FOOTBALL: SDSU stays resilient but comes up short

The outcome of the game was familiar enough.

It was another solemn march into the locker room, another night without celebration and another tally in the loss column as the San Diego State football team fell to Colorado State, 38-34.

But on Saturday night, SDSU (1-7, 0-4 in  MWC play) showed something that its fans hadn’t seen in nearly two months: a hard-fought, competitive game in which the Aztecs showed some tenacity and looked resilient.

The two teams went back and forth all night in a game that appeared would be won by whichever team had the ball last. In the third quarter alone, six of the seven total possessions ended in touchdowns.

“I’m very proud of our effort tonight, especially coming off of last week’s loss,” head coach Chuck Long said. “The team really showed some heart and some guts.”

With last weekend’s 70-7 loss to New Mexico finally in their rearview mirror, the SDSU offense seemed like a completely different squad this week. Redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Lindley and company racked up 34 points, the second highest total of the year, punting only three times as they scored on six out of their 11 possessions.

Lindley played solid football throughout the night, going 24 of 33 in the air for 166 yards and a touchdown, but his lone mistake sealed the Aztecs’ fate. He was intercepted on SDSU’s final drive to clinch the victory for CSU (4-4, 2-2).

“Ryan had a nice night,” Long said. “I always tell the guys that it doesn’t come down to one play. There are a lot of plays in a game that can win or lose a football game.

“He answered a lot of bells tonight when we were behind. But Lindley took it hard, as any quarterback would. We’ve all been in those situations and the best thing for Ryan is to grow from that.”

But the bulk of the Aztecs’ offense came from Atiyyah Henderson’s career-high 177 yards and two touchdowns, which included a 72-yard score in the third quarter. This, for an SDSU squad that came into the game averaging an abysmal 50 yards per game, was perhaps the most encouraging aspect of Saturday night for the Aztecs.

“Going into the game we had a good game plan to run against them,” senior offensive lineman Mike Schmidt said. “As an offensive line we took that as a challenge. You have to give credit to those (running) backs.”

Despite the many positive phases of the game, Long’s squad is still winless and in last place in the Mountain West Conference, with its lone win of the year came at home to ever-lowly Idaho. With just four games left in an already bowl-ineligible year, the team’s production in this last month could go a long way in determining the state of the program.

“I know we’re going to get better and better and start closing deals,” Long said. “We haven’t answered the bell like we did tonight in a while. We’ve fallen behind and we’ve stayed behind.

“I just like the way our guys kept coming back when we did get down. It’s a sign of growth especially because that hadn’t happened too much. This is a new team and a young team. I’m very encouraged. I know this team will eventually turn a corner for our program.”

Comments

1 comments

Aztec97

Tue Oct 28 2008 02:42

this just in...chuck long is NOT THE ANSWER.
what a sad bunch of losers. why don't we go out and get a REAL coach. one who has had some real success in the college game. It's about time sdsu ponies up some real money for a real coach. Chuck Long is making what...$700k + ??? for what? You might as well save that 700k at this rate and just spend 30k for a part-timer. Your results could only be 1 game worse right?!

But really....spend the money to get a good/great coach. We should be shootin for the likes of Steve Spurrier-types. Bring in some real excitement for once. The only reason we even have any fans left in the stadium to watch this mess is because they are fans of the other team amazed at their great seats.

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