Aztecs suffer third straight defeat, lose to Lobos 21-16

The San Diego State Aztecs (3-6, 2-2) lost to the New Mexico Lobos (4-6, 3-3), 21-16, in front of an announced crowd of 21,832 at Snapdragon Stadium on Friday night. It is the Aztecs second consecutive conference loss and third straight overall. 

“Obviously not the results that any of us was hoping for, that we worked so hard for and again, that starts with me first and foremost,” said SDSU head coach Sean Lewis postgame. “Need to do a much better job at the start of the week. Do a better job with our attention to detail how we are coaching them up so that when we get in the red zone … we can be much cleaner. 

After taking their first lead of the game (16-14) near the end of the third quarter, the Aztecs squandered it right away for good. The Lobos marched down the field and scored to reclaim their lead, 21-16, early in the fourth quarter. Devon Dampier (16/24, 175 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT) found Ryan Davis for the 8-yard touchdown reception, the final scoring play of the night.

Eli Sanders (16 car, 173 yds) rushed for the first two Lobo scores on the night. Dampier added 127 rushing yards on 17 carries. 

The Aztecs’ offense, who dominated the time of possession battle (35 to 25) and converted 11 of 20 third down attempts, had two drives to win the game, but were unable to score. 

“It starts and finishes with me and I got to do a better job, again, ironing out where the holes are and making sure we are putting ourselves in the best position to be successful,” said Lewis about why the offense has not been able to consistently score this season. 

Lewis added that the Lobos switched up their defense in the second half, and played more zone coverage and brought pressure packages from the boundary side, whereas they primarily played man and brough pressure from the field side in the first half. 

The Aztecs’ best chance to win the game came on a 3rd and 1 from the UNM 35, but Cam Davis took a handoff and immediately met multiple defenders and lost four yards. Instead of going for it on fourth down from the 39, Lewis opted to punt the ball away. The Aztecs did not have a chance to get back into UNM territory again. 

“What happened on the 3rd and 1 on the play prior, we kinda lost momentum in that regard,” said Lewis when asked about the decision to punt. “We had all three timeouts in our back pocket. Tyler (Pastula) is a really dangerous weapon. We were able to pin them back, if I’m not mistaken, Chris (Johnson) caught it at the one and pinned them back. It was the combination of the flow of the game at the time.” 

Danny O’Neil (26/41, 195 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT) came out accurate and efficient in the game, finding receivers short and in the flats to move the ball down the field and help the Aztecs control the clock. Unfortunately, three of their four red zone trips on the night ended in field goals instead of touchdowns. Finding that last gear to finish drives was a problem for the entire offense all night. 

“We just got to execute better,” said RB Marquez Cooper (123 yards on 35 carries). “Even myself, there were plays that I had to seize in the game. I should have seized the moments. I wish I could get them back.”

Cooper noted the Lobos primarily ran a 3-3 box defense against them, something the Aztecs had not seen much this season from opposing defenses. 

“Tonight, I was being a little bit too decisive early in the first half,” added Cooper. “(I) should have been more patient in the first half. Second half I was more patient and I had a better half.”

Jordan Napier caught a team-high nine passes for 63 yards on 16 targets. 

After the Lobos punted on their first drive of the game, they struck fast to score on their next two drives. After Tyler Pastula’s 64-yard punt bounced out of bounds at the one yard line, the Lobos only needed four plays to go 99 yards for the score. Sanders closed the drive with a 51-yard run, breaking at least four tackles on the way to the end zone. 

On their next drive, they only needed to go 81 yards for the score. On the second play of the drive, Sanders once again raced to the end zone, this time untouched for 68 yards. 

The Aztecs’ offense answered both of the Lobos’ scores with promising drives themselves, getting all the way to the red zone before having to settle for Gabriel Plascencia field goals (22, 31). Napier was a recurring theme, becoming O’Neil’s favorite target in the first half. One one drive, Napier looked to have found the end zone on a 3-yard reception, but the play was called back due to an offensive pass interference by Mekhi Shaw. 

After receiving a reprieve when a pass into the end zone intended for Shaw was flagged for defensive pass interference and given a 1st and Goal from the 4, they were unable to convert. On third down, the Aztec version of the “Philly Special” ended up incomplete when Napier’s pass for O’Neil was thrown inside when O’Neil expected it to go to his outside shoulder and was unable to turn his body in time. 

The Aztecs finally found the end zone late in the first half on Cooper’s first receiving touchdown of his career. O’Neil found Cooper wide open in the flat from five yards out to cut the Lobos lead to 14-13 at the half. A defensive pass interference on a deep pass to Napier helped keep the drive alive. Napier also added a 61-yard kickoff return in the half. 

The Aztecs took their first lead of the night at 16-14 near the end of the third quarter. A 16-play, 80-yard drive ended in Plascencia’s third field goal of the night (28). For the third time in four red zone trips, the Aztecs were unable to punch it in for the touchdown and had to settle for three instead. 

Randolph Kpai and Dimitri Johnson led the Lobos with 15 and 14 tackles, respectively. Kpai added a sack and two pass breakups while Johnson recorded 1.5 TFLs and a pass breakup. Former Aztec Noah Avinger returned to Snapdragon Stadium and finished the game with nine tackles and a TFL. 

Chris Johnson led the Aztecs with six tackles and Brady Nassar recorded the only TFL on the night for the Aztecs. 

Pastula continued his hot stretch, averaging 46.5 yards per punt and landing two inside the two yard line. 

The Aztecs head back out on the road next weekend to Las Vegas to play the UNLV Rebels (6-2, 2-1). Kickoff is at 730pm. 

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.