FAULK’S BIG NIGHT
Aztecs freshman took national stage in 1991 with 386-yard, 7-touchdown performance
Aztecs freshman Marshall Faulk took national stage in 1991 with 386-yard, 7-touchdown performance.
Cree Morris likes to think he had a hand in the greatest performance in San Diego State football history. A hand off, to be more precise. Morris was SDSU’s starting quarterback in the team’s Sept. 14, 1991 game at the stadium against Pacific.
Neither he, nor his SDSU teammates nor coaches nor a crowd of 24,408 knew they were about to witness history and the greatest Aztec performance ever at the stadium.
It was the night Aztecs freshman running back Marshall Faulk rushed for an NCAA-record 386 yards and seven touchdowns in SDSU’s 55-34 victory.
“That’s the stuff where legends are made, and that’s when his was made,” Morris said when contacted this week. “It was just insane. What a talent.
“None of us expected it. What was he, fifth on the depth chart when we started the game? He didn’t even play until the end of the first quarter, and then what he did was just phenomenal.”
Faulk didn’t touch the ball until there were fewer than 3 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the first quarter, taking over when starting running back T.C Wright bruised his left thigh.
Even at that, Faulk wasn’t next up to replace Wright. Teammate Wayne Pittman was going to go in. But Pittman misplaced his helmet, so Faulk went in.
The 5-foot-10 running back from New Orleans had made an inauspicious collegiate debut a week earlier against Long Beach State when he carried 11 times for 39 yards late in the game. What the SDSU coaches likely remembered more was that Faulk also fumbled twice.
Morris had the most unique perspective in the stadium that evening, handing the ball 37 times to Faulk. Then watching in wonder.
The quarterback’s reaction? “Just wow,” Morris said. “I didn’t know. No one knew.
“He was that fast. He was that quick. He was that smooth. He had such great vision.
“Just an amazing feat.”
Each carry seemed to be more impressive than the one before it.
Faulk had touchdown runs of 9 and 5 yards in the second quarter, helping the Aztecs make it 14-14 at halftime.
The running back got everyone’s attention with his first carry of the second half when he went 61 yards down the sideline for his third touchdown. His fourth and fifth TDs also came in the third quarter, on 7- and 45-yard runs.
After Pacific scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make a game of it 40-34, Faulk scored on a 2yard run — and ran in a two-point conversion — to make it 48-34.
Faulk put the game away on his 37th and final carry of the game, a 25yard TD that moved him past both Indiana’s Anthony Thompson (377) and Carthage’s Pete Baranek (382) for the NCAA Division I and all-division record single-game yardage record, respectively. He also set an NCAA record with 422 all-purpose yards.
“I’ve never thought of a game like
this,” Faulk said afterward. “All the guys blocked for me like hell. They worked their butts off.”
Morris, an Orange Glen High graduate and former high school coach who still trains quarterbacks, remembers Faulk returning to the huddle after runs, pretty much taking it all in stride.
“He was kind of quiet, like, ‘Aw, shucks, that was just me,’ ” Morris said. “It was sheer amazement by most of the team.
“We all took turns going, ‘Did you see that one? How about that one? Did you see this one? Did you see when he stopped, then kept going?”
Most colleges wanted Faulk as a defensive back out of high school. Part of the lure coming to SDSU is that the Aztecs would give him a shot at running back.
“He’s got all the attributes of a great one, and that’s why he’s playing,” SDSU head coach Al Luginbill said after the Pacific game. “He’s got the big-back mentality with sprinter-type speed and soft hands. When he gets loose, they’re not going to catch him.” High praise, indeed.
What left some shaking there heads, though, was when Luginbill said, “Marshall did a great job, but I’d trade it all for a defensive performance.”
Maybe that’s just what coaches say. Suffice it to say we would not be talking about this game 30 years later if the score had been 7-0.
