PROVO — Although San Diego State has lost five consecutive games and resides in the Mountain West Conference cellar, BYU coach Gary Crowton considers the slumping Aztecs a dangerous opponent.
Picked to finish third in the preseason MWC media poll, SDSU has suffered through a disappointing campaign. It narrowly lost to nationally ranked Michigan, 24-21, on the road in mid-September, but has struggled since the start of October.
The Aztecs, who haven't lost six games in a row since 1988, will try to change their fortunes in November when they visit BYU on Saturday (1 p.m., Ch. 14).
Now that SDSU (2-6 overall, 0-4 in the MWC) is out of the conference race, coach Tom Craft is building for the future, according to Crowton, whose Cougars (4-4, 3-1) have their sights on a bowl game and are still in contention for a conference title.
"He's looking for long-term goals, long-term success," Crowton said of Craft. "To get that, he's got to continue to develop his players. He's not afraid to keep guys in there to throw the ball. He's got nothing to lose except for the development of his players because he's looking for the long-term right now. So they are dangerous."
The Aztecs' most dangerous offensive weapon is junior wide receiver Jeff Webb, who enjoyed a breakout game a year ago against the Cougars. The talented playmaker caught 10 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns.
This season, Webb has hauled in 58 receptions for 732 yards and six touchdowns. In last week's 51-28 loss to Utah, he had nine catches for 138 yards and a pair of TDs.
Webb is the latest in a long line of SDSU wide receiver stars that include Haven Moses, Darney Scott, Webster Slaughter, Az Hakim, Will Blackwell, Patrick Rowe, J.R. Tolver and Kassim Osgood.
Naturally, BYU's defense will key on Webb on Saturday.
"He's a big, tall receiver who runs well," Crowton said. "He's very capable of making big plays. They have a real good receiving corps. We've got to be sound in the secondary and put pressure on them up front."
"He's a great athlete, and he has a lot of talent. He just makes plays," BYU safety Aaron Francisco said of Webb. "All the big plays go to him. The long-yardage plays go to him. They know he can make plays. He runs good routes, he has speed and he's experienced. He's the guy you've got to look out for. He's not the only guy on their offense, but if you can stop their best player, they're going to have a harder time moving the ball."
The quarterback who will try to get Webb the ball is redshirt freshman Kevin O'Connell, who has two starts under his belt and will be the starter for the remainder of the season. In the Utah game last week, he completed 21 of 43 passes for 252 yards with two interceptions.
Craft was pleased with the improvement he saw from his offense against the Utes. The Aztecs are last in the league in scoring offense, averaging 20 points per game.
"Offensively, there was some development," Craft said. "I thought Kevin O'Connell played extremely well. We came away feeling we like we had some progress offensively."
GAME TIME SET: BYU announced Thursday that kickoff for the Nov. 13 game against New Mexico in Provo has been set for 10 a.m. It will be broadcast on Ch. 5.
COMPARING UTES AND COUGARS: Craft offered comparisons this week between rivals Utah and BYU, which meet Nov. 20 in Salt Lake City.
"Utah has good supporting people in the skill positions. They're very fast, very physical with ball skills," Craft said. "What we look at in BYU is a football team that has great team speed at the skill positions. I'm very impressed with their skill people offensively. They're not as big in stature as Utah, but they might be a little bit faster. They might be a team down the line, in their rivalry, that could be a good test for Utah."
THE DARK SIDE: SDSU's "Dark Side" defense is led by a duo of very good linebackers — Kirk Morrison and Matt McCoy. Both players have been named to the Bronko Nagurski Watch List, awarded to the nation's top defensive player. Morrison is also one of 12 Butkus Award semifinalists while McCoy was named the Nagurski national defensive player of the week after he collected 18 tackles against Michigan.
BORNES FREE: This season, the Aztecs have played without running back Lynell Hamilton, who rushed for 1,000 yards as a freshman in 2003. Last week against Utah, another freshman, Brandon Bornes, established himself in the SDSU backfield, rushing 17 times for 112 yards.
THE BYU-SDSU SERIES: The Cougars own a 21-6-1 all-time record against the Aztecs and have won eight of the last 10 meetings. BYU has a 12-2 mark against SDSU in Provo. The last time the Aztecs won in Provo was 2000, when they earned a 16-15 come-from-behind win.
Elite company
San Diego State junior Jeff Webb, who had 10 catches for 253 yards and three touchdowns last year against BYU, is moving up the school's prestigious list of all-time reception leaders:
Receiver Catches
1. J.R. Tolver* 262
2. Will Blackwell* 197
3. Monty Gilbreath 187
4. Tim Delaney 180
5. Darnay Scott* 178
6. Patrick Rowe* 155
7. Gary Garrison* 148
8. Az-zahir Hakim* 147
9. Craig Scoggins 129
9. Jeff Webb 129
* Denotes those SDSU receivers who have played in the NFL. Other standout receivers Webb has already passed include longtime NFL players Haven Moses (Buffalo and Denver, 1968-81), Webster Slaughter (Cleveland, Houston, Kansas City, N.Y. Jets, San Diego, Baltimore, 1986-99) and Isaac Curtis (Cincinnati, 1973-84).
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com