San Diego State (8-2, 5-1 Mountain West) secured yet another crucial conference victory Saturday night, beating Boise State (6-4, 4-2 MW) 17-7 to secure sole possession of first place in the Mountain West.
Two things defined the Aztec way of life: physicality and violence, primarily in the form of defense.
Saturday’s win could be described as an old-school smashmouth game of football, and head coach Sean Lewis loved every second of it.
“We may live in a great area that doesn’t get a lot of bad weather, but we got a blue collar nasty toughness about us that if you wanna go fight in a phone booth, let’s go get it on,” Lewis said in a post-game press conference.
Entering play, Boise State was averaging 184.9 rushing yards per game, good for third in the Mountain West. SDSU held them to 164, only allowing a single touchdown in the process.
The Broncos’ success stemmed from their stable of backs, with three different backs totaling 300-plus rushing yards. However, SDSU refused to allow any of them to get loose.
“Yeah, we bullied the hell out of them,” Lewis said.
Bully they did, primary running back Dylan Riley averaged just 3.8 yards per carry on his 21 tries.
The success is made all the more impressive when you consider how much volume was thrown at the Aztecs. Boise State was forced to play without primary quarterback Maddux Madsen, who missed the game due to a lower leg injury. Former walk-on Max Cutforth took the reins in place of Madsen.
With the injury, it was clear from the jump that the run game was the go-to, but both Lewis and sophomore linebacker Owen Chambliss were well aware of the Broncos’ plans entering the game.
“We knew they were gonna have a really physical and fundamental rushing attack,” Chambliss said. However, similarly to Lewis, the physicality did not deter the Aztec defense; it inspired them. “We made sure we wrapped up and showed up with violence every time we tackled.”
Knowing the opponent was key for this stout defense, but the goal has been the same all year. “We wanna control the controllables, we’re going to kill the run,” Lewis said.
Considering the backup quarterback, Lewis also cited his defense’s emphasis on “being able to take away someone’s strength and force them to beat you.” This played to perfection as Boise passed for just 104 yards with nearly all of them coming on the Broncos’ final drive.
The climate gave the SDSU defense a perfect backdrop to play a violent brand of football. Consistent drizzle and occasional downpour were factors, but they only served to inspire the Scarlet and Black’s defense.
“It’s a physical game, especially on a night like this where you’re gonna need to roll it up and tighten up the chin strap a little bit,” Lewis said.
Old-school defensive physicality gave the Aztecs the edge in a hard-fought victory; now they will look to carry the violent momentum towards a Mountain West Championship berth.
