Wac

Just hours before San Diego State lost its season finale, 78-72, to Colorado State, the Aztec coaches sat in a hotel room listening to the telecast of Texas El Paso's 79-65 win over New Mexico. The television sets at the hotel in Fort Collins did not get Channel 31. Therefore, the coaches were forced to watch a snow-filled screen and listen to the Miners clinch at least a tie for their third straight Western Athletic Conference championship.

Having dispensed with the meaty part of its schedule by the end of September, San Diego State now is being served fluffy popcorn. The Aztecs get to play a team tonight that might be even worse than New Mexico, a 49-21 victim two weeks ago. Texas El Paso. Or as the Miners are affectionately known in some circles, the University of Texas El Wobbly Paso.

Eddie Johnson decided to play football at the University of Utah for one simple reason: He is a running back and Utah was a running team. Was a running team. The Utes are that no longer. The Utes have not been a running team since Chuck Stobart was fired as coach after the 1984 season. Now they are a passing team, led by Coach Jim Fassel, a former quarterback at USC and Cal State Long Beach.

Whenever Brigham Young University comes into town these days, championships seem to be a hot topic. The Cougar football team won the Holiday Bowl last month at San Diego, concluding its season with a perfect record and a No. 1 national ranking. The BYU basketball team was on hand Saturday night with a potential Western Athletic Conference championship team to showcase. But it was San Diego State--not BYU--that looked like the team that may win the WAC this season.

The Holiday Bowl is a long way from taking on the Rose Bowl or Orange Bowl in terms of prestige and payout, but it does have designs on moving into a fancier neighborhood. Real soon. Holiday Bowl executive director John Reid is hopeful the 1985 game will be played Dec. 31, with an increased paycheck of $650,000 for each participating team. Past games were played on the Friday night before Christmas, a date that still has appeal for the independent network that has televised the Holiday Bowl.

Coaches frequently say preseason polls mean little. They dismiss them in less time than it takes to count the ballots. Unless, of course, there is a point to be made. Fellow coaches picked Denny Stolz and his San Diego State team to finish seventh last season in the Western Athletic Conference. "That's seventh in a nine-team league," Stolz said by way of reminder the other day.

Brigham Young shook off the loss of the Western Athletic Conference title it had won or shared the previous 10 years, as well as the absence of three starters, and beat Air Force, 23-3, Saturday to salvage a bowl berth. Immediately after the game, the Cougars accepted a bid to play UCLA in the Freedom Bowl Dec. 30 at Anaheim Stadium. It will mark the ninth consecutive bowl appearance for BYU.

When the San Diego State players took the floor for the second half of Monday night's game against Air Force, most of them apparently had the Hawaii game ingrained in their memories. Against Hawaii last Thursday night, the Aztecs led by 15 points at half and by only 4 early in the second half. SDSU escaped with a four-point victory on the road. And they seem to have learned a valuable lesson: Pounce on the opposing team when you have a substantial lead at halftime.

Sophomore Dee Dowis set a school rushing record, Alfred Booker ran for three touchdowns and the Air Force Academy defense, led by Chad Hennings, defused San Diego State's vaunted air attack, 49-7, Saturday at Air Force Academy, Colo. Dowis, a 5-foot 10-inch, 160-pounder, rushed for 188 yards in just over three quarters, the highest rushing total ever for a Falcon quarterback and just 19 yards shy of Brian Bream's all-time Air Force record.

After playing 8 of its last 11 games on the road, the San Diego State men's basketball team will play five of its final six regular-season games at home. Tonight, the Aztecs will play host to seventh-ranked Brigham Young University in a Western Athletic Conference game at 7:30 in the Sports Arena. The home setting is important for the struggling Aztecs (9-13, 2-8), who are coming off losses last week against New Mexico and Texas El Paso.