Boise State
3-2 , 1-1
San Diego State
4-1 , 1-0
Broncos Come Up Short In Loss To Aztecs
10/6/2018 6:44:00 PM | Football
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- San Diego State running back Jordan Byrd scored on a 72-yard touchdown run and the Aztecs' defense shut down Boise State's high-scoring offense to upset the Broncos 19-13 on Saturday afternoon.
The Aztecs (4-1, 1-0 Mountain West), who have won two of their past three games in Boise, needed only 267 yards of offense to pull off the victory without their starting quarterback Christian Chapman or leading rusher Juwan Washington.
"I knew what we had coming in here and we were going up a really good team," said San Diego State coach Rocky Long, who is the first coach since 2000 to beat the Broncos in Boise twice on the famed blue turf. "If you don't come in here with the right attitude, you're going to get beat. And I think we've had kids with the right attitude."
Boise State (3-2, 1-1) struggled to generate any offense early, finishing the first quarter with more points (7) than yards (2). The Broncos scored on a 1-yard run by Alexander Mattison after Riley Whimpey recovered a muffed punt at the San Diego State 4.
"There was no rhythm, no momentum-and that falls back on us as coaches," Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. "You have to have answers for that and figure out a way to create momentum. We just didn't sustain the drives and that momentum that we needed to keep it going."
Entering the game without having thrown an interception this season, Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien threw two in the first half.
However, it was an interception thrown by Broncos' backup quarterback Chase Cord that ended up giving San Diego State control of the game.
Aztecs linebacker Ronley Lakalaka made a one-handed grab off a deflected pass from Cord and returned the ball to the Boise State 17, setting up San Diego State's lone first-half touchdown to take a 13-7 lead.
While the Broncos moved the ball better in the second half, they never could find a rhythm on offense until the outcome was all but decided.
Then San Diego State defense made the lead stand up, limiting the Broncos to a total of 229 yards.
THE TAKEAWAY
San Diego State: The Aztecs might find their way into the rankings this week and have suddenly emerged as a threat to reach a New Year's Six bowl game. Having survived a challenging stretch to open the season, San Diego State should stay in contention during the softer portion of its schedule before getting healthy again.
Chapman and Washington are expected to return from injuries suffered earlier this year in time for the tougher conference games to wrap up the season.
Boise State: The Broncos' dreams of crashing the New Year's Six bowl party as the representative of the Group of 5 evaporated with its second loss this season. Boise State will have to regroup but can still reach the Mountain West championship game if it can avoid any more missteps.
Team Stats
SDSU 3, BSU 0
SDSU - BARON, John 36 yd field goal 4 plays, 5 yards, TOP 1:29
SDSU 3, BSU 7
BSU - MATTISON, Alex 1 yd run (VELAZQUEZ, Joel kick), 3 plays, 4 yards, TOP 1:06
SDSU 6, BSU 7
SDSU - BARON, John 41 yd field goal 6 plays, 7 yards, TOP 1:51
SDSU 13, BSU 7
SDSU - JASMIN, Chase 2 yd run (BARON, John kick), 2 plays, 17 yards, TOP 0:52
SDSU 19, BSU 7
SDSU - BYRD, Jordan 72 yd run (AGNEW, Ryan passfailed), 5 plays, 95 yards, TOP 2:57
SDSU 19, BSU 13
BSU - MATTISON, Alex 1 yd run (VELAZQUEZ, Joel kickfailed), 11 plays, 73 yards, TOP 2:02
