Utah’s Shaky Smithson celebrates with a teammate while several Aztec players stare on in disbelief. SDSU blew a 17-point lead and failed to upset the No. 23 Utes. Copyright David J. Olender / Photo Editor
SDSU suffers another close loss to a ranked team and fails to stay perfect at home
By Agustin Gonzalez, Assistant Sports Editor
On a wet Saturday evening at Qualcomm Stadium, nothing, not the rain, a slick football or a porous Utah defense could stop Ryan Lindley and the San Diego State football team. Except for Lindley himself.
The junior quarterback, who had 528 passing yards and four touchdowns, finished with more yards than Utah’s entire offense, but threw a late interception to seal a 38-34 loss to No. 23 Utah (9-2, 6-1 Mountain West Conference).
“Considering the way we are playing, the talent we have and the way our coaches are putting us in a position to win, it’s just unacceptable for us not to execute,” Lindley said. “When the game is in our hands, we need to make it happen, and tonight we did not.”
SDSU’s receivers went off, with seniors Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson combining for 20 receptions, 338 receiving yards and three touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough as the Aztecs (7-4, 4-3 MWC) blew a 17-point lead in the heartbreaking loss.
Despite the rainy conditions, Lindley came out slinging on the first drive of the game. He completed 6-9 passes on the drive, finishing with a 10-yard touchdown to Vincent Brown. Lindley threw for two more scores in the half and freshman running back Ronnie Hillman added a rushing touchdown to make up all of SDSU’s 27 first half points.
On the final play of the second quarter, with three seconds left, Ute quarterback Jordan Wynn made some magic of his own. From the 47-yard line, Wynn rolled out to his right and launched a Hail Mary pass into a crowded end zone. The pass was tipped, and Utah’s Kendrick Moeai snatched the ball out of the air for a miraculous touchdown, making the score 27-24 going into halftime.
On the first Aztec drive of the second half, Lindley made a video game-esque pass as well. On 3rd-and-10 from the SDSU 10-yard line, Lindley tried to find Brown in triple coverage. A Ute deflected the ball, Brown caught it and ran into the end zone to give the Aztecs a ten-point lead.
But Utah wouldn’t quit. Utes’ running back Matt Asiata scored to make it 31-34, and on the next possession Utah blocked a Stahovich punt and started its drive on the SDSU 3-yard line. Eddie Wide ran it in from a yard out to give the Utes a 38-34 lead with 10:21 left in the game.
Losing for the first time all night, the Aztecs attempted a comeback of their own. Down by four with less than three minutes left, Lindley led SDSU down the field and tried to find Brown in the end zone. Brown looked to be open for a split second, but Utah intercepted the pass and on the next possession all Wynn had to do was kneel to clinch the victory.
“I think we showed you how you don’t beat a good football team,” head coach Brady Hoke said. “We turned the ball over four times and gave up big plays on defense. (You can’t) finish halves the way we finished it in the first half and give them a lot of momentum. We didn’t execute on either side of the ball well enough, we didn’t execute in the kicking game and it was one of those (games) that you hope to learn from.”
The Aztecs finish their regular season with a home game next week against UNLV.
