Snapdragon Stadium- San Diego, CA.

In the battle for sole possession of first place in the Mountain West Conference, the San Diego State Aztecs (8-2, 5-1) defeated the Boise State Broncos (6-4, 4-2), 17-7, in wet and rainy conditions at Snapdragon Stadium. 

“It was a great win,” said SDSU head coach Sean Lewis postgame. “Sitting here at 8-2. (We) control our own destiny and (were) able to take that next step. We got to do it again.”

With SDSU quarterback Jayden Denegal still hampered by a lingering injury and the Broncos’ starting quarterback Maddux Madsen out due to injury, both offenses relied heavily on the ground game. 

Denegal completed only 6 of 10 passes for 17 yards, while Max Cutforth completed 12 of 18 passes for 104 yards, although he only had 32 passing yards until their final drive. 

The Aztecs rushed for 277 yards. The Broncos had 164. 

“We bullied the hell out of them,” Lewis remarked when asked about the physicality from the defensive and offensive lines. “It’s funny. A year ago a lot of people talked about the gap between our programs. The gap doesn’t seem too significant, does it? Our strength and conditioning department does a hell of a job. Our kids do a hell of a job. We are a physical outfit.”

“We’ve been saying all week that if you want to be the man, you have to beat the man so it feels really good to get a big win like this at home,” added LB Owen Chambliss.  

Lucky Sutton (25 car, 150 yds) rushed for 100 yards for the fifth time this season and is now over 1,000 for the season. He became the 20th Aztec with a 1,000 rushing yard season in program history. 

“I’m really grateful and thankful for the offensive line,” Sutton said postgame about his season. “(I) wouldn’t have gotten there without them. They’ve done an incredible job turning it around from last year. This is also their achievement as well so I’m really proud of that.” 

Denegal rushed for both of the Aztecs’ touchdowns, becoming the fifth SDSU quarterback since at least the 1996 season with multiple rushing touchdowns in a game. 

Dylan Riley (21 car, 79 yds, 1 TD) and Sire Gaines (13 car, 78 yds) led the Broncos’ rushing attack. 

A 41-yard run by Christian Washington (9 car, 98 yds) gave the Aztecs their first first down of the game to start their fourth drive. On their first three drives, they totaled ten yards. Washington added 38 more yards on four other carries to get the Aztecs down to the one-yard line, and Denegal took it into the end zone for the first score of the game. 

“Christian did a great job providing a spark,” said Lewis. “He did a really good job in some of those gap runs … to take advantage of the holes created by the O-line and the tight end.”

The Broncos answered with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that took 7:46 and tied the game on Riley’s 9-yard run. Dalesean Staley met Riley in the backfield but missed the tackle that allowed him to run into the end zone. 

Lewis rolled the dice on 4th and 1 from midfield with less than three minutes remaining in the first half, and Sutton took the handoff from the T-formation and scampered 27 yards to the Broncos’ 23 for the first down. 

“It was a culture play, a culture moment,” Lewis exclaimed when asked about the decision. “As the boys came over (during the timeout), it was pretty apparent that they wanted to go for it. You guys want this, let’s own it.”

Lewis credited OL coach Mike Schmidt with installing the T-formation into the playbook in the spring. 

“We knew it was going to come down to running the ball and we had to step up and do our job,” added Sutton. 

Denegal’s second touchdown run of the game came on a QB draw on 3rd and Goal from the 8 for a 14-7 halftime lead. Denegal weaved through blockers and dove headfirst into the end zone to complete the scoring play. 

At halftime, the Aztecs had 166 rushing yards and -5 passing yards while the Broncos had 121 rushing yards and 13 passing yards. 

It wasn’t until a 23-yard reception by Mikey Welsh with eight minutes left in the third quarter that the Aztecs (and Denegal) reached positive passing yards for the game. 

Gabriel Plascencia’s 47-yard field goal gave the Aztecs a ten-point advantage with 10:51 remaining in the game. 

There were not many penalties in the game, but the Broncos committed a crucial one in the fourth quarter that dampened their hopes of a comeback. On 4th and 2 from the SDSU 43, Cutforth found Cameron Bates for 19 yards and a first down. But the play was called back due to a holding penalty by Sire Gaines on Brady Nassar, and the Broncos elected to punt the ball on 4th and 12.

Colton Boomer missed from 41 yards out with 1:20 remaining in the game, which would have cut the Aztecs’ lead to 7 and given the Broncos a chance to recover an onside kick. The Aztecs were able to run out the remaining clock. 

The Aztecs had one star player return, but lost another during the game. Chris Johnson (6 tackles, 1 PBU) started after missing last week’s contest at Hawai’i. Jordan Napier exited the game after taking a low hit from a Broncos defender and did not return. He was in street clothes with a brace on his left leg for the second half and Lewis said they would know more about the severity of the injury after running some tests. 

The linebacker duo of Chambliss and Mister Williams led the Aztecs with eight tackles each. Eric Butler led the way with two PBU’s and added 0.5 TFL. Ty Benefield led all defenders with 11 tackles.

After giving up 24 points to Hawai’i in the first half last week, the defense was back to its usual ways.

“That’s the kind of team we are, we are going to bounce back, make sure we handle the prep the right way,” said Chambliss postgame.  

Quick Notes

• Chad Woosley was the Honor Warrior for tonight’s game; Woosley was an RB at SDSU from 2016 to 2018
• A drone show took place at halftime above the east end of the stadium while the SDSU marching band performed on the field
• The Aztecs are now 62-2 in their last 64 games which they have rushed for over 200 yards, including 5-0 this season
• Hunter Green continued his great season, averaging 45 yards per punt on six punts, although a few pooch punts from midfield rolled into the end zone for touchbacks
• Despite the wet and rainy conditions, neither team turned the ball over
• Neither team recorded a sack, although opportunities were limited with such few passing attempts by both teams
• The Aztecs only committed two penalties for 15 yards, while the Broncos committed four for 45 yards
• The announced attendance was 29,201
• Mikey Welsh was the only Aztec with more than one reception and one receiving yard, finishing with three receptions for 22 yards
• Latrell Caples led the Broncos with seven receptions (42 yds), while Chase Penry led them with 50 receiving yards (3 rec)
• Lewis said postgame that over 150 high school recruits were invited and in attendance tonight

The Aztecs finish out their regular-season home schedule against San Jose State (3-7, 2-4) next Saturday night. Kickoff is at 730pm on FS1. The Spartans lost to Nevada, 55-10, on Saturday. 

Andre Haghverdian

Avid sports fan and historian of basketball, baseball, football and soccer. UC San Diego and San Diego State alumni living in America’s Finest City. Diverse team following across multiple sports leagues, but Aztecs come first in college athletics.