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Aztecs Move To 4-0 vs Towson After Slow 1st Quarter, Winning 48-21

gavinireGavin Ireland
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(Photo) Aztec receiver BJ Busbee leads the team to charge the field vs Towson.

Carson, Calif. – To those who know San Diego State football, day games are not known with great memories. At least not of recent past. This is a program that back in 1992 had a promo VHS tape go out to all season ticket holders. Towards the end of the video, a recognizable NFL narrating voice closes the promo with the words, “Aztecs Football: A legend under the lights!”

This is a program used to starting games after 7PM. Is it the all-black uniforms being underneath the sun? More than likely, it’s changing a rhythm of a program accustomed to being night owls.

With the game rolling through the 1st quarter, it was having similarities of the season opener against New Mexico State. The Aztec offense couldn’t move the ball, trouble with exchanging on play-action, an interception into double coverage, and a defense struggling to contain a Towson offense from putting numbers on the scoreboard.

Sometimes, the ball just doesn’t bounce in your favor. Sometimes, it bounces right off the hands of an open receiver. Sometimes, the officials call a game in favor of your opponent.

To the Aztecs benefit, Towson wasn’t playing a flawless 1st quarter. A poor snap exchange between Towson’s offense cost them a fumble deep into the Towson defensive side of the field. On came Aztec quarterback Lucas Johnson and his offense. From 15 yards away to tying the game up, 5 plays was all it took to evening the score 7-7 after a Kaegun Williams 8-yard run across the pylons.

The bad news showed when SDSU starting running back Greg Bell was out of game pads  on the sidelines and iced up to his shoulder.

To Towson’s credit, their defense was effective in clogging the lanes. To San Diego State’s credit on the line, they consistently got the Towson defensive front to multiple offside penalties. A pass interference call against Towson defensive back Charles Peeples on a deep pass to Aztec receiver Tyrell Shavers. Four plays later, Jordan Byrd would make a shifty and quick run to the left side of the field and a diving reach across the pylon to put the Aztecs up by 7.

The momentum was shifting. The favorites had the lead for the first time in the game. Towson’s guns were aimed at their own feet at this point, and a 3-0 red and black monster was waking up.

San Diego State’s o-line created openings, and the deep stable of horses in the SDSU back field continued to move the chains. Deep into Towson territory, Lucas Johnson hooked up with receiver Elijah Kothe into the end zone. Flags flew, but the penalty was ruled pass interference on the defense. The red and black monster was now up by 14 with four minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter.

SDSU offensive coordinator Jeff Hecklinski could’ve ran it conservative at this point with straight run plays, but to his credit, gave Lucas Johnson a shot at his receivers. Unable to convert, kicking specialist Matt Araiza came onto the field. Like a mortar, it took one bounce before it made its way into the end zone.

With just under 2 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, Towson moved into the hurry-up offense. First down, another first down, a pass interference on the defense, and Towson found itself at the SDSU 40 yard line. In the spread, Towson made its attempt to fire quick passes at receivers for short, but effective gains.

Then Towson quarterback Chris Ferguson completed a pass to his receiver Darian Street at the SDSU 4 yard line. With 9 seconds left, Ferguson found another receiver open in the left side of the end zone and connected with Caleb Smith for a touchdown.

At halftime, the Aztecs found themselves now up by 7. With as effective of a drive as any during the 1st half, logic would say the Towson offense should run the hurry up the rest of the game. It’s one that this 3-3-5 Aztec defense has struggled to contain not only this season, but years past.

San Diego State started the 2nd half on defense. With solid play, they forced Towson’s offense to a 3 and out, with a punt deep into Towson territory. Snap back to punt, and once again, San Diego State’s special teams was able to get to the ball, as Tyrell Shavers was able to get a hand on it. Trenton Thompson was able to scoop it up and get the ball into the end zone to give the Aztecs a 28-14 lead.

Towson returned to the field on offense. 5 plays at 19 yards into the drive, Chris Ferguson threw a ball into coverage, and Aztec Noah Avinger came up with the interception. Feeling the torrential momentum in their favor, the Aztec offense returned to the field. On a 3rd and 1, Johnson handed the ball off to Jordan Byrd, and the rest was a clear shot, 55 yards into the end zone to put San Diego State up 35-14.

Towson was done at this point with the game still in the 3rd quarter. Towson punt. 4 plays for SDSU on offense ending with a Matt Araiza 48-yard kick. 3 more points for the red and black, and the pain was evident. San Diego State up 38-14. Towson’s next drive was a struggling 3 and out, with the check engine light flashing. 4 plays and 64 yards after getting the ball back on offense, Chance Bell delivered another touchdown for SDSU. The score now 45-14 all Aztecs, with more than 4 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter.

At this point in the game, most teams would rotate the starting quarterback out and have his backup in to close the game. However, Johnson’s game time is still a high commodity to build upon. Hecklinski allowed Lucas to toss it to his talented receivers to keep the chains moving all the way into the closeout of the 3rd quarter.

In two quarters (from 2nd to 3rd quarter), San Diego State accumulated 38 points to the scoreboard. That’s an achievement not commonly seen in the past 20+ years with this program, no matter who the opposition has turned out to be.

And then San Diego State’s sports information department came up with this stunning fact:

 

Starting out the 4th quarter, Johnson remained into the game, as several other skilled positions reached deeper into the depth chart. That was no slight to Johnson’s backup quarterback, Will Haskell. At this point, Johnson had earned the extra time. With that said, San Diego State is not a program known for running up the score to their opponents.

In the first drive of the 4th quarter, San Diego State kept the clock running, while dragging the play clock down to near 4 seconds from each snap. Clock management and ball control was the priority at this point.

17 plays, 64 yards with 7:44 remaining on the game clock, the Aztecs finished the drive with a 36-yard field goal by Araiza. For a team looking to close out a game, that’s about as good as it gets.

Towson, now doing its best to finish the game without giving up was able to put some additional points on the board after return man D’Ago Hunter came up with a 73 yard kickoff return. Then 5 plays on offense, Towson quarterback Chris Ferguson connected with receiver Daniel Thompson IV to bring the score to 48-21 with 5:59 left in the game.

With San Diego State on offense, it was now 2nd string quarterback Will Haskell’s turn to get his first game time as an Aztec. This is a new generation of quarterbacks at San Diego State. It doesn’t take much to notice how mobile each and every quarterback is with this program. Haskell’s got wheels and an ability to keep the chains moving. With Jordan Brookshire being out with an injury from the Arizona game, Aztec fans have now seen 3 deep into the quarterback position.

With a classy wrap up of the game, Brady called off the offense that was in clear trajectory to score another 7 points.

This was the way to go into a bye week. This was the way to recover from a slow start in the 1st quarter. This was how a team that wants to compete for a Mountain West title should perform. It wasn’t a perfect game for San Diego State, but no game ever is. There’s plenty to still work on with both the offense and defense (special teams can kick its feet up with how dominant it has been in the first 4 games), but this is a tremendous change of results to where the football program was last year.

Maybe it was just the bizarre scenario that every athlete in every sport found themselves in during a global pandemic. Maybe it was the transition to a new coaching staff. Whatever it was, it definitely appears to be past tense.

This is a program that every Mountain West Conference opponent will dread to line up against. Two-thirds of the season remains. Monte 2021 is a monster!

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