IOWA 39, SAN DIEGO STATE 38 : The 9th Holiday Bowl : From Cheers to Tears as Aztecs Left the Field : SDSU Players Stunned After Thinking Hard-Fought Victory Was in the Bag

SAN DIEGO —  One minute, San Diego State’s players were celebrating an apparent Holiday Bowl victory Tuesday night.

The next minute, they looked as if they had just attended a funeral.

Fifth-year seniors Jim Plum and Brett Blanchard walked off the field in tears with their arms around each other.

Several players--including Richard Brown, Mario Mitchell and Alfred Jackson--remained on the field staring into space.

Numerous others were in tears as they headed to the locker room.

All of them had one thing in common. None could believe how they had just lost to Iowa, 39-38, on a 41-yard Rob Houghtlin field goal on the game’s final play.

It simply shouldn’t have been this way.

The Aztecs had led early in the fourth quarter, 35-21. Even after Iowa rebounded to take a one-point lead, 36-35, Kevin Rahill’s 21-yard field goal with 47 seconds remaining seemingly sealed the game for SDSU.

But it simply wasn’t to be. First, there was Kevin Harmon’s 48-yard kickoff return to SDSU’s 37.

Then there was Houghtlin’s magic foot again. He’s the same guy who beat Michigan last season and Minnesota this season with last-second field goals.

Now, the third time was not so charming for SDSU.

“That’s the worst way you can ever lose a game,” Aztec defensive tackle Levi Esene said. “We had been celebrating on our sideline. All of a sudden, things turned so quickly.”

SDSU had become accustomed to quick turnarounds in 1986. However, before the Holiday Bowl, all of the miracles had belonged to the Aztecs.

They began the season with a fourth-quarter victory over Cal State Long Beach, 27-24, after having trailed, 14-0. They won the next week against Utah, 37-30, on a last-minute touchdown.

There would also be fourth-quarter victories against New Mexico, Colorado State and Wyoming. Nobody involved with the team will ever forget SDSU’s last-minute, 86-yard drive without any timeouts to beat Colorado State, 27-26.

But fate has a cruel way of getting even, which is exactly what happened against Iowa.

“This was just one of those things,” said Mitchell, a cornerback. “I guess it was time for our miracle to come to an end. I’m just sorry it had to be here at the Holiday Bowl.”

In years to come, the Aztecs will have bittersweet memories from the Holiday Bowl. Most of all, they proved they could play against a team that has joined Michigan and Ohio State as the Elite Three of the Big Ten.

Individually, there were some accomplishments that won’t soon be forgotten.

Todd Santos, despite a poor first quarter, passed for 298 yards and 3 touchdowns. Chris Hardy scored two touchdowns and a two-point conversion.

Defensively, Randy Kirk was involved on 11 tackles, and Lyndon Earley and Brown were involved on nine. The Aztecs also recorded five sacks, tying a Holiday Bowl record.

Most noteworthy were the accomplishments of Monty Gilbreath and Jackson, two reserve wide receivers. Both were pressed into prominent roles because Anthony Conyers, the team’s leading wide receiver, was suspended from the game for testing positive for cocaine.

Gilbreath, a freshman, had caught 4 passes for 76 yards all season. He caught 4 for 81 yards against Iowa, including a leaping reception that he turned into a 28-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Jackson, a sophomore who converted from defensive back, had two receptions for 89 yards and a touchdown against Iowa. His 44-yard touchdown in the second quarter gave SDSU a 14-7 lead, and his 45-yard reception late in the fourth quarter set up Rahill’s go-ahead field goal.

Big plays are nothing new to Jackson. He caught game-winning touchdowns against Long Beach and Colorado State. And his 43-yard reception set up the game’s only touchdown as SDSU won the Western Athletic Conference by beating Brigham Young, 10-3.

“I consider myself an unselfish player,” Jackson said. “But in situations like those, I just love for them to throw to me all the time.”

This time, Jackson won’t be remembered for game-winning heroics. Instead, he made a critical fourth-quarter play that will be lost in the aftermath of Houghtlin’s game-winning field goal.

“This game should have been ours,” Aztec guard Doug Aronson said. “We worked so hard. Sooner or later, I guess bad breaks are going to come.”