Despite a dismal offensive showing in the first half of their 24-19 victory over the 3-7 Colorado State Rams last Saturday, the San Diego State Aztecs improved their record to 7-2 and moved one step closer to playing in their first bowl game in 12 years. Fortunately for them, ugly wins count just as much as impressive ones in the standings. And this one was about as ugly as they come.

   The combination of an ice-cold Ryan Lindley, butter fingered receivers and a running game that was slowed by a still not completely healthy Ronnie Hillman nearly resulted in an embarrassing upset at the hands of the lowly Rams.

   Despite having multiple opportunities provided by the listless Aztecs offense, the Rams, who owned the ball for all but eight minutes of the first half could only muster six first points before the intermission.

   An aggressive defense led by linebacker Miles Burris (two sacks 10 tackles) kept the Aztecs in the game long enough for the offense to awaken from its coma. At last, on their final drive of the first half SDSU marched 60 yards on eleven plays and scored on a one- yard Brandon Sullivan touchdown run that put them up 7-6.

   One can only imagine what offensive coordinator Al Borges had to say to his charges at half-time following what was undoubtedly the offense’s worst half of football all season. With their ears no doubt still ringing, the Aztecs came out of the locker room with a new sense of urgency.

   Left-footed kicker Abel Perez kept his streak of field goals alive with a 31-yarder early in the third quarter. Near the end of the quarter, Ronnie Hillman dazzled the 34,680 on hand with a 26 yard run capped by an acrobatic dive to the pylon. Poway High alum Brandon Sullivan added his second touchdown of the game with 8:05 left in the fourth quarter to complete the Aztec scoring.

   While the Aztec attack was much better in the second half, it still nearly gave the game away. In the third quarter, Lindley missed a wide open receiver on what should have been an easy touchdown. Instead he found Rams defensive back Dominiq Vinson.

   Later in the quarter, with the Aztecs about to provide themselves some breathing room, Lindley had the ball knocked out of his hands at the two-yard line by Rams linebacker Michal Sisson. Sisson alertly scooped up the loose ball and rumbled 88 yards to give the Rams a 13-10 lead.

   The Aztecs bounced back and recaptured the lead 17-13.

   Later, a Ronnie Hillman fumble gave the Rams the chance to get back in the game. This time they capitalized on the gift closing to 24-19. That is however, is as close as they would come. Despite a ragged performance, the Aztecs moved to 7-2 with a trip to power house TCU slated for Saturday November 13 at 1:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Versus T.V. network and KOGO 600 a.m.

   TCU annihilated previously unbeaten Utah last weekend 47-7. Currently ranked third in the nation, the Horned Frogs (10-0, 6-0) are a juggernaut with no apparent weaknesses and strength at every position. If the Aztecs perform in Fort Worth like they did at home on Saturday things could get ugly fast. Fortunately, the Aztecs don’t need to defeat TCU to gain a bowl bid. Sitting at 7-2 they have likely already accomplished that. The most likely scenario would be a December 23 match-up against Navy at the “Q” in the Poinsettia Bowl.