Aztecs Fall on the Road at Washington State

PULLMAN, Wash. -- San Diego State jumped out to a 7-0 lead but yielded 29 consecutive points, including 16 in less than a 5-minute span in a 36-13 loss at Washington State on Saturday night in Pullman.

The Aztecs (1-1) struck first when Jayden Denegal found a streaking Jacob Bostick on a 35-yard pass on a fourth-and-5 situation with 10 minutes left in the first quarter.

After the teams exchanged punts, the Cougars (2-0) took advantage of good field position after a 15-yard kick catch interference penalty on Brady Anderson. WSU went 48 yards on six plays, converting a fourth-and-1 from the SDSU 39 and later scoring on a 3-yard pass from Jaxon Potter to Trey Leckner to tie the game with 5:18 left in the first quarter.

WSU got into San Diego State territory on its next drive, but the Aztec defense limited Washington State to a 49-yard field goal by Jack Stevens to make it 10-7 early in the second quarter.

The Cougars later got to the SDSU 32-yard line, but on fourth-and-2, San Diego State All-American Trey Edge stuffed Kirby Vorhees run play, keeping it a 3-point game.

The teams played a game of field position for most of the second quarter as WSU couldn’t get past the San Diego State 35, instead punting to the Aztec 8. On second-and-10, however, Denegal was sacked in the end zone for the safety.

Washington State then used just 32 seconds, going 62 yards on four plays, highlighted by a 34-yard pass from Potter to Josh Meredith, a 20-yard rush by Leo Pulalasi and another 3-yard TD pass from Potter to Leckner.

Instead of trailing, 10-7, at the half, SDSU suddenly found itself down, 19-7, with the Cougars receiving the second-half kickoff. WSU outgained San Diego State, 261-108, in the first half.

Washington State took its opening drive of the third quarter 75 yards on seven plays, culminating with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Potter to Leon Neal Jr., opening up a commanding 26-7 advantage just 4 minutes, 5 seconds into the second half.

The Aztecs was stuffed on a fourth-and-3 from the Cougar 49, and WSU received a 42-yard field goal by Stevens to take a 29-7 lead.

SDSU responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive over 4:24 before Denegal punched it in from the 1. San Diego State’s 2-point conversion attempt was snuffed out by the Washington State defense, making it 29-13 with 57 seconds left in the quarter.

The Aztecs forced consecutive three-and-outs, but was unable to convert on fourth down, first failing from four-and-7 from the Cougar 37 and then later a fourth-and-9 from the WSU 36 as Denegal was sacked for a 12-yard loss.

WSU ate up 6:17 of clock, going 42 yards on 12 plays before Julian Dugger punched it in from three yards out to close the scoring. It appeared SDSU changed the momentum when Chris Johnson blocked a 28-yard field goal attempt by Stevens and Bryce Phillips ran it 67 yards for a touchdown. A referee, however, called Johnson for offsides on back-to-back field goal attempts, giving Washington State the first down and the ability to run more time off the clock.

San Diego State had to punt and the Cougars kneeled to take the 36-13 victory.

Lucky Sutton ran for 88 yards on 15 attempts (5.9 avg.) to lead the Aztecs, while Denegal was 15-for-30 for 133 yards and a touchdown. Jordan Napier caught seven of the 15 Denegal passes for 69 yards.

Tano Letuli had a game-high 11 tackles to lead SDSU, while Owen Chambliss chipped in with nine and Johnson eight with a forced fumble.

San Diego State fell to 1-3 in the series with Washington State, playing in its first 36-13 game in its Division I history (since 1969). The Aztecs extended their DI era record with their third consecutive turnover-free contest.