AZTECS HAVE DOUBLE VISION IN SIGHT
SDSU seeking 10th win of season but must stop UNLV’s Williams from big game
San Diego State went nearly four decades between double-digit winning football seasons. That No. 19 SDSU (9-1, 5-1 Mountain West) has an opportunity tonight at UNLV (2-8, 2-4) to record its 10th victory of the season represents something that has become common but not commonplace.
The Aztecs went 10-1 in 1977, but such success was not seen again until the 2015 team completed an 11-3 campaign.
That began a stretch of four seasons in five years with double-digit victories.
As significant as a 10th win would be, more important is the game represents an opportunity
for SDSU to get another step closer to playing for the Mountain West championship.
Here are five things to watch:
1. Slow Charles Williams
SDSU’s defense ranks fourth in the nation against the run, allowing 82.9 yards a game.
Only three times in the past three seasons has the Aztecs defense allowed a 100-yard rusher — three weeks ago against Fresno State’s Jordan Mims (29 carries, 186 yards), last season against Colorado’s Jarek Broussard (32 carries, 124 yards) and two years ago against UNLV’s Charles Williams (19 carries, 113 yards).
Williams, the 5-foot-9, 200-pound senior they call “Chuck Wagon,” will be on the other side of the line of scrimmage again, and he’s coming off the best game of his career.
Williams rushed for a career-high 266 yards and three touchdowns on a school-record 38 carries in last week’s win at Hawaii.
It was the second-highest single-game rushing performance in school history, putting Williams over 1,000 yards for the season and 4,000 for his career.
Williams (222 carries, 1,089 yards, 13 TDs)
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ranks 12th in the nation in rushing yards this season.
In last year’s season opener, SDSU limited Williams to 80 yards — which also was UNLV’s team total — on 20 carries while dominating the Rebels in a 34-6 win.
Slowing Williams again will be the first priority for SDSU in order to prevent UNLV from controlling the football.
2. Rattle Cameron Friel
UNLV freshman quarterback Cameron Friel graduated early from high school in Hawaii so he could enroll at UNLV and participate in spring practice.
It prepared the 6-3 Friel to take over the Rebels offense in Week 2 when starter Doug Brumfield was injured against Arizona State.
Friel (135-for-213, 1,541 yards, 6 TDs/10 INTs) has started six games since then, making him the first true freshman to start for the Rebels in 15 years.
He has been effective, completing 63 percent of his passes, but also harassed into making mistakes.
Nevada picked off three passes in a 51-20 rout, returning two of them for 49- and 50-yard touchdowns.
The Rebels have been in every other conference game this season, their other losses coming by four, seven and eight points.
SDSU will similarly try to get pressure on Friel and rattle him into making mistakes.
3. Turnovers tell the story
SDSU did not have a turnover last week against Nevada, marking the eighth time in 10 games the Aztecs have had either one or no turnovers.
The Nevada game also was SDSU’s first this season without forcing a turnover.
The Aztecs have just 11 giveaways this season while the defense has produced 15
takeaways.
UNLV has been productive forcing turnovers with 16 in 10 games, including three that produced 17 points against New Mexico in the season’s first win.
That has been more than offset, however, with 18 turnovers by the Rebels offense.
UNLV has been able to limit the damage in Mountain West games. While Nevada returned interceptions for two TDs, nine other turnovers in conference play produced just two field goals.
4. Aztecs in a rush
SDSU’s rushing game hasn’t been the same since the first half of the season, when the Aztecs rushed for at least 200 yards in five straight games.
The 200-yard mark is a good predictor of success. SDSU is 52-2 over the past 54 games in which it has rushed for at least 200 yards.
UNLV’s rushing defense has been average at best this season against the run. The Rebels rank 61st in the nation with 145.4 yards a game.
SDSU rushed for 287 yards on 46 carries (6.2 ypc) when the teams met last year.
Running back Greg Bell made his SDSU debut that night, carrying 19 times for 111 yards and a touchdown. Teammates Kaegun Williams (89 yards), Jordan Byrd (40) and Chance Bell (40) provided running depth, as they will do again in this game.
Greg Bell, who has been slowed by injuries, showed signs of being himself against Nevada, gaining 95 yards on 15 carries. Bell (176 carries, 840 yards, 7 TDs) is approaching 1,000 yards on the season.
Bell needs 77 yards to move into SDSU’s career top 20 for rushing yards. Brandon Borne (2004-07) currently is 20th with 1,531 career yards.
5. What a win means
SDSU can move closer to a West Division title with a win, but potentially clinching the division will have to wait until the final weekend
of the regular season.
Fresno State (8-3, 5-2), which has the week off, will remain in the race regardless of how the Aztecs fare. The Bulldogs hold the tiebreaker over SDSU and Nevada (4-2) by virtue of headto-head wins against both teams.
If the Aztecs beat UNLV, they would still need to defeat Boise State the day after Thanksgiving to reach the MW title game unless Fresno State loses the previous day to San Jose State. If the Aztecs lose either of their final two games, the Bulldogs can advance by defeating the Spartans.
Nevada is eliminated if it doesn’t beat Air Force this weekend or Colorado State next Saturday.
The Mountain and West division winners meet Dec. 4 for the Mountain West championship. Utah State (5-1) leads the Mountain division by a game over Air Force and Boise State (both 4-2).