San Diego State University improved to 5-1 after a stunning come from behind victory over the University of Wyoming 26-22 at SDCCU stadium.
Down three points late in the fourth quarter, SDSU quarterback Ryan Agnew avoided a sack and found tight end Daniel Bellinger for a touchdown that gave the Aztecs a 26-22 lead with just over two minutes remaining.
“Everyday at practice we go out and work as hard as we can,” Bellinger said, “When it comes down to that, we try to get open and that’s exactly what happened.”
The Aztecs defense stood tall and sealed the four point victory with an interception by cornerback Luq Barcoo.
After a late hit out of bounds penalty was called on the Aztecs’ Dwyane Johnson Jr, the Cowboys took advantage of the mistake and scored a touchdown, which gave them a 22-19 lead after converting a two point conversion.
“I didn’t agree with the call,” Rocky Long said, “I don’t think Dwyane did anything that would’ve caused a flag, but they threw it.”
Run plays and designed quarterback keepers nearly beat the Aztecs on Saturday night. Sean Chambers, the Cowboys quarterback had two rushing touchdowns and ran in a two-point conversion on 13 rushing attempts.
He had 14 passing attempts and only completed five of them, but threw for 94 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Wyoming tallied 39 rushing attempts and had three rushers combined for 157 yards.
“We missed two tackles that added up to over 100 yards rushing.” Long said, “So you miss tackles, you give up rushing yards. In the second half, we didn’t miss tackles.”
The Aztecs’ offense had a hard time scoring for the first half of the game, even trailing 14-3 at one point and continually settling for field goals. However, in the middle of the third quarter, the Aztecs seemed to establish their run game and rolled the dice twice on fourth down.
On a fourth-and-one, the Aztecs converted and set up a Juwaun Washington touchdown. Then, on a fourth-and-three late in the third, Agnew found Jesse Matthews for a first down, which set up a go-ahead touchdown run by Washington that gave the Aztecs a five-point lead.
“Anytime we have two teams with the same philosophy, you want to pound the rock and be physical.” Washington said, “It’s going to take some time to get going. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing.”
In the fourth quarter down by a score, the University of Wyoming had a chance to retake the lead, but the Cowboys fumbled the ball during a punt return and the Aztecs took over deep in Cowboys territory.
Kicker Matt Araiza had already made two field goals on Saturday, but missed a kick that would’ve pushed the lead to eight. His streak of seven straight made kicks was snapped, Arazia is now 9-for-12 on field goals this season.
The Aztecs will face San Jose State on the road next Saturday.