Aztec Annihilation: USU Football routes SDSU to win Mountain West Championship
CARSON, CALF. — Utah State is the champion of the Mountain West Conference for the first time after a 46 to 13 rout of the San Diego State Aztecs. Utah State’s smothering defense and relentless air-raid led them to their first win over a top 25 opponent since 2015.
Quarterback Logan Bonner threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns, the most touchdown connections ever in a Mountain West Championship Game. Brandon Bowling would haul in eight of Bonner’s passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns.
The game’s real story was the overwhelming performance from the Aggie defense. Twice in the first half, the Aggie defense found themselves up against the goal line with the ball inside the redzone. The Aztecs were allowed only three points between those two trips inside the 20. All in all, the defense accounted for one fumble recovery and accounted for three turnovers on downs.
In addition to the defensive beatdown, the special team’s unit got its fair share of blows blocking two punts and recovering a muffed punt.
“We played our best ball when we had to have it,” said head coach Blake Anderson after the win. “You could clearly see that this group wasn’t satisfied with just showing up; they wanted to make a statement. I think we did that really in all three phases.”
A statement is what they wanted, and a statement is what they got. After entering Saturday’s matchup as six-point underdogs, they would leave with a 33-point win and hand San Diego State its biggest loss since 2013.
The game remained scoreless halfway through the second quarter until Bonner found Derek
Wright from five yards out for a toe-tapping acrobatic touchdown. The Aggies would add another touchdown on a one-yard rush from Calvin Tyler Jr. and enter the locker room up 14-3.
Utah State wasted no time out of the break as Bonner connected with Brandon Bowling for a 58-yard bomb to lengthen their lead to 18.
The rest of the game was all Aggies, adding a safety, a field goal and three more touchdowns before the clock hit zeros.
“It started with the run game,” Bowling says. “We were able to get the run game going early, and once we get that going against a good defense like this, we’re able to open them up and spread them out.”
A big key to Saturday’s win was the ability to get Bonner moving out of the pocket and getting the ball out of his hands quickly.
“You can’t just sit back in the pocket against this D-line, or else you’re going to get blown up,” Anderson said. “They’re too good to just sit in one spot and let them know exactly where you’re going to be.”
A San Diego State defense with the conference defensive player-of-the-year and four players named defensive first team only picked up two sacks thanks to Anderson’s game plan. Anderson knew that limiting the pressure from the Aztec front line would prove critical in this game, with Bonner continually being banged up and backup Andrew Peasley appearing to be unavailable with an injury.
With today’s win, the Aggies will play their final game of the season on December 18 in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Their opponent has not yet been announced.