Gutierrez to Start for SDSU Against UCLA : College football: Redshirt sophomore to fill in for Lowery, whose back injury might keep him out of the New Mexico game as well.

SAN DIEGO —  San Diego State, nationally ranked by the Associated Press for the first time since 1977, will start a redshirt sophomore quarterback who has yet to attempt a collegiate pass Saturday in the Rose Bowl against No. 11 UCLA.

Although Coach Al Luginbill said a decision on the status of injured incumbent David Lowery will not be made until after the team finishes its pregame warm-ups Saturday, sources said that Tim Gutierrez was told by Luginbill on Wednesday evening that he will start.

Furthermore, sources said, Lowery’s lower-back injury is severe enough that there is a good possibility he will miss SDSU’s game at New Mexico on Oct. 3. Luginbill denied that.

“I haven’t been told that,” Luginbill said. “If he misses this week, it is with the idea that we’re going to have him for the conference games.”

SDSU trainer Brian Barry said Lowery’s injury is a lumbar (lower back) strain/sprain and termed Lowery’s availability as “day-to-day.” Apparently, it is a severely strained lower back.

Lowery, SDSU’s most valuable player in 1991, is undergoing therapy three times a day, taking anti-inflammatory and pain-killing medication four times a day and is undergoing electrical stimulation on his back.

Although Lowery said he is not sure how he originally hurt the back, he thinks it is from a hit during the USC game. Until his back started aching last Friday, Lowery had not missed a practice in three years. Even when he suffered a broken jaw before the start of spring practice in 1991, he attended practices, skipping only the contact portions.

However, Lowery was not at practice Friday, Monday or Tuesday. He lobbed a few short passes at Wednesday’s practice and took about 20 snaps Thursday with the second team.

“I only practiced one day this week so we’ll see what the coaches decide,” said Lowery, who has led SDSU to a 7-2-2 record since taking over at quarterback four games into the 1991 season. “It’s been improving the past 48 hours really well.”

The No. 21 Aztecs (1-0-1) are off to a strong start against what shapes up as the most difficult schedule in school history. Saturday’s game will be their third consecutive appearance on network television. And with Marshall Faulk in their backfield, the Aztecs are getting more national attention than at any other time in school history.

And, since Cree Morris, who started the first four games in 1991, transferred to Division II St. Mary’s last winter, the Aztecs do not have an experienced backup.

That helps explain why Gutierrez has been having trouble eating and sleeping this week. His SDSU career consists of two handoffs last season in a game at Hawaii.

“I don’t know whether I can’t sleep because it’s so hot or because I’m nervous,” Gutierrez said. “(Wednesday) night, I was up at 3 a.m. drinking cold water and watching HBO, Showtime and ESPN.”

Gutierrez couldn’t eat dinner Wednesday and skipped lunch Thursday. Not since his days at Santa Clara High in Oxnard has Gutierrez been mere days away from starting a football game.

“It’s no problem, Tim is capable,” SDSU receiver Keith Williams said. “I just hope he is confident that he can do it because we think he can do it. It’s full steam ahead for our offense.”

In three seasons at Santa Clara High, Gutierrez passed for 7,272 yards, which ranks third all-time in the CIF Southern Section, fifth in the state and ninth in the nation.

“He has excellent arm strength, has the ability to read (defenses) real well and has an extremely quick release,” said Tom O’Brien, who was the offensive line coach at Santa Clara while Gutierrez was there and is currently the school’s head coach. “His main forte here was dropping back, scanning the field and getting the ball out of his hand as quickly as possible.”

Gutierrez, 6 feet 1 and 205 pounds, redshirted his freshman year at SDSU then was third in line behind Lowery and Morris last season. He came out of practices last spring as the No. 2 quarterback behind Lowery, underwent shoulder surgery shortly afterward and resumed his role as backup this fall.

“It’s gone great,” Gutierrez said of this week’s practice sessions. “I’ve had some good practices. The offense is flowing pretty good. I’m trying to step in and play as if I were the starting quarterback.”

Said Luginbill: “He’s got a live arm and a quick release. He’s never shown a lack of toughness.”

Once, the thought of starting a game for SDSU was the furthest thing from Gutierrez’s mind. During his freshman season, he said, he thought seriously about leaving the Aztecs.

“It’s difficult coming out of high school as a--quote--star,” Gutierrez said. “It’s sort of a culture shock to come in here and sort of be thrown to the side. It gets your confidence low. . . .

“I had low self-esteem. My family talked me into staying here.”

It is ironic that Gutierrez is getting his chance this week at UCLA because, in 1991, Lowery replaced Morris in the second half of the UCLA game and kept the job the rest of the season.

Also, Gutierrez, who turned 21 on Sept. 2, took a recruiting trip to New Mexico before ultimately choosing SDSU, and the Aztecs are at New Mexico next week.

Gutierrez suddenly finds himself a man in demand. He even ducked out of the locker room on Wednesday to avoid reporters.

“To me, it’s bad karma to talk to reporters before a game,” he said Thursday, smiling.

He already speaks like a true veteran.

Aztec Notes

Coach Al Luginbill has been selected to assist Texas Tech’s Spike Dykes in coaching the West team in the Japan Bowl. The all-star game, scheduled for the Tokyo Dome on Jan. 10, features the top college seniors. “I’ve never been there in my life,” Luginbill said. “I don’t know much about it, other than they don’t practice in pads. I like that.” . . . Aside from quarterback David Lowery, the Aztecs have no major injuries.