unbeaten team in the Mountain West Conference at 4-0. The Cougars held off a late rally by Air Force for a 27-20 win last week in Provo, giving LaVell Edwards his 250th career victory.
Cougar quarterback Kevin Feterik completed 24-of-31 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns. Feterik was nearly perfect in the first half, completing his first 10 passes and finishing 14-of-15 for 188 yards with a 14-yard touchdown pass.
After eight games, Feterik leads the Mountain West in total offense, averaging 320.5 yards per game, including 2,621 passing yards for 20 touchdowns. He has completed 204-of-322 passes for a 142.7 passing efficiency, which ranks sixth nationally.
As a team, BYU enters the contest ranked 11th nationally in total offense, averaging 458.4 yards a contest and 20th in scoring (33.5).
Last week Larry Ned rushed for a career-high 203 yards on 18 carries and Nate Tandberg booted three field goals, but turnovers and an inability to turn long drives into touchdowns was too much to overcome as the Aztecs fell to 3-5, 1-3 Mountain West, in a 38-16 loss at Utah.
As a team, the Aztecs gained 303 yards on the ground, their best rushing performance since gaining 349 at home against New Mexico on Oct. 17, 1998. SDSU also outgained Utah, 497 to 440.
After trailing 21-13 at halfitme, SDSU cut Utah's lead to just five points at 21-16 on a 30-yard Tandberg field goal, his third of the day, with 6:12 remaining in the third quarter. Utah, however, answered with a field goal of its own in the opening minutes of the final period before scoring two touchdowns in the final 3:08 after Aztec turnovers.
Senior Lonny Mitchell led the Aztec receiving corps with three catches for 101 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown bomb in the second quarter.
Opening the game at strong safety, junior Brian Russell became the first Aztec to start on both offense and defense in the same season since the day of the two-way player in the early 1960's. Russell, who was SDSU's starting quarterback in the first two games of the season, finished as the Aztecs' second-leading tackler with 10 stops.
Senior wide receiver and kick return specialist Damon Gourdine's Aztec career ended at Utah when he tore ligaments in his right foot while being tackled on his third reception of the game in the first quarter. Gourdine is SDSU's leading receiver this season with 38 catches for 439 yards and four touchdowns.
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