Mount Pleasant, Michigan

On the final weekend in September, the San Diego State Aztecs traveled across the country to take on the Central Michigan University Chippewas. 

University buildings dotted the forested campus as the first signs of fall emerged. Hues of orange and red appeared on select trees. The weather, perfect for football, had a foreboding wind. The season was about to change. 

SDSU hoped to mirror the coming of fall and turn over a new leaf on its season. While the 1-2 start of the Sean Lewis era was not unexpected, the manner of defeat left a cloud over the season. The Aztecs entered potentially the easiest part of its schedule on Saturday. 

They needed a win to inject life into their season. Ahead for most of the contest, the Aztecs lost 22-21 on a field goal with six seconds left. 

“Obviously a four-quarter fight,” head coach Sean Lewis said postgame. “It’s a tough one to come up on the wrong side of the ledger of that. The kids fought hard. We need to continue to strain. We need to continue to finish. We need to continue to lead in a more purposeful way so we can get the guys in a great position to be successful as we finish and end this thing the right way.” 

True freshman quarterback Danny O’Neil returned from injury and elevated the offense’s play. He finished 14-23 for 246 yards and two touchdowns.

In the first quarter, he found Nate Bennett for 34 yards and Louis Brown IV for a 43-yard completion. On the deep ball to Brown, O’Neil recognized CMU jumping offsides and went deep. Brown fought through physical coverage to make a great grab at CMU’s three. He also induced a groan from the home crowd. Running back Marquez Cooper finished that drive the next play with a three-yard touchdown run.

O’Neil’s first score of the contest came on a well-designed pass to Jude Wolfe. Lined out wide to start the play, Wolfe motioned inside. At the snap, he moved behind the center like a lead blocker for Marquez Cooper. When O’Neil pulled the handoff from Cooper, Wolfe was alone in the endzone. With a little jump pass, the Aztecs took a 14-10 lead.

“It was great to see him back out there,” tight end Jude Wolfe said. “I know he’s been attacking his rehab and recovery really hard. Doing everything he can to get back on the field. I thought he played well tonight.”

A special teams turnover set up the second score. Cornerback Chris Johnson beat his man and blew up punt returner Donte Kent just after the ball arrived. The pigskin shot out of Kent’s arms, and Brady Anderson made the recovery. Johnson added to his punt coverage heroics by downing a punt on CMU’s two on the Aztecs’ next punt.

“When you have your best guys adding value in multiple phases, that really sets the standard that no job is too small, so to speak,” Lewis said when asked about Johnson. “We put a major emphasis that all three phases need to be tied together.”

Throughout the first half, Cooper was bottled up. He had 15 attempts for 31 yards with 4:22 left in the second quarter. On a play SDSU had successfully run earlier, Ja’Shaun Poke motioned from the left, and at the snap, he ducked behind the line to the right side of the field. Cooper took a stretch to the left. He raced 47 yards before the Chippewas caught him.

Two plays later, O’Neil found Wolfe for a second touchdown. This time, SDSU’s QB found his tight end for 26 yards. On the play between Cooper’s long run and Wolfe’s touchdown, a CMU defensive back stepped on O’Neil’s injured knee. 

Motives are impossible to discern, but from the press box, the Chippewas defender looked down before stepping down. O’Neil responded with his play by throwing a second touchdown.

Postgame, Lewis said he did not see anything on the play. His concern was about his team’s performance. 

The incident was the first in a contest that became chippy. Before the half ended, SDSU’s Deshawn McCuin was ejected from the game momentarily. He raced into the locker room before the refs changed their minds after a review. As the teams exited the field for intermission, they exchanged heated pleasantries. After CMU’s last-second win, they raced to SDSU’s side and celebrated near the Aztecs bench.

The difference in the first half was that SDSU capitalized on three drives by scoring touchdowns. CMU settled for a pair of field goals. The Aztecs led 21-13. O’Neil finished the half 9-15 for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Cooper rushed for 80 yards and a score. Brown paced the Aztecs with five receptions for 84 yards.

Defensively, timely pressure limited CMU to those two field goals. JD Coffey III, starting in place of Dalesean Staley, led the team in tackles with nine. Staley did not make the trip to Mount Pleasant. SDSU did not record a sack but had half a dozen QB hurries. 

After struggling with penalties all year, the Aztecs did not have an accepted penalty in the opening half. Its first infraction, though, came on CMU’s first third-quarter possession. Cornerback Bryce Phillips interfered on a deep ball to keep the Chippewas drive alive. 

Nine plays later, including a fake punt, CMU had the ball first and goal at the eight. Despite two sacks on first and second down by Trey White, the Chippewas scored on a fourth-down run. CMU failed to covert a pair of two-point conversion attempts. The Red and Black led 21-19 with 5:52 left. 

After CMU’s 15-play, 7:29 drive, time of possession became a factor. The home team led in that category 26:17 to 12:51. SDSU needed a drive to turn the momentum and to give its defense a rest. O’Neil and the offense delivered the needed respite. 

