1998 San Diego State Aztecs football team

The 1998 San Diego State Aztecs football team represented San Diego State University during the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). This was the last season for the Aztecs in the WAC, as they became a charter member of the Mountain West Conference in the 1999 season.

1998 San Diego State Aztecs football
WAC Pacific Division co-champion
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
DivisionPacific Division
1998 record7–5 (7–1 WAC)
Head coach
Home stadiumQualcomm Stadium
(Capacity: 54,000)
1998 Western Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Mountain Division
No. 13 Air Force x$  7 –1     12 –1  
Wyoming  6 –2     8 –3  
Colorado State  5 –3     8 –4  
Rice  5 –3     5 –6  
TCU  4 –4     7 –5  
Tulsa  2 –6     4 –7  
SMU  1 –1     0 –1  
UNLV  0 –8     0 –11  
Pacific Division
BYU xy  7 –1     9 –5  
San Diego State x  7 –1     7 –5  
Utah  5 –3     7 –4  
Fresno State  5 –3     5 –6  
San Jose State  3 –5     4 –8  
UTEP  3 –5     3 –8  
New Mexico  1 –7     3 –9  
Hawaii  0 –8     0 –12  
Championship: Air Force 20, BYU 13
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The team was led by head coach Ted Tollner, in his fifth year. They played home games at Qualcomm Stadium[note 1] in San Diego. They completed the season as co-champions of the Pacific Division of the WAC, with a record of seven wins, five losses (7–5, 7–1 WAC). The Aztecs qualified for a bowl game at the end of the 1998 season, and played the North Carolina Tar Heels in the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Schedule
DateOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 5No. 20 Wisconsin*
Cox 4L 14–2637,471
September 12at No. 22 USC*
Fox West 2L 6–3549,927
September 24No. 16 Arizona*
  • Qualcomm Stadium
  • San Diego
ESPNL 16–3523,811
October 3at Tulsa
W 24–14 OT18,320
October 9Hawaii
  • Qualcomm Stadium
  • San Diego
Cox 4W 35–1320,320
October 17at New Mexico
Cox 4W 36–33 OT26,187
October 24Utah
  • Qualcomm Stadium
  • San Diego
Cox 4W 21–20 OT28,807
October 29at BYU
ESPNL 0–1363,496
November 7Fresno State[note 2]
  • Qualcomm Stadium
  • San Diego (rivalry)
ABCW 10–022,497
November 14at San Jose State
Cox 4W 34–612,833
November 21UTEP
  • Qualcomm Stadium
  • San Diego
Cox 4W 34–2922,365
December 19vs. North Carolina*
ESPN2L 13–2021,429
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

[1][2]

Team players in the NFL

No SDSU players were selected in the 1999 NFL Draft.[3]

The following finished their college career in 1998, were not drafted, but played in the NFL.[4]

PlayerPositionFirst NFL team
Joe TuipalaLinebacker2001 Jacksonville Jaguars

Team awards
AwardPlayer
Most Valuable Player
(John Simcox Memorial Trophy)		Damon Gourdine
Outstanding Players
(Byron H. Chase Memorial Trophy)		Mike Malano, C
Jonas Lewis, RB
Damon Gourdine, WR
Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, DE
Joe Tuipala, LB
Rico Curtis, FS
Team Captains
Dr. R. Hardy / C.E. Peterson Memorial Trophy		Brian Russell, Off
Joe Jackson, Def
Joe Tuipala, Def
Mike Duran, Special Teams
Mac Cleary, Special Teams
Most Inspirational PlayerJoe Jackson
Scottie Nicholson

[2]

Notes
  1. San Diego County Credit Union Stadium (SDCCU Stadium) was known as Qualcomm Stadium from 1988 through 2016. It had been called Jack Murphy Stadium since 1981.
  2. The official name of Fresno State has been California State University, Fresno since 1972. However, it is still commonly known as Fresno State.

References
  1. "San Diego State 1998 Schedule". Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  2. "San Diego State 2016 Football Media Guide". Archived from the original on 2016-10-18. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  3. "1998 NFL Draft". Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  4. "San Diego St. Players/Alumni". Retrieved December 8, 2016.
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