Football

SDSU Wins Old Oil Can 17-7 Over Fresno State Bulldogs

Daniel Farr

Fresno State traveled down California to obtain the “Old Oil Can” trophy, but the Aztecs weren’t having it. 

If you took San Diego State University -1 and the under, congratulations. SDSU won 17-7 on Friday. 

As usual, SDSU was stout defensively. The Aztecs held the Bulldogs to only 70 rushing yards and only allowed them to convert 13 first downs. In fact, the Bulldogs were a porous 3-12 on third down (25%).

“We deserved to win the game,” Head coach Rocky Long said, “It’s a really very good win for our team, program and puts us one step closer to where we want to be.”

SDSU controlled the ball for 12 minutes longer than Fresno State did, and ran 30 more plays. 

“If you keep their offense off the field, they cant score points.” Senior quarterback Ryan Agnew said. “We have to get more points on the board so then the defense isn’t stressing.”

However, the Bulldogs claimed an early lead. Running back Ronnie Rivers was able to find the end zone and give Fresno State a 7-0 lead.

A big interception by SDSU’s Tariq Thompson set up the Aztecs inside the Fresno State 25-yard line. Two plays later, the Aztecs benefitted from a defensive pass interference and Chase Jasmin scored from the two yard line to tie the game. 

The Aztecs’ defense remained the story, as junior Luq Barcoo intercepted the Bulldogs. The junior college product has seven interceptions this season, which is tied for second in the nation. 

“We make it a competition of us getting plays,” Barcoo said, “So it’s kinda cool to see other guys make those plays and we’re just trying to make those plays.”

Meanwhile, SDSU has 85 interceptions since the start of the 2015 campaign, which is most in the entire nation during that span.

Safety Dwayne Johnson Jr. made it known he’s currently in last place for the team’s friendly competition.

“I got to get one, I got to get one.” Johnson Jr said, I’m in last place right now, but we’re always trying to make to plays to help us win.”

The Aztecs ran into some bad luck toward the end of half one. Senior quarterback Ryan Agnew was intercepted by Fresno State, but the Aztecs defense held tight and forced a Bulldogs punt.

Not too much later, Agnew found tight end Parker Houston for what looked like a touchdown, but it was overturned and SDSU settled for three points.

Right before the first half ended, the Aztecs had a field goal blocked, which kept the lead 10-7 at halftime. 

The Aztecs were marching to start the third quarter, but Chance Bell fumbled inside the three-yard line, which gave the Bulldogs possession again. It was the first time the Aztecs lost a fumble this season; the score remained 10-7.

At the very beginning of the fourth quarter, the Aztecs decided to go for it on fourth down from the Bulldogs two-yard line.

Agnew rolled out of the pocket and found Jasmine for an easy touchdown, which pushed their lead to 10. It was the first time Jasmine scored multiple touchdowns in one game.

The senior quarterback finished with a career high in completions (33) and passing yards (323). He finished with a quarterback rating of 130.7.

After the Bulldogs found some momentum halfway through the fourth quarter, they had a touchdown called back, then Barcoo intercepted Jorge Reyna once again to seal the deal.

It was the third turnover the Aztecs caused on Friday, they are 22-0 when forcing three or more turnovers. 

“This year we’re doing a much better job of taking the ball away,” Long said

The Aztecs are now (8-2; 5-2 Mountain West). They travel to Hawaii next week, kickoff will be 3 p.m. PST. 

Written by: Daniel Farr

SDSU PULLS OFF DRAMATIC COMEBACK AGAINST WYOMING 26-22

Daniel Farr

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.

Written by: Daniel Farr
Photo by: Justin Neeley

Aztecs Come Up Short Against Utah State 23-17

Daniel Farr

San Diego State was defeated by Utah State 23-17 on Saturday night at SDCCU stadium. For the Aztecs, it was a classic case of too little, too late.

The Aztecs had multiple streaks snapped tonight. They had a 13 game winning streak in the month of September snapped as well as a 10 game winning streak against the Aggies snapped. 

The Aztecs only scored three points in the first half and trailed by 17 at halftime.

However, a late game spark brought the Aztecs within striking distance. After struggling for most of the game, senior quarterback Ryan Agnew threw two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and cut the Aggies’ lead to six with just over five minutes remaining. He would finish with 281 yards and two touchdowns. 

One of his fourth quarter touchdowns was an across-the-body throw to sophomore Kobe Smith for 25 yards.

Quarterback Ryan Agnew attempting a pass.
(Photo: Justin Neeley)

“That was a miracle at that point.” Agnew said, “[I] Dropped back and they played like a prevent defense so nothing was really open. I tried to buy enough time, try and find the open guy and Kobe [Smith] made a play.”

The Aggies had an opportunity at a 42-yard field goal with 1:18 left in the game, but kicker Dominik Eberle missed the kick, which kept the margin at six points instead of nine. 

On the Aztecs final drive of the game, the offense failed to find the endzone and turned the ball over on downs.

