Aztec Catalyst Grasps for Solution to Woes : College football: What will kick the offense into gear? David Lowery searches for the answers.

SAN DIEGO — Maybe David Lowery should have realized this would not be his easiest season on that September evening he was flat on his back in bed, back throbbing, waiting for his roommate to arrive with a glass of water.

Or, maybe he should have known it when the telephone rang that same day, and it was for him, and his roommate had to bring the phone bedside.

It is difficult to play quarterback when you cannot walk.

And it is difficult to win when you spot fate downfield, wide open, and your pass falls incomplete.

San Diego State (4-3-1, 4-2 in the WAC) has struggled for three weeks and suddenly, in a season in which the Aztecs were supposed to cruise to the Western Athletic Conference championship, they face extinction if they lose Saturday to Hawaii.

And of all things, the Aztecs are reeling because of an inconsistent offense. San Diegans would sooner believe that snow will fall at Horton Plaza this afternoon than that the Aztecs failed to score three or four touchdowns in a game. But . . .

Three weeks ago, the SDSU offense scored only 17 points in a loss at Air Force.

Two weeks ago, the Aztecs managed only 20 points in a victory at Colorado State.

One week ago, the Aztecs failed to score a touchdown in a WAC game for the first time since mid-1985 during a crushing 17-6 loss at Wyoming.

Their quarterback, who says he suffered the strained lower back against USC, stopped wearing a brace two weeks ago. His back is healed.

The pain, though, has moved to his mind. Because neither his nor his team’s performance has improved since the back healed.

“It hurts, you know?” Lowery said. “I’m expecting to have some success here. I feel bad when the defense is playing good ball, holds a team to 17 points and we’re not able to hold our end of the deal.

“The plays are there. We have the opportunity to do it. We’re not, for some reason.”

Lowery, a junior, could not have foreseen this a year ago. After taking over from Cree Morris four games into the 1991 season, Lowery went 6-0 in his first half-dozen games as a starter. There was enough magic in his passes that it seemed as if the Aztecs would never lose.

Then came three disappointments--a tie with Brigham Young in the WAC championship game and losses to Miami and to Tulsa in the Freedom Bowl--but SDSU looked back on track this season.

After the Aztecs tied USC and defeated BYU to start 1992, they were in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 1977.

Then the roof caved in. First came a 35-7 pasting by UCLA in a game in which Lowery nearly didn’t even play.

“It hurt to sleep,” Lowery said. “It hurt to roll over and it hurt to get out of bed in the morning.”

After UCLA, the Aztecs lost two of their next five.

The only thing more mysterious than why the Aztecs have been losing is the location of the answers.

“It’s frustrating,” Lowery said. “We have the players. We have the chances to do it.

“The last three games we’ve had opportunities. We just haven’t done it.”

SDSU’s offense is rated 17th nationally with an average of 418.3 yards per game. That’s third in the WAC, behind Fresno State and BYU.

The catch is the Aztecs have been rated in the top seven nationally in each of the past three seasons.

The offense, of course, starts with the quarterback. Lowery, sixth in the WAC in passing efficiency, was third last season. After throwing only two interceptions in 171 attempts, two of his passes were intercepted in the first half of last week’s loss at Wyoming.

But there have also been problems with dropped passes and poor line play.

“I’ve been up and down,” Lowery said. “My season pretty much has gone like the (Wyoming) game. I had a really bad first half. The second half was up to my level of play, but it was already too late.”

And as with the rest of the offensive problems, Lowery had a difficult time explaining why he was so off in the first half and so accurate in the second in Laramie.

“On the first (interception) I got a little anxious and didn’t see a guy step in from the backside,” he said. “The second one was mechanical--I let it fly.”

And then, there was a botched quarterback sneak on fourth-and-one from the Wyoming four, when Lowery went left instead of up the middle and was stopped in his tracks.

“I thought there would be a hole out there, too,” Lowery said.

Said Coach Al Luginbill: “There have been games in which he’s been very, very good throwing the football and there have been games in which he has been inconsistent like the rest of the passing game.

“Some of it is his responsibility; some of it isn’t.”

There have been many theories for the offense’s demise and Lowery’s inconsistency. The most popular is that Dave Lay should have never been fired as offensive coordinator; that new coordinator Bret Ingalls’ calls have been too predictable and too close to the vest.

Others range from inexperienced receivers to complacency.

Lowery’s teammates, though, stand by their leader.

“His leadership is excellent,” wide receiver Keith Williams said. “The way he keeps us going. . . . Since our offense hasn’t been clicking, we drive down again and again and he makes us feel like we can still score even though we didn’t score last time.”

Williams recalled a Lowery moment from SDSU’s victory over New Mexico.

“We were on the verge of scoring and they were getting feisty with us after the whistle,” Williams said. “I remember him running over and pulling me by the neck saying, ‘Keith, we don’t need a personal foul now.’ ”

The problem is, there are two kinds of quarterbacks: winners and leaders. Sometimes, they overlap. Sometimes, they don’t. And Lowery certainly doesn’t want to be remembered only for the latter characteristic.

Six-and-oh as a starter? Seems like a long time ago.

“It’s almost like, why couldn’t it have happened this year?” Lowery said.

But in the same breath, he realizes that all is not yet lost.

“I wanted to have the chance to do what we can do now: Win the WAC,” Lowery said.

And as the Aztecs buckle up their chin straps this week in hopes of preventing Hawaii from winning its first WAC title, they stand united behind their quarterback.

“Tell you what,” Luginbill said. “I love going to war with him. His greatest attribute is that when the going gets tough, he loves to stick his nose in there.

“I just love having him on my side.”

The love grows deeper, though, only with victories.