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UPDATE: Aztecs will play in Wyoming for Mountain West Championship game.
Edited to add postgame notes and quotes at the bottom of story
By Liz Alper
Photo by Cris Rangel
November 26, 2016 (San Diego) - In their last home game of the season (barring hosting the Mountain West championship game), Aztecs football hosted the Colorado State Rams on Senior Night.
As good as SDSU’s defense is, they couldn't stop the best offense in the Mountain West from scoring first. Redshirt junior Nick Stevens threw a short pass to junior Michael Gallup and he did the rest, running into the end zone for the first score and a 7-0 CSU lead. It got worse. Stevens found junior receiver Detrich Clark for his second touchdown pass of the first quarter and the Rams went up 14-0. But just like last week at Wyoming, the Aztecs had an answer. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Christian Chapman ran a playaction and threw to junior tight end David Wells to finally get SDSU on the board and trailing by a touchdown 14-7. But the Rams weren't fazed. After Stevens conquered 3rd & 9 by throwing a ball to redshirt senior receiver Robert Ruiz, sophomore running back Izzy Matthews did the rest, running in at the one yard line for another CSU first quarter touchdown. 21-7 Rams.
At the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter, Donnel Pumphrey started to get his groove back, Colorado State started to rack up penalties and the Aztecs found the end zone again. Chapman threw to junior Mikah Holder for the first score of the second quarter and the Aztecs were down by seven again, 21-14. Sophomore kicker John Baron II kicked a short field goal and the Aztecs were down by four, 21-17. But the duo of Stevens and Gallup connected again for another easy score and CSU went up 28-17 midway through the second quarter. More pain came with five minutes left when Ruiz returned a punt for another touchdown and the Rams led big again, 35-17. The Aztecs got some reprieve after a few great passes from Chapman. Pumphrey ran it in on a reverse handoff for his 60th career touchdown and Colorado State’s lead was cut to 35-24. The Rams weren't going to let SDSU get away with that and, after a big run by Matthews, Stevens tossed it to Ruiz for Ruiz’s third receiving touchdown this season and the Rams led 42-24 at the half.
In the third quarter, the Rams did some more damage. After Chapman was picked off by freshman defensive back Jamal Hicks, CSU took it back downfield for another touchdown and the score was 49-24. Freshman halfback Marvin Kinsey Jr. added six more to make the score 56-24.
At the end of the third quarter, Colorado State forced a fumble. In the fourth with the offense on the field as a result, Matthews ran it in for the short touchdown run and the Rams were up 63-24. The Aztecs took one last stab when freshman running back Juwan Washington broke free and ran into the end zone and the Rams led 63-31. The Rams took that score to the end of the game and ruined the Aztecs’ Senior Night and put a cap on the SDSU offense that has been so stellar all season and ran and passed all over the Aztecs’ defense that has been so great.
The Aztecs will face Wyoming in the Mountain West championship game on December 3. The site of the game is to be determined Sunday morning.
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