Snapshots of Aztecs’ rally reflect team’s heart

Click through photographs of San Diego State’s 27-16 win over Boise State on Friday and the real story of the game reveals itself in still-life snapshots.

Wide receiver Jesse Matthews stretched taut and to the limit, like a rubber band, on a twisting catch. Backup quarterback Jordon Brookshire straining to thrust the ball across the goal line with a defender dangling from his ankles. Defensive back Patrick Mcmorris lunging full tilt to run down a Bronco spying open grass.

The Aztecs outmuscle you. They outwork you. They outwill you.

Even if someone pins them to the turf with a 16-3 lead, as Boise State did at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, they wriggle free and rejoin the fight. You lead by 13? You think you’re in control? You’re facing the offense that can’t do this and can’t do that? The Aztecs outscore you 24-0 the rest of the way.

This, after all, is a team that tied the school record for victories in a season at 11 by going 6-0 in one-score games.

They find a way, no matter how many in the country portray them as a house of cards in danger of collapse with the next gentle breeze.

“How they went out and participated in this football game was unbelievable,” coach Brady Hoke said.

“Participated” sparks mental images of a Pop Warner game on a Saturday morning, with players lining up for orange slices afterward. The only part of that hitting the mark was the ridiculous 9 a.m. start time to appease TV.

This was bare-knuckles combat, at the line of scrimmage and in the open field. They build a double-digit lead. You refuse to blink. America thinks you’re scorched, like a turkey in a Thanksgiving Day kitchen fire. You brush off the ashes and put one cleat stubbornly in front of the other.

“There’s no quit in us,” said Matthews, whose nine catches gobbled up 133 yards and a touchdown.

“That’s the great thing about this program is mental toughness. Adversity’s going to strike, but it’s about how you respond.”

So, how did the Aztecs respond?

An offense ranked 68th in the country in scoring found the points. The defense, meanwhile, snuffed the Broncos’ fast start by shutting them out for the final 38 minutes.

“The leadership that we got at halftime ... was something that you really love as a coach,” Hoke said.

The Aztecs should add Rolaids to their game-day promotions, given the stomach knots endured by their fans. College football is no state fair beauty contest, though, as Hoke and Rocky Long before him routinely reminded.

Winning’s the thing. And they’ve done that thing 11 times, so far.

Up next is Saturday’s Mountain West title game, back in Carson, against Utah State. In the Aggies’ matchup with Boise State, they lost 27-3. Comparing scores is tricky business, but it provides some lay of the land.

Win there and the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl at Sofi Stadium is likely, barring an upset loss by unbeaten Cincinnati in the AAC title game against Houston. And even if the Bearcats tumble, the cachet of beating the No. 4 team could vault the oneloss Cougars past the Aztecs in the CFP rankings.

This isn’t about rankings gymnastics, though. It’s about a team that, as Hoke preaches, worries about going 1-0 each week. And the week after that. And the week after that.

The program is not built around sleight of hand. The mortar is hard work, resiliency and guts. You can pooh-pooh the resume, but it’s foolish to ignore the sweat.

Peek at Friday’s game on paper and it appeared to be a carbon copy. Both teams had seven first downs by rush and 13 by pass. Boise State finished with 77 offensive plays, compared to 74 by San Diego State. The Broncos converted all three red-zone chances, while the Aztecs ended 4 for 4.

That’s the Aztecs’ program, too. When the numbers say the game is even, they mine ways to beat you in the margins. That came in the form of three interceptions, two settled into the hands of Mcmorris.

Nothing or no one spoke louder to the way the program’s gears grind along than Brookshire, the former starting quarterback who became the backup, then the backup to the backup.

With the game on the verge of slipping away and Lucas Johnson banged up, the senior stepped in to lead the stagnant offense to scores on the next four drives.

“That’s all practice time and repetition and working with these guys for so long,” Brookshire said. “... It’s just like riding a bike.”

It’s more than that, of course.

Just look at the pictures.

bryce.miller@sduniontribune.com