Faulk was asked by the UnionTribune on the 25th anniversary of the game, what stands out most to him now about the performance?
“Just the magnitude of it,” he said. “Obviously we didn’t have social media then like we do now. Having the game be over, seeing my name in highlights everywhere.
“When you’re in the moment playing, you don’t think about the success. You’re just playing. When it was all said and done, looking back on it, I was like, ‘Wow.’ I’m just a kid having fun and it morphed into that.”
Rounding out the 10 most memorable Aztecs moments:
Surprise, surprise, surprise Aztecs 68, Southern Mississippi 7 Nov. 9, 1968 Attendance:
43,766 Southern Mississippi came in brimming with confidence against an SDSU program still a year away from joining the Division I ranks.
Earlier in the season, the Golden Eagles had lost to No. 7 Alabama by just a field goal and to No. 16 Ole Miss by a touchdown, so the Aztecs were lightly regarded. So much for that.
SDSU managed a 13-7 halftime lead — opening the scoring when defensive end Fred Dryer returned a fumble for a 28-yard touchdown — then scored eight touchdowns in the second half for one of the most lopsided victories in school history.
Aztecs quarterback Dennis Shaw threw seven touchdown passes, four of them to wide receiver Tommy Nettles.
Shaw completed 17 of 38 passes for 524 yards, which stood as a school record until it was eclipsed in 1987 when Todd Santos passed for 536 yards against Stanford.
Nettles had 11 receptions for 362 yards, surpassing Gary Garrison’s mark of 329 yards for an SDSU record that still stands. Nettles’ four TD catches went for 20, 30, 86 and 32 yards.
“Nettles had played behind (Craig) Scoggins and (Haven) Moses and he never really had to show what he could do,” SDSU head coach Don Coryell said. “I told him if he ever had a chance for a record, I’d go along with him.
“Some people won’t like it, but to heck with it. Nettles will have the memory of that record for the rest of his life.”
One for the books Aztecs 70, New Mexico State 21 Nov. 15, 1969 Attendance: 25,827
This time the Aztecs really rewrote the record book, setting seven NCAA and 16 school records.
Shaw passed for nine touchdowns, breaking the NCAA singlegame record of seven he shared with Tulsa’s Jerry Rhome. He also passed Rhome for single-season TD throws with 34.
Tim Delaney caught an NCAArecord
six of Shaw’s scoring passes. Delaney totaled 275 yards on 16 receptions, a single-game SDSU record that stood until 2002 when J.R. Tolliver caught 18 passes at Hawaii.
Tom Reynolds caught three TD passes, giving him an NCAArecord 18 TD receptions for the season, a school record that still stands.
SDSU actually had 10 touchdown passes for the game. Backup Brian Sipe threw a 28-yard TD pass to Gene Carter. Sipe had replaced Shaw, who returned to the game to throw his ninth TD pass.
That didn’t sit too well with New Mexico State head coach Jim Wood.
“I’m sure Don (Coryell) had a reason for doing the things he did, but someday, somewhere, it will be different,” Wood said.
Said Coryell: “When you have a chance of a lifetime to let your kids, who have worked hard, to get some national records, you do it.”
The one they still talk about Aztecs 41, No. 13 Florida State 16 Nov. 19, 1977 Attendance:
50,453 Florida State was already assured of a postseason berth with a Tangerine Bowl invitation in hand. SDSU would not get a bowl bid — despite what would be a 10-1 season as an independent — so this was the Aztecs’ bowl game.
The Seminoles came into the game with an 8-1 record, but had not faced a team with the offensive attributes of the Aztecs.
“Our game plan was beautiful,” SDSU quarterback Joe Davis said. “It worked just the way we had dreamed it would. We wanted to show them a lot of looks and give them a lot of combinations, because it’s hard to cover those things when you haven’t seen much passing before.”
SDSU’s Ron Smith was on the receiving end for several of Davis’ throws, catching nine passes for 121 yards and three touchdowns.
