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
Las Vegas Bowl, L 13–20 vs. North Carolina
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Division	Pacific Division
Record	7–5 (7–1 WAC)
Head coach	Ted Tollner (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dave Lay (6th season)
Defensive coordinator	Claude Gilbert (8th as DC, 16th overall season)
Home stadium	Qualcomm Stadium

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 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

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	No. 20 Wisconsin*	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA	Cox 4	L 14–26	37,471
September 12	at No. 22 USC*	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	Fox West 2	L 6–35	49,927
September 24	No. 16 Arizona*	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA	ESPN	L 16–35	23,811
October 3	at Tulsa	Skelly Stadium Tulsa, OK		W 24–14	18,320
October 9	Hawaii	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA	Cox 4	W 35–13	20,320
October 17	at New Mexico	University Stadium Albuquerque, NM	Cox 4	W 36–33 OT	26,187
October 24	Utah	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA	Cox 4	W 21–20 OT	28,807
October 29	at BYU	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	ESPN	L 0–13	63,496
November 7	Fresno State	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA (rivalry)	ABC	W 10–0	22,497
November 14	at San Jose State	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	Cox 4	W 34–6	12,833
November 21	UTEP	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA	Cox 4	W 34–29	22,365
December 19	vs. North Carolina*	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV (Las Vegas Bowl)	ESPN2	L 13–20	21,429
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Team players in the NFL

No SDSU players were selected in the 1999 NFL draft.

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

Player	Position	First NFL team
Joe Tuipala	Linebacker	2001 Jacksonville Jaguars

Team awards

Award	Player
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 Player	Joe Jackson Scottie Nicholson