Aggies fall to SDSU, fight to remain bowl eligible
The Aggies, who fell to the San Diego State Aztecs Friday night at a rainy Maverik Stadium, are fighting to find a way to win games and remain bowl eligible.
“It’s certainly not where any of us wanted to be,” said USU head coach Matt Wells of the 40-13 loss. “We want to do everything we can to put these seniors in one more bowl game. It has to be one game at a time.”
The Aggies (3-4) must win three more games to send the seniors to a bowl game. For that to happen, the team must find ways to run the ball and make stops against its final four opponents including in-state rival BYU.
“This was a tough night for us,” Wells said. “San Diego State has a really good team. They run the ball and they stop the run really well. We struggled doing both of those things tonight and that was very apparent.”
Running the ball wasn’t a problem for the Aztecs tonight as senior RB Donnel Pumphrey ran for 223 yards — pushing his way into the top 5 NCAA career list. On top of that, SDSU freshman Juwan Washington rushed two touchdowns for the Aztecs with a total of 137 rushing yards.
The Aztecs only attempted ten passes, but surmounted 414 total yards, 400 of which came from rushing. The Aggies, on the other hand, gained 252 yards total, 71 from rushing, and twenty-three of which came from senior RB Devante Mays on his return from a knee injury.
There were a few redeeming moments for the Aggies, though.
With a 22-yard pass completion to freshman WR Rayshad Lewis during a drive in the first quarter, junior quarterback Kent Myers was able to score the first touchdown of the game with a 10-yard carry.
The Aggies did not score again until halfway through the fourth quarter, with a 23-yard pass to junior WR Jaren Colston-Green to give the Aggies their last touchdown of the game — placing Myers into USU’s top-10 list of career touchdown passes with a total of 181 passing yards for the night.
“They’re absolutely trying to keep fighting to the very end,” Wells said in response to that last touchdown. “When the score starts to get lopsided, that’s when you see their fight and resolve.”
A bright spot in the Aggies defense was the return of Dallin Leavitt after an ankle injury. The junior safety recorded a career-high of nine tackles.
“It was really hard for me emotionally and mentally to be out the last couple of weeks and not being able to be out there with my guys,” Leavitt said. “I felt super lucky that I was able to get back out there tonight.”
Leavitt, who proved to be a defensive leader tonight, said the main problem with the defense was its inability to execute.
“I have to be better — there are tackles that I missed. I need to communicate better and call out their plays more often to do a better job,” Leavitt said.
The Aggies will travel to face off against Wyoming Saturday at War Memorial Stadium. Kick-off will begin at 8:15 p.m. MT and will be televised on ESPN2.