San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
TURNOVERS HURT SDSU VS. COUGS
Brookshire better, but it’s not enough to take down BYU 28 No. 18 BYU 14 Aztecs
Snow dusted the surrounding mountains here Saturday in the early morning hours.
It also covered cars, streets and sidewalks before rising midday temperatures, assisted by snowplows, cleared it away.
To the locals, it was about as newsworthy as a day that ends in y. Or seeing someone walking around town wearing a ballcap with a Y.
To visitors from San Diego, it was slick and slippery. Treacherous even.
By Saturday night, cold was the only concern in San Diego State’s game against No. 18 BYU. It was 26 degrees at kickoff.
And the Aztecs seemed impervious to it. They were bothered by something that plagued them in warmer weather earlier this season — turnovers.
SDSU, a 161⁄2-point underdog, showed the Cougars they were game, but it wasn’t enough to avoid a 28-14 nonconference loss at Lavell Edwards Stadium.
SDSU closes out the regular season with a 4-4 record, looking like a long shot to extend its schoolrecord 10-year bowl streak.
BYU improved to 10-1 in a season broadcast partner ESPN has assured the independent Cougars will include a postseason game.
The Cougars improved to 17-2 against SDSU at home.
Upset-minded SDSU, aiming to beat BYU in backto-back games for the first time, gave the Cougars all they could handle early on.
BYU needed a 50-yard
field goal from Jake Oldroyd as time expired in the second quarter for a 17-14 halftime lead.
The Aztecs also gave BYU the opportunity to take control of the game.
SDSU quarterback Jordon Brookshire threw an interception deep in BYU territory to end a second-quarter drive with SDSU leading 14-7.
Instead of SDSU perhaps taking a two-touchdown lead, BYU went the other way for a TD that made it 1414.
SDSU started with the ball in the second half, moved it quickly downfield when Bell turned a screen pass into a 28-yard gain and broke a run for 22 yards on back-to-back plays.
That drive, too, was short-circuited, this time by running back Kaegun Williams’ fumble on firstand-goal from the BYU 10.
The Cougars turned that into another Oldroyd field goal. Though it expanded BYU’S lead to 20-14, the Cougars still were not halfway to their 44.5 scoring average.
That was little consolation for the SDSU defense.
The Aztecs D prevented BYU quarterback Zach Wilson from guiding the Cougars to the end zone last season in SDSU’S 13-3 win.
Wilson rectified that on the game’s opening possession, driving the Cougars 75 yards for the game’s first score on a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Dax Milne.
The Aztecs made Wilson work harder thereafter, but the junior from nearby Draper, Utah, showed the maturity that comes with a year’s experience. He was 26-for-29 passing for 303 yards and three touchdowns before the evening was over.
Brookshire looked quite comfortable early on in his second start, combining short completions with timely quarterback keepers to advance the ball.
BYU’S defense kept him contained much of the game, however, as Brookshire was 21 for 31 passing for 231 yards with one TD and one interception. He carried nine times for 13 of SDSU’S 168 rushing yards in the game.
Bell returned after missing most of the past three games with a right Achilles injury. He provided a spark in the starting lineup, although Williams had the biggest early carries.
Williams rushed 17 times for 91 yards while Bell had 17 carries for 68 yards.
After Wilson led the Cougars to the game’s first touchdown, SDSU responded with a similar drive.
Williams was stopped on a third-and-5 run up the middle, but he backed up from the pile, cut left and ran 25 yards to the end zone to make it 7-7 with just under six minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The Aztecs got the ball right back when linebacker Michael Shawcroft hit BYU tight end Isaac Rex and forced a fumble that safety Tariq Thompson recovered at the BYU 33.
SDSU scored five plays later when wide receiver Elijah Kothe caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Brookshire, diving in the end zone to make the grab for a 14-7 Aztecs lead.
The TD pass was set up by a fake field goal, with holder Tanner Kuljian sprinting to his left for 6 yards and a first down at the BYU 18.
For a moment, just a moment, the creativity and daring made it appear the Aztecs were onto something.
They weren’t.
A season that began with promise and ended in frustration may have been summed by two plays late in the fourth quarter.
Brookshire saw daylight on a fourth-down play, just three yards from the BYU end zone.
Just as he made a move, Brookshire slipped on the icy field, no closer to his destination.
On SDSU’S final offensive play, the ball was snapped past Brookshire. All he could do was fall on it deep in BYU territory again.