Big test for Aztecs today
No. 22 South Fla. romps past Illinois
SAN DIEGO — As “opportunity games” go, few will be bigger for star running back Rashaad Penny and the host San Diego State Aztecs than tonight against No. 19 Stanford.
San Diego State has the city to itself after the NFL’s Chargers bolted up the freeway to play in a Los Angeles suburb. The Aztecs beat Arizona State 30-20 last Saturday night to snap a 28-game road losing streak to Pac-12 teams.
Now comes the chance to make a bigger statement.
The win at ASU was “just telling everybody that we can compete with anyone,” Penny said. “Just because we’re a Mountain West school, a lot of people take us for granted. We kind of showed Saturday that we were the most dominant, physical team and we can play against anybody and match up with anyone because this team has what it takes.”
Stanford (1-1) is looking to bounce back from a 42-24 loss at Southern California in its Pac-12 opener. The Cardinal allowed 307 yards rushing.
“Sometimes you have to be punched in the stomach and see how your team responds,” Cardijnal coach David Shaw said. “We have a veteran team that has won a lot of games, bowl games. … We’re still competing. Guys are
competing for starting positions and for playing time. We have to bounce back and we look at the positives.”
EASTERN NM: After a 2-0 start, Eastern New Mexico will face its biggest test today in a clash of undefeated Lone Star Conference teams at thirdranked Texas A&M-Commerce at 5 p.m.
The Hounds are second in the LSC in rushing offense and defense. They also rank third in the league in punt return average. Eastern boasts the LSC’s top kick-coverage unit with league bests 61.6 yard average per kick.
WESTERN NM: The Mustangs (0-2) will host Western Oregon today at noon in Silver City.
WNMU is coming off a 37-34 loss to Eastern New Mexico and a 34-20 loss to San Diego.
Friday night
No. 22 SOUTH FLORIDA 47,
ILLINOIS 23: In Tampa, Fla., Quinton Flowers threw for 280 yards and four touchdowns as South Florida returned from a Hurricane Irma-imposed layoff to rout Illinois (2-1).
Flowers moved ahead of Matt Grothe and B.J. Daniels into second place on USF’s career touchdown pass list with 53. The 2016 American Athletic Conference offensive player of the year also scored his 32nd rushing touchdown, tying Marlon Mack’s school record.
The Bulls (3-0) beat a Big Ten opponent for the first time on a night USF honored first responders who worked the past week to help victims of the massive storm that had an impact on the entire state of Florida.
“We felt like we had a chance to give back … provide some relief for our communities, if only for a few hours,” USF coach Charlie Strong said. ARIZONA 63, UTEP 16: In El Paso, Wildcats quarterback Brandon Dawkins threw for three touchdowns and rushed for 133 yards and three more scores as Arizona (2-1) bounced back from last week’s defeat to rout UTEP (0-3).
The Wildcats were coming off a 19-16 home loss to Houston.
After a scoreless first quarter, Arizona scored four TDs in the first 10 minutes of the second period to blow the game open with a 28-0 lead.