“We had a play drawn up to get one across the middle,” Agnew said, “Wish I stayed in there a little longer [the pocket] and tried to deliver the throw, got to give the receivers a chance.”

SDSU led this one early with a slim 3-0 lead, but a crucial first quarter interception put the Aztecs behind the eight ball. Agnew was picked off by Shaq Bond who returned it for a touchdown.

The turnover was not the only thing that hurt the Aztecs. The team had six penalties for 61 yards, including an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. SDSU eclipsed their average penalties and penalty yards in the first half.

SDSU running back Jordan Byrd.
(Photo: Justin Neeley)

“Obviously the special team’s penalties always started us in bad field position,” Rocky Long said, “I haven’t seen them on film to see if they were legit or not, but we’ll find out. I think the only real bad penalty was we got a personal foul penalty and that’s ridiculous.”

The Aggies have racked up 1,330 yards in their first two games but were held to 375 total yards against the Aztecs.

“If you told me before the game we were going to hold them to 16 points on defense I’d tell you we were going to win,” Long said.

However, Long quickly critiqued his defense after the praise. When asked about how his defense played, Long did not hold back.

“Not good enough,” Long said. “It’s never good enough if you lose. We gave up some yards, but we made them kick field goals and I think they scored one touchdown on offense.”

The Aztecs were without contribution from senior running back Juwan Washington, who hasn’t played since week 1. He continues to suit up, but remains on the sidelines during games.

Asked if anything good came out of tonight Long didn’t mince words.

“Well, there’s no real positives because we lost,” he said. “I still believe our team can be a good football team and maybe we were okay tonight too because Utah State is pretty good, they got an NFL quarterback and that’s a hard thing to contend with.”

The Aztecs will look to gather themselves over their upcoming bye week and prepare for an away game against Colorado State.

Written by: Daniel Farr

Breven’s Blog – SDSU Football Preview

Peter Swan
SDSU Football

The San Diego State football team is six weeks away from its first game of the 2019 college football season. 

Today we are going to take an early preview at the team and its schedule; Last year, the Aztecs were a team that had its sights on a great season until injuries and counteroffensives came. Despite these setbacks, the Aztecs were able to win seven games and get to their ninth consecutive bowl game. Now, they have gone to a spread offense, which means more passing, but the same philosophy of running the ball will continue. SDSU football head coach Rocky Long said the spread offense will help the offensive line find their blocking man faster. 

The Scarlet and Black have seniors at quarterback (Ryan Agnew), running back (Juwan Washington) and fullback (Isaac Lessard) returning. Washington, who was injured last year, looks to have senior season like Rashaad Penny and Donnell Pumphrey and rush for 2,000 yards. When he got hurt, he led the country in rushing yards. Behind him, at the running back position the Aztecs have a group including: junior Chase Jasmin, and sophomores Jordan Byrd and Chance Bell to get yards. On the offensive line, senior Daishawn Dixon leads the way with juniors Jacob Capra (transfer from Oregon) and Zachary Thomas. Senior Parker Houston looks to replicate what Kahale Warring has done in years past at the tight end position. Also on offense, they have junior Tim Wilson Jr. to lead the way, especially for an offense that is going to the spread. 

On defense, they are led by lineman Myles Cheatum and linebacker Kyahva Tezino, who decided to return for his senior and is on the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list for the best college defense player. In addition to Tezino, Long will have sophomore cornerback Darren Hall, who recorded 45 tackles in 2018 as a freshman. Also on defense, they have junior safety Tariq Thompson, who plays safety and was a freshman All-American by FWAA and USA Today back in 2017. 

The Scarlet and Black lose one of the best kickers in the country in John Baron II, but redshirt freshman Matt Araiza steps in looking to repeat what Baron has done as an Aztec. Punter Brandon Heicklen returns for his senior season and Juwan Washington continues as the kick returner.  

If you’re wondering when the Aztecs are going to play, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a schedule for the San Diego State Aztecs 2019 Football Season: 

Date Opponents (all times PT) Notes (if any) 
Aug. 31 Weber State 6 p.m.     
Sept. 7  @ UCLA 1:15 p.m.   SDSU has never beaten UCLA in program history. 
Sept. 14  @ New Mexico State 5 p.m.   
Sept. 21 Utah State 7:30 p.m. First MW Conference game 
Oct. 5 @ Colorado State Will be on an ESPN Network 
Oct. 12 Wyoming 7:30 p.m. Hall of Fame Weekend 
Oct. 19 @ UNLV 7:30 p.m.  
Nov. 9 Nevada Redout & Homecoming 
Nov. 15 (Fri.) Fresno State 6:30 p.m.  
Nov. 23 @ Hawaii   
Nov. 30  Brigham Young 6 p.m.  

Looking at the Aztecs’ 11 games, there is no reason why they can’t make another bowl appearance. We will have to see how the spread offense does against the defenses from the opponents they face.  

Written by: Breven Honda