Aztecs use trickery to gain ultimate treat against Cougars

The San Diego State Aztecs (4-5, 3-2) defeated the Washington State Cougars (1-8, 0-5), 26-20, on Halloween night at Snapdragon Stadium. 

“That was a fun treat to get tonight,” said head coach Sean Lewis postgame. “Really proud of the effort of the boys, a good job by them, fighting all the way through. We knew it was going to be a four quarter battle. Really pleased with all three phases… obviously, not flawless, but tell you what, with the nine weeks we’ve battled through to find a way at home.”


Stone Saunders (12/21, 102 yds, 1 INT) earned his first win as a starter and helped the Aztecs inch closer to bowl eligibility. 

The majority of the offense relied on running backs Lucky Sutton (18 car, 115 yds) and Javion Kinnard (17 car, 87 yds, 2 TDs), leading the way for 202 of the 306 total yardage during a constant rain. 

“When you have kind of the elements kicking up and the ability to run the ball and we can dictate kind of the pace of it all, I thought that was important,” said Lewis, adding that with the rain, the team went more 12 personnel and took away the RPO aspect of the offense. 

Owen Eshelman (30/42, 299 yds, 1 INT, 34 rush yds, 2 TD) paced the Cougars’ offense, accounting for 333 of their 367 yards. 

Daniel Blood led the Cougars with eight receptions for 105 yards. 

The Aztecs offense picked up where it left off last week (49 points), taking their first two drives 79 yards for touchdowns. Sutton’s 46-yard run was the biggest play of the first half. Kinnard capped off both drives with scoring runs of nine and ten yards. 

The Aztecs’ third drive of the game ended on a Cooper DiLeva 36-yard field goal.

Unfortunately, the defense also looked like they did last week. After Josiah Cox’ terrific tackle to stop a 4th down run near the red zone on the opening drive of the game, the Cougars’ offense went 75 and 64 yards on their subsequent touchdown scoring drives. 

Owen Eshelman ran it in from four yards out for their first score, while Kirby Vorhees tied the game at 14 from three yards out. 

Kai Wallin’s interception near the end of the first half gave life to the struggling defense. Eshelman had time to throw and went through his progressions but did not see Wallin, who had dropped back in zone coverage from his EDGE position, as he came back to his right side and threw the pass to Blood. Wallin intercepted a pass against Brad Jackson of Texas State earlier in the season on a very similar play. 

Saunders was intercepted by Jaylen Thomas on the opening drive of the second half. The pass, intended for Bert Emanuel, Jr., was deflected by Keith Brown into the hands of Thomas. The defense held tough, forcing another turnover of downs by the Cougars’ on the SDSU 30. 

DiLeva doubled the Aztecs lead to six with a 46-yard field goal midway through the third quarter. 

An intentional grounding penalty on Eshelman on a third-down play pushed the Cougars’ field goal attempt back 14 yards (39 to 53) and Jack Stevens missed the attempt low and left.

The Aztecs took a two-score lead on the ensuing drive. Saunders marched them 15 plays and 65 yards but not for some drama.

The Cougars thought they had intercepted Saunders at the goal line, but a replay review overturned the on-field decision since the defender stepped out of bounds before he caught the ball. 

A few plays later, Sutton’s run was ruled a touchdown but also overturned by replay review. 

On 4th and Goal from the two, the Aztecs used trickery to find themselves a treat. Sutton took the snap, handed off to Saunders who headed left and pitched the ball back to Bert Emanuel, Jr. on a double reverse. Emanuel, Jr. came back around and threw a wobbly pass in the end zone that Jackson Ford caught while on the ground. The score gave the Aztecs a 26-14 lead (two-point conversion failed). 

The Aztecs could have elected to kick a 20-yard field goal to go up nine points, but Lewis said he was playing to win.

“No risk it, no biscuit, right?” Lewis exclaimed, taking an ode from former football coach, Bruce Arians. “We’re gonna call it to win it.” 


Eshelman ran in his second touchdown of the game with less than seven minutes remaining to keep the Cougars in the game. After forcing an Aztecs’ punt, the Cougars had a chance to win the game with a touchdown and extra point in the final minute but a 4th down pass by Eshelman fell incomplete. 

Quick Notes

• Safety Jelani McLaughlin missed the game due to injury; true freshman Tainoa Lave earned his first career start and led the team with nine tackles
• The announced attendance was 19,184, the lowest of the season at Snapdragon Stadium
• Alex Barrett (2013-2016) was the Honor Warrior for the pregame festivities; he spent nine years in the NFL as a defensive end
• Tashi Dorje averaged 45 yards on two punts

The Aztecs head into their only bye of the season before playing their final home game against Utah State on November 14. Kickoff will be at 630pm on USA.

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.