Records are often a reason for celebration.
San Diego State linebacker Russell Allen, however, wasn't baking any cakes or patting himself on the back after his Aztecs lost a lopsided 23-7 game to Utah.
"That's not what's important," Allen said after being told he broke the SDSU record with 22 tackles in the game. "What's important is getting W's."
And for the Aztecs, getting those W's has been so rare the past few seasons, any lost opportunity to get one takes away any sense of accomplishment over personal statistics.
Though Allen was a monster on the defensive side of the field and was joined by Ray Bass, Core Boudreaux and Andrew Preston with double-figure tackles, those numbers masked the underlying problem.
San Diego State's defense was on the field entirely too long.
The overall time of possession numbers show the Utes held the ball just about 6 1/2 minutes more than the Aztecs. But that, too, is a little misleading. The Utes piled up 514 yards on 78 offensive plays.
Informed that his 22 tackles broke the school record and tied the stadium record held by Brian Urlacher of New Mexico, Allen was unimpressed.
"I needed to make a few more, obviously," the junior said.
As porous as the Aztec defense was at times, it also kept SDSU in the game.
Though the Utes were moving the ball well between the 10-yard lines, the Aztecs toughened up in the red zone, forcing one turnover on what would have been a sure touchdown drive and making Utah settle for a trio of Louie Sakoda field goals.
"I thought our defense played well," SDSU coach Chuck Long said. "It kept us in the football game, and they were out there a long, long time."
Being out there all that time gave Allen plenty of opportunities to get involved. He had 13 tackles at the half and was just one tackle away from tying the conference record for tackles in a game.
"He's as impressive as I've been around at that position," Long said. "He was all over the field."
Aside from a solid 61-yard drive in the second quarter to take a 7-6 lead on a 5-yard run from Brand Sullivan, the Aztecs were ineffective offensively. They gained only 150 yards on their other drives and had just 12 first downs compared to Utah's 27.
"We never got it going today," Long said. "It's back to the drawing board and time to take a look at some of the adjustments we need to make."
Now, though, the Aztecs (2-4, 1-1 MWC) limp back to San Diego hoping for some homefield advantage. They've got three straight home games, starting with New Mexico next week.
"We know we're better than we showed," Long said. "But we need to go out and show it.'
E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com