Aztec offense falls apart after big opening

Then, like all those Air Force fighters that have been hitting the terra firma of late, they crashed and burned in the second quarter.

"We just stopped our attack," senior wide receiver Az-zahir Hakim said. "It wasn't what they did different, it's what we didn't do."

The Aztecs raced out to a 21-0 lead behind the passing of senior quarterback Kevin McKechnie. McKechnie had 141 yards at the end of the first quarter with three touchdown passes.

McKechnie threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Hakim on the Aztecs' first drive, 1 minute, 50 seconds into the game. He then hit junior David Gourdine 2 minutes later on a 22-yard strike between two UA defenders in the left corner of the end zone.

A second touchdown pass to Hakim with 3:06 remaining in the quarter to give San Diego State a seemingly insurmountable lead.

Then it all fell apart.

"I don't know if was us as much as them," Aztec senior wide receiver Taj Johnson said. "We just became kind of passive."

McKechnie finished the first half with 222 yards, but no more touchdowns. He had only 48 yards passing in the second half.

"I think it shows a lot of heart on their part in coming back," McKechnie said of Arizona. "I thought everything was finally coming around (for us), but that's not the case."

For the Aztecs, it was their fourth straight road game and their fourth straight loss. San Diego State has not won a nonconference road game since 1981 against UNLV.

"We knew the game was going to be a full game," Aztec head coach Ted Tollner said. "It's nice to have a lead, but the most important thing is the final score."

McKechnie explained why he thought Arizona was able to shut him down during the second quarter.

"After the first quarter, they were buzzing their backers a little more, and that took away a lot of what was open earlier," he said.

Hakim and Johnson felt that there was another major reason, one named Chris McAlister.

"He's the best defensive back we've gone against this season," Hakim said. "He's a legitimate All-American."

McAlister sat out the first quarter due to academic problems, then came in and limited Hakim to only one reception for the rest of the game.

"I think Chris coming in had a real big impact," UA head coach Dick Tomey said. "I don't know why they stopped (passing to Hakim)."

Tollner explained that he wanted to be "more consistent with more people," which thereby limited the number of passes that came Hakim's way.

The Aztecs scored a single touchdown in the second half, while Arizona continued to chop away at the lead. San Diego State watched the upset fade away completely when Mark McDonald hit a 28 yard field goal with 1:12 remaining in the game.

"We just have to go back and practice harder," Johnson said. "It was a losing experience, but a good experience. We now know we're that much closer to breaking out of this slump."