The seniors on the San Diego State football team haven’t had a winning season in their college careers and, on Saturday night, were finishing up the worst season they’ve had in red and black.
But after the season finale against Colorado State at Qualcomm Stadium, you wouldn’t have noticed.
With the 17-6 win in front of 17,577 fans, the 18 departing SDSU seniors – gleaming with large smiles on their faces after the game – managed to end their careers happily and, as a mild consolation, avoided being part of the first 10-loss season in school history.
“It’s definitely been a hard year with all the losses,” senior center Patrick Justman said, “but this definitely ends it on a high note. I was telling some of the guys in the locker room, ‘I’m so glad we won because if we lost, it’d ruin the whole thing; I wouldn’t be able to celebrate and act like an idiot.'”
Henderson reaches the
end zone
With a bowl game or any sort of statistical milestone now long-gone possibilities, the point of Saturday’s game was to celebrate the Aztec seniors and send them off in style.
But that didn’t stop a young first-year player from celebrating an achievement of his own.
Nine starts into the season, redshirt freshman running back Atiyyah Henderson ran the first touchdown of his career on a 3-yard score early in the second quarter.
“The team got on me the whole time about not getting in the end zone,” Henderson said. “I knew it was my last shot to get into the end zone, so when I got the ball I wasn’t going to be denied.”
Aztecs bring backfield
pressure
In looking for an explanation of SDSU defensive struggles, sacks – or the lack thereof – are a good place to start.
But on Saturday night, the Aztecs finally managed to harass another quarterback – albeit, in the meaningless season finale.
With three sacks and numerous plays in which Colorado State quarterback Caleb Hanie was hit while throwing a pass, SDSU easily recorded its best game in pressuring the quarterback.
The critical sack came when junior linebacker Brett Martin and junior defensive end Antwan Applewhite caught Hanie on fourth-and-one, ending any late Ram fourth-quarter comeback from a 17-6 deficit.
“It was just a great scheme by our coaches,” Martin said. “We had man coverage with the running backs, and if the running back blocks, we (had) to go get it. It made it so I was pretty much scot-free.”
QUOTABLE
“I’m ready for a few more (games), to be honest with you. I don’t know if I speak for everybody.”
-Head coach Chuck Long, when asked if he was glad the season was over.
