Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor

For the second time in three weeks, the San Diego State football team had at least a 17-point lead and lost. For the fourth time in four weeks, SDSU stumbled and found a way to lose a game.

Now, for the fourth time in four years, the Aztecs have officially lost at least eight games in a season.

“That’s the bad thing,” head coach Brady Hoke said after SDSU fell to UNLV 28-24 Saturday night in Las Vegas. “You always want to end with momentum to end your season, and to take into recruiting and have some momentum in that. It’s always disappointing.”

After giving up seven points on UNLV’s first offensive drive of the game, the Aztecs scored 24 unanswered points, highlighted by a 55-yard senior linebacker Luke Laolagi pick-six. But then UNLV’s quarterback Omar Clayton caught fire, putting the Rebels on his back.
Clayton started UNLV’s comeback with a seven-yard touchdown run with 6 minutes 48 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Then, with 13:35 on the clock in the fourth quarter, Rebel defensive back Terrance Lee intercepted sophomore quarterback Ryan Lindley, taking it 40 yards for a touchdown, cutting SDSU’s lead to three. Clayton and the Rebels would complete the 17-point comeback in the final two minutes of the game when Clayton hooked up with receiver Phillip Payne for a 17-yard touchdown, giving UNLV a 28-24 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

“They believed that they were going to win and we kept fighting,” Rebel head coach Mike Sanford said after the victory. “One of the things we have done this year as a football team is keep fighting.”

Both teams came into the game with dashed bowl dreams, owning 4-7 records. Only 13,730 came out to watch the game at Sam Boyd Stadium. Yet in a rivalry game, on Senior Night, fighting for a coach who had been fired just a few weeks ago, the Rebels were able to pull out a victory.

“This win today is not about me and it’s not about the coaching staff, it is about our seniors and our players,” Sanford said. “I love the senior class. I am very proud of how they played today. I am very proud of how they represented themselves. I think they showed tremendous character. We were down 24-7 and we came back and won. We believed we were going to win.”

As for the Aztecs, several key seniors are expected to graduate: offensive lineman Ikaika Aken-Moleta, running back Atiyyah Henderson, Laolagi, linebacker Jerry Milling and receiver DeMarco Sampson. Still, Hoke is ready for the challenge of turning around SDSU’s football program.

“I think we’ve made a lot of progress, but still have a lot of progress to make,” Hoke said. “From development of our players and in a lot of different areas from strength to the athleticismº of the team, instinct of the team at times, as in going to make plays to doing some of the things we have got to do a better job.”