“It’s always putting our guys in the best position to win and being loyal to that,” Lewis said. “And managing the clock and managing the situation so that we can manage everything that’s happening to put our kids in the best position to be successful. Clearly, I need to better job with that as we’re going forward. But, as the second-half adjustments were playing out, the game was evolving and unfolding; we could change our pace to make things a little more balanced as we went.”

The drive started with a pair of Cooper runs that resulted in a first down. A defensive holding penalty allowed the Aztecs to move the chains again. O’Neil found Poke on a center screen for another first on third and nine. Three plays later, the drive stalled, but the Aztecs ate up 4:12 seconds of the clock and flipped the field. It was SDSU’s longest drive of the contest.

Rested, the defense held CMU on the subsequent drive. The key play was the first of the fourth quarter. On 3rd and 3, CMU QB Joe Labas sailed a play-action pass high. Phillips was on the coverage. It would have taken a perfect pass to move the chains. 

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on CMU gave momentum to SDSU’s next drive. The Aztecs moved into Chippewas’ territory on Cooper’s 25th carry of the contest. Cooper was injured on the play. He returned a play later, but SDSU was forced to punt. 

Tyler Pastula nailed a 52-yard punt for a touchback. Clinging to a two-point lead, the defense was called upon again.

A game that had the making of a shoot-out turned into a traditional field position battle.

An illegal hands-to-the-face penalty by Tupu Alualu erased a game-changing strip sack by White. The infraction did not impact the play but took a turnover away from the Aztecs. White beat a double team on the play and raced across the field to make the play. 

With new life and momentum, CMU pounded the rock. Running back BJ Harris rushed for 30 yards on three straight carries. Believing they had the Aztecs off-balance, the Chippewas dropped back to pass with the ball at SDSU’s 34. White would not be denied. He sacked Labas, effectively ending CMU’s drive. 

Deep in its territory, O’Neil and the offense had their most effective drive in the second half. Lewis started with three straight runs. A jet sweep to Brown sandwiched two Cooper carries for a first down. O’Neil found Brown for 41 yards down the sideline. In single coverage, SDSU’s wideout separated from the defensive back. 

O’Neil could not find Brown in the end zone three plays later, and the Aztecs settled for a Nick Lopez 33-yard field. Lopez missed. 

Last week, CMU won with under a minute to go. Saturday, it needed late-game heroics again. SDSU did not fold. 

After White left the game with what appeared to be cramps, his replacement, Dominic Oliver, stopped Harris for a six-yard loss, setting up a 3rd and 13 from SDSU’s 38. Labas sailed a pass into coverage; Phillips intercepted the throw and returned it 68 yards. Oliver could not block Labas, and CMU’s QB made the tackle to give the Chippewas one more chance to win the game. 

Lewis called three runs to drain CMU of their timeouts. Lopez came out for another field goal. He missed a second attempt. This time from 27 yards. 

“At the end there, we wanted to … set up a good field goal and extend the lead to make it from a field goal to a touchdown would have to beat us,” Lewis said of his decision to keep the ball on the ground. “Also, taking time off the clock or making them use their timeouts, which we did. And then, effectively, we didn’t do enough in that situation.” 

“To me, at the end, and in those critical moments, a lot of it is about players and not about plays. And, giving the ball to Coop, again, (we) trusted in him, trusted in the o-line. But, I need to do a better job as a play caller as we continue to evolve as an offensive unit, making sure we are using all the weapons that we have at our disposal.”

Down two, CMU needed to drive the length of the field for a field goal attempt. SDSU’s defense could not hold again. The key play on the drive was a 4th and 7 on its own 44. Labas found Chris Parker for 16 yards to move the chains. 

With 25 seconds and no timeouts, Labas threw to Evan Boyd for a 12-yard game that moved the ball to the Aztecs’ 28-yard line. With 14 seconds left, CMU head coach Jim McElwain sent his field goal kicker, Tristian Mattson, onto the field. 

Lewis called a timeout, and McElwain reconsidered. Labas sailed a pass. Mattson trotted back into the game. Unphased, he hit the game-winner. 

“That’s not even in discussion,” White said if a loss like this could lead to the team losing effort moving forward. “That’s not in any part of our mind. Those games don’t really matter. They’re in the past now. We just got to move on to conference. We still got hope so that’s all we’re worried about now.”

In the loss, White had a monster game. He finished with three sacks, another tackle for loss, and eight tackles. The rest of the defense has eight pressures, but only White brought Labas down. Coffey III had 15 tackles on the night. 

Brown IV finished with 149 yards. Cooper finished with 111 yards on 34 attempts. 

The Aztecs have a long flight ahead before focusing on the start of conference play. SDSU welcomes Hawaii to Snapdragon Stadium next weekend. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 pm.

Paul Garrison

My earliest sport’s memory involve tailgating at the Murph, running down the circular exit ramps, and seeing the Padres, Chargers and Aztecs play. As a second generation Aztec, I am passionate about all things SDSU. Other interests include raising my four children, being a great husband and teaching high school.