Aztecs score late touchdown, secure 27-24 win over Hawaii – San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego State running back Marquez Cooper prides himself on his toughness.

Perhaps that’s why Cooper seemed embarrassed to watch Tuesday’s practice with a knee brace rather than participate.

Cooper held up a finger and told a practice observer, “I’m just taking a day.”

The next day he was back.

Anyone who thought Cooper might take a breather every now and then in the Mountain West’s opening game Saturday night against Hawaii was wrong. In fact, the Ball State graduate touched the ball 20 times in the first half against the Rainbow Warriors. All other Aztecs combined only had 17 touches of the ball in the first two quarters.

It was Cooper’s 2-yard carry with 7:13 remaining in the game, where he stretched and strained to get the ball across the goal line, that was the difference in SDSU’s 27-24 victory over Hawaii in front of an announced crowd of 31,307 spectators (22,318 turnstiles). at Snapdragon Stadium.

“I’m really, really proud of the team,” SDSU coach Sean Lewis said. “Their efforts and all the improvements they have made over the course of all these weeks and all the hard lessons we have learned have come to fruition tonight. We found the right way to improve in different ways in all three phases of a four-quarter game and emerge as winners.”

SDSU (2-3, 1-0 MW) ended a three-game losing streak with a victory over the Rainbow Warriors (2-3, 1-1).

The Aztecs, coming off a last-minute loss at Central Michigan last week, needed two late defensive attacks to pull it off against Hawaii.

Hawaii quarterback Brayden Schager converted a fourth-and-18 from his own 42 with less than three minutes to play, putting the Rainbow Warriors 39 yards away from a go-ahead score.

SDSU senior Trey White took it upon himself to stop Schager at that point. White tricked the quarterback into an incompletion on first down and then sacked him on second down. The teams then huddled together for the two-minute timeout.

When they returned, Schager (26-for-43, 272 yards, 3 TDs/INT) threw a third-down completion that gave Hawaii a fourth-and-2 at the SDSU 46. The Aztecs then narrowly stopped Hawaii on fourth down with 1:12 left

With ten seconds left, SDSU threw the ball back to Hawaii. Schager threw an incompletion before being surrounded by four Aztecs defenders on the final play of the game – Edge Marlem Louis was blamed for the sack.

After a heartbreaking loss last week, the Aztecs had a heartbreaking win.

“It definitely feels better being on the other side,” said White, who had a game-high three sacks and now has nine this season. “We knew we had to make some plays to close the game and not let their offense sink like we did last week. So we had to go big, and we did.”

SDSU quarterback Danny O’Neil was 24 of 33 for 224 yards. He threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Louis Brown IV with six seconds left in the second quarter, giving the Aztecs a 17-10 halftime lead.

Cooper, the workhorse, caught 30 balls for 109 yards and two touchdowns. He also had four receptions for 28 yards.

The Ball State graduate entered the game feeling banged up after last week’s loss at Central Michigan.

The outline of a brace on Cooper’s right knee could be seen through his pants, and five minutes into the second quarter he hobbled off the field after a series. At that point, he only had 20 yards on nine carries.

Would Cooper rest?

No.

After SDSU cornerback Jelani Whitmore intercepted Schager near midfield, Cooper jogged back with his teammates.

He came back stronger, took a handoff from O’Neil and raced 31 yards up the middle before being tackled. Cooper racked up over 5,000 all-purpose yards carrying. He capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run for a 10-3 lead.

“He’s persistent,” O’Neil said. “He demands the ball. He wants the ball every single game, which is what I love about him. At the end of the day, he’s a football guy. …That’s something I admire about him. I just love sharing the backfield with him.”

The Aztecs led 20-10 early in the third quarter on a 43-yard field goal by Gabriel Plascencia, who also had a 24-yarder in the first quarter that opened the scoring.

But Hawaii didn’t let up and led 24:20 after two touchdown passes from Schager to Pofele Ashlock and Cenacle with 5:48 minutes left.

That was before O’Neil led an eight-play, 87-yard drive that was anchored by a 48-yard pass to wide receiver Nate Bennett and capped by Cooper’s second touchdown of the night.

“There was no doubt, we were all confident we were going to go down and score,” said O’Neil, who went 5-for-5 on the drive. “We all believe in each other.”

Remarkable

• White is expected to lead the nation in this category with nine sacks. Coming into the game, he was ranked third in the state. His 1.8 sacks/game would be a national record if maintained all season. Terrell Suggs averaged 1.7 sacks per game (24 for the season) at Arizona State in 2002.

The SDSU single-season record for sacks is 21 Mike Douglass in 1976.

• O’Neil was 10 of 10 early in the game before a screen pass intended for the wide receiver fell incomplete Yes’Shaun Poke There are 5:43 minutes left in the first quarter.

• SDSUs Tyler Pastula He averaged 47.6 yards on five punts, his average boosted by a 65-yard attempt in the first quarter.

• It’s the first time since 2010 that the Aztecs have played two straight games decided by three points or fewer.

• Penalties were once again a problem for the Aztecs. At least in the first half, when they were whistled six times for 80 yards. The most problematic was a targeted foul on the SDSU defender Ryan Hendersonwho was sent off for his hit against Schager.

The quarterback threw a 23-yard touchdown pass on the next play, which included a personal foul on White.

During the game, SDSU had nine penalties for 104 yards. Hawaii was penalized seven times for 66 yards.

• SDSU Center Brayden Bryant (Ankle), however, started in the middle Dean Abdullah replaced him and played there for most of the game. Left guard Myles Murao (Knee) was sidelined for the second week in a row.

• SDSU plays at Wyoming on Saturday, traveling to War Memorial Stadium for the first time since beating the Cowboys there in the 2016 Mountain West Conference Championship.

Wyoming (1-4) had this weekend off. The Cowboys opened the season with four straight losses before defeating Air Force 31-19 at home in their Mountain West opener.

Originally published: October 5, 2024 at 8:42 p.m