San Diego State asked fans to wear all black for their showdown with 19th-ranked Stanford. Little did they know the stadium they played in would take the blackout literally.
The Aztecs came from behind to beat the Cardinal 20-17 on an eventful Saturday night in Mission Valley. SDSU has been working towards being a perennial Top-25 program but to do that they needed a signature win. A moment, if you will. This was it.
“Definitely gave us national recognition,” said workhorse running back Rashaad Penny, who carried the ball 32 times for 175 yards and a touchdown. “I feel like everybody overlooks us because we’re just in the Mountain West. Tonight proved it: We can match up with anybody. We coming at you.”
It’s the first time SDSU has beat a ranked opponent from a Power-5 Conference since they beat #12 Iowa State back in 1981. How they got to the final whistle … well that’s a story in itself.
The Aztecs defense started the game as well as it possibly could have. San Diego State forced a 3-and-out on Stanford’s first three possessions. The Aztecs took a 3-0 lead on a 43-yard John Baron field goal in the 2nd quarter and that’s when the fun began.
Stanford running back Bryce Love is the Cardinal version of Penny. The big play threat made a big play when he took a handoff 51 yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead. The Cardinal controlled most of the rest of the half before making a crucial error.
Quarterback Keller Chryst was intercepted by defensive back Ron Smith, who took it back to the Stanford 15 yard line with 1:14 left in the half. Penny scored on a 4-yard run to give the Aztecs a 10-7 halftime lead.
The teams traded field goals in the 3rd quarter, setting up a wild final frame. On the first play of the quarter Love got to the sideline and glided 53 yards for another touchdown and a 17-13 lead. Love finished the night with 184 yards on 13 carries but other than his splash plays the Aztecs defense was stellar. Stanford only earned nine 1st downs for the entire game.
The Aztecs got the ball back with 6:15 to play, needing a touchdown to win. Quarterback Christian Chapman engineered the drive of his career. On 3rd and 7 he found Mikah Holder for 16 yards. Penny, who was more of a grinder than usual, ran for 11 yards to get into Cardinal territory and then … the lights went out at San Diego Stadium.
The artist formerly known as Qualcomm Stadium has long been in disrepair but this was an especially inopportune time for a blackout. An SDG&E spokesperson told NBC 7 the problem was an independent issue was with the stadium lighting system, not something on the main grid.
SDG&E confirmed the power outage the old-fashioned way: the control room overlooks Mission Valley so they looked out the window and saw there was, indeed, a problem. The stadium backup generators did kick in, keeping the scoreboard and several lights on the main concourse where fans sit lit up. The cause of the outage is still being investigated.
It caused a 22-minute delay, a lifetime for a football game. And what did Aztecs head coach Rocky Long say to his guys during the lull?
“I didn’t say anything to them. Told them they’re going to come back on in 15 minutes and we better score a touchdown to win. I mean, what do you think we do? Go tell ghost stories?”
The lights did, indeed, come back on and the Aztecs exorcised the demons of 30 consecutive losses to ranked non-conference opponents. Chapman found Juwan Washington out of the backfield for 12 more yards and on 3rd and 5 he hit Holder, who spent a lot of the night being defended by his twin brother Elijah, for 11 yards to the Cardinal 8-yard-line.
That’s when everyone looked for Penny but Aztecs offensive coordinator Jeff Horton made a brilliant play call. He had Chapman throw to tight end David Wells, who fought through a tackle for an 8-yard touchdown and a 20-17 lead with 54 seconds remaining.
“Can’t write it any better,” said Chapman. “Lights shut off, the fans are going crazy. Telling our brothers, this is it. This is our drive. If we want to be something this is what we’ve got to do. Everyone came together. We finished off a great drive. It was amazing.”
The Aztecs sealed it when Kameron Kelly intercepted Chryst, the third forced turnover of the night. One snap later a whole lot of the 43,040 fans found their way to the field to celebrate the biggest win in program history. Not that Coach Long wants the players to think about it that way.
“I’m concerned about next week’s game because they’re going to get patted on the back about this game,” said Long. “I’m happy for them. I’m proud for them. That was a big-time win. But we got a whole bunch more football to play. Our number one goal is to win the conference championship.”
Rocky makes a good point. The Aztecs start Mountain West play next week at Air Force, a unique offense to play against and they’ll have to go up to 7,200 feet to do it. Plus the Falcons gave Michigan a scare in the Big House on Saturday so that is not a team to be taken lightly. That’s a message Long is already planning to hammer home.
“Next week we play a very good team. Now, I didn’t tell them that because I think they ought to enjoy it for two days. But Monday they’re going to hear all about it.”
On Monday the Aztecs come to practice as a Top-25 team. This time they plan on staying one for a while.
