San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
AZTECS HANDLE REBELS
SURREAL SETTING AS SDSU OFFENSE GETS INTO GEAR
San Diego State’s offense is, well, alive.
Alive and well? That remains to be seen.
Seen?
That’s another story.
At least it was at the start of Saturday night’s season-opening 34-6 win over UNLV.
By jumping out to a 27-0 halftime lead, an SDSU offense that ranked among the worst in the nation —and last in the Mountain West — the past two years produced more first-half points in a game than it had in nearly three years.
Not since scoring 35 points at San Jose State on Nov. 4, 2017, had the offense been more productive in the opening two periods.
There are, of course, four periods in a football game. And the offense sputtered in the second half, producing just one fourth-quarter touchdown.
SDSU quarterback Carson Baker was 12 for 25 for 137 yards and one touchdown (with another TD wiped away by replay). He spread the ball among nine players.
While the Aztecs endeavor to be more balanced this season, it was difficult not to keep handing off the ball.
SDSU rushed for 213 yards on 31 attempts in the first half (6.9 ypc), with Greg Bell and Kaegun Williams gaining 69 yards apiece. The Aztecs rushed 46 times for 287 yards (6.2 ypc) in the game, led by
Bell's 19 carries and 111 yards.
Then there was the SDSU defense.
Same story, different year. The Aztecs stopped UNLV on each of its first seven drives, forcing six punts and a missed 42-yard field goal attempt. SDSU did not allow a first down until midway through the second quarter while limiting the Rebels to 25 total yards (while the Aztecs amassed 313). UNLV finished with 186 yards for the game (to SDSU'S 424), scoring only on its first possession of the second half. Now about that TV broadcast. Circumstances surrounding the coronavirus pandemic prevented fans from being allowed inside Dignity Health Sports Park.
Circumstances surrounding the CBS Sports Network’s broadcasts prevented fans from watching the UNLV-SDSU game until the conclusion of the Wyoming-nevada that proceeded it, although the screen crawl pointed fans to an online URL that would allow them to stream it until it came on TV.
In addition, the online live stats feed was not initially working, so fans could not follow the game that way, either.
The Wyoming-nevada game went into overtime before the Wolf Pack pulled out a 37-34 win.
Because of the delay, the UNLVSDSU game did not come on TV until the start of the second quarter.
Aztecs fans waited seven extra weeks for the season to start. What was another 45 minutes?
SDSU had a 7-0 lead by the time TV viewers joined in.
What they missed:
After punting on their first possession, the Aztecs put together an 11-play, 85-yard scoring drive. It culminated with Baker’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Dedeaux, who dodged a defender and dived into the end zone with 6:06 remaining in the opening period.
Key to the drive was a 32-yard run by Jordan Byrd. Teammate Greg Bell was the workhorse, though, carrying six times for 33 yards.
That included the toughest yard of the drive, on fourth-and-1 from the UNLV 10-yard line. Bell gained three and three plays later the Aztecs had the lead.
What they saw in the second quarter:
Touchdown runs by the Bells — Chance and Greg (no relation) — on 5- and 2-yard runs, respectively, provided a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
Greg Bell’s touchdown was set up by the defense. Senior Trenton Thompson blocked a Rebels punt for the second straight year. This one was recovered by Daniel Shawcroft, who returned it to the UNLV 16. Four plays later, Greg Bell was in.
A 27-yard field goal by Matt Araiza expanded the lead to 24-0 with 56 seconds remaining in the half.
The Aztecs weren’t done scoring, though. Or so it appeared.
Baker hit wide receiver Jesse Matthews for a 4-yard touchdown pass with two seconds remaining.
The call was overturned on review — ruled that it touched the ground — although replays showed Matthews maintained possession throughout the catch.
SDSU settled for a 22-yard Araiza field goal and went into halftime with a 27-0 lead.
Araiza has added punting to Araiza's responsibilities this season.
The strong-legged sophomore from Rancho Bernardo High hit a 52-yard punt on his first effort, which came after SDSU’S opening drive. He averaged 49.8 yards on five punts. Four of them went for at least 50 yards, including a long of 58 yards.
Araiza set a single-season school record last season with 22 field goals, making at least one FG in all 13 games. He made it 14 straight games with his 27-yard field goal in the second quarter.
UNLV finally scored on its opening drive of the third quarter, reaching the end zone on an 8-yard pass from Max Gilliam to Steve Jenkins. Kicker Daniel Gutierrez then missed the extra point, his kick banging off the left upright.
After napping through the third quarter (10 yards of offense), SDSU improved its lead to 34-6 on a 19-yard touchdown run by Chance Bell. That capped an 85-yard drive that began after the defense stopped UNLV on fourth-and-3 from its own 4-yard line, stuffing the Rebels for an 11-yard loss.
SDSU linebacker Caden Mcdonald led the defense with 21⁄2 sacks.
Injury report
Senior center Dominic Gudino is continuing to recover from an undisclosed injury to his right hand/ wrist and did not play. Junior Alama Uluave started at center in place of Gudino.
Notable
The three dozen players or so who were not included on SDSU’S travel roster took a bus up from San Diego on Saturday and sat in the stands at one end zone corner. They were the only people in the stands.