“They just beat our butts all over the field,” Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said. “You know, we expected them to be good, but this was ridiculous. They were two feet off the ground when they took the field, and they never did come down.”
That enthusiasm extended to the crowd cheering for the Aztecs.
“I was amazed with the spirit their fans had,” Bowden said. “I bet my wife was even cheering for them at the last.”
Shellshocked
No. 10 BYU 63, Aztecs 14
Nov. 24, 1979 Attendance:
46,121
In a game with a WAC championship and Holiday Bowl berth at stake, SDSU believed it needed to blitz BYU quarterback Marc Wilson if it was to have any chance of slowing the Cougars’ outstanding passing attack.
How did that work for the Aztecs?
With a national television audience looking on, Wilson’s first three throws of the game went for touchdowns of 25, 42 and 57 yards for a 21-0 lead.
“When I got back to the sideline,” Wilson said, “I asked coach (LaVell) Edwards, ‘What’s going on here?’ ”
BYU’s big offensive line prevented SDSU from getting to the quarterback and the Cougars receivers could not be contained by the man-to-man coverage.
Wilson added a fourth touchdown pass in the second quarter to make it 28-0 and led the Cougars led 35-7 at halftime, when many in the crowd began heading for the exits.
San Diego Union columnist Jack Murphy called it “the worst mismatch since the Titantic struck an iceberg.”
BYU rolled up 613 yards in offense, the most ever allowed by the Aztecs. It was the most lopsided loss for SDSU since 1957, when Arizona beat the Aztecs 66-0.
“It’s kinda of like the guy who lost playing Russian Roulette,” SDSU head coach Claude Gilbert said. “You know you’re taking a chance, but by the time you hear the explosion you know it’s already too late.”
Holiday Bowl heartbreak No. 16 Iowa 39, Aztecs 38 Dec. 30, 1986 Attendance:
59,473
When the Holiday Bowl received its charter from the NCAA, paving the way for it to become the 14th game on the bowl schedule, many of the locals believed it would be the vehicle to assure the Aztecs of annual postseason appearances.
So much for that.
SDSU finally won the WAC and the automatic Holiday Bowl berth that came with it in the game’s ninth year of existence.
The Aztecs had fans believing it was worth the wait after SDSU took a 35-21 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.
After Iowa rallied to take the lead, SDSU drove down the field late in the game for a 21-yard Kevin Rahill field goal with 47 seconds to play to go ahead 38-36.
After a long kickoff return, however,
Iowa’s Rob Houghtlin — who in the first half missed 43- and 57yard field goal attempts as well as an extra point — made a 41-yard field goal as time expired to hand the Aztecs a heartbreaking defeat.
“That’s the worst way you can ever lose a game,” SDSU defensive tackle Levi Esene said. “We had been celebrating on our sideline. All of a sudden, things turned so quickly.”
Near miss with Miami No. 2 Miami 30, Aztecs 28 Dec. 1, 1990 Attendance:
34,201
For the better part of 30 years, SDSU had a reputation of getting a big-name opponent on the ropes, poised for an upset, only to come up short in the end.
This was another one of those games, SDSU giving Miami everything it could handle — including a late-game brawl — before coming up short.
SDSU was statistically better than Miami — outgaining the Hurricanes in yardage 448-345 — with quarterback Dan McGwire (32 of 53, 323 yards, 2 TDs) and SDSU running back T.C. Wright (22 carries, 112 yards, TD) leading the way.
But three missed field goals by usually reliable SDSU kicker Andy Trakas and a pair of Aztecs turnovers inside their own 30-yard line aided the Hurricanes.
“We were lucky to win,” Miami head coach Dennis Erickson said.
A tie against Ty Aztecs 52, BYU 52 Nov. 16, 1991 Attendance:
56,737 SDSU fans and school officials sported broad smiles when the Aztecs jumped out to a seemingly insurmountable 45-17 lead well into the second half of the game that decided which school would represent the WAC in the Holiday Bowl.
BYU quarterback Ty Detmer, the 1990 Heisman Trophy winner, wiped those smiles from their faces with a performance for the ages.
Just more than three minutes remained in the third quarter when Detmer went to work. He threw two touchdown passes before the third period ended and added two more in the fourth quarter.
Imagine, SDSU quarterback David Lowery completed 26 of 39 passes for a school-record 568 yards and five touchdowns — including an 80-yard touchdown pass to Faulk and a 79-yarder to Darnay Scott, both in the second quarter — and still it was only the second-best passing performance of the game.
Detmer was 31-for-54 passing for 599 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions.
A record regular-season crowd was stunned as it watched the teams combine for 1,462 yards in total offense (BYU 767, SDSU 695).
Faulk’s performance — he rushed for 118 yards, caught six passes for 116 more and totaled four touchdowns — would have been what everyone was talking about on any other night.
A tie was enough for BYU to claim both the crown and the bowl bid that went with it.
“We have to live with it,” SDSU head coach Al Luginbill said. “But in this business, peaks and valleys, this is about as low as you can go.”
A tie against Trojans Aztecs 31, USC 31 Sept. 5, 1992 Attendance:
52,168
The Union-Tribune headline summed it all up: “Aztecs miss a victory by a foot.” That foot belonged to Trakas, who was pictured with his hands covering his face.
Trakas had two chances to win the game in the final minute, but missed both attempts.
He hooked a 30-yard attempt to the left with 58 seconds left. With three seconds remaining, he was wide right with a 55-yard attempt.
The 30-yard gimme hurt the most.
“I just blew it,” Trakas said after the game. “It’s ridiculous. It should have been a guarantee. Damn. This is my fourth year. What have I to be nervous about? ... I have no answers. It really hurts. I let everyone down.”
SDSU fell behind 21-7 in the first half before storming back with a 24-point third quarter.
Faulk, who was inexplicably given only two carries in the second quarter, led the rally in the second half.
He finished with 220 rushing yards — 166 of them in the second half — and three touchdowns, including a 59-yarder that gave the Aztecs a 31-28 lead.
Lights out win a rush Aztecs 20, No. 16 Stanford 17 Sept. 16, 2017 Attendance:
43,040
The power in the stadium went out with just under four minutes remaining and the Aztecs down by four but at Stanford’s 42-yard line in the midst of the game-winning drive.
When light was restored, SDSU quarterback Christian Chapman continued to guide the Aztecs downfield, capping the drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end David Wells.
Wells was hit at the 3-yard line but his momentum carried him across the goal line for the touchdown that gave SDSU one of the biggest wins in school history — its first in 36 years over a ranked Power Five opponent.
SDSU students swarmed the field — the first time anyone could remember that ever happening — when the game ended. Aztecs players, surrounded by their schoolmates, jumped up and down on the school logo at midfield during the celebration.
BONUS MEMORY Once in a lifetime outing Aztecs 0, Padres 0 (10 innings) April 5, 1985 Attendance:
30,607
Rusty Elsberry was a 6-foot-8 right-hander for the Aztecs who struggled his junior year with a 6.35 ERA when SDSU head coach Jim Dietz handed him the ball and pointed him to the mound at Jack Murphy Stadium.
Lining up to take their cuts were the defending National League champions.
What followed was something out of a Disney movie.
Elsberry limited the Padres to two hits through nine innings of a scoreless game both sides agreed to end after 10 innings.
“I was only supposed to pitch two or three innings,” Elsberry said a decade later when he was being honored before another PadresAztecs game. “I just kind of got into one of those zones and before I knew it, it was already the ninth inning. It was pretty amazing.”
The only scoring came before the game, when Tony Gwynn defeated younger brother Chris, an Aztecs outfielder, 7-5 in a home run contest with Dietz on the mound.