After a season-opening loss at 10th-ranked Stanford the Aztecs were supposed to be in for a much easier evening against the Football Championship Subdivision Sacramento State Hornets.
It was anything but easy.
San Diego State overcame the loss of senior starting quarterback Christian Chapman and a 4th quarter deficit to beat the Hornets 28-14 in their home opener. In the 2nd quarter Chapman took a shot to the legs after a play, a hit that drew a penalty. SDSU says the initial diagnosis is a sprained left knee.
In came junior backup Ryan Agnew, who led the Aztecs on a long 3rd quarter drive only to have a pass tipped and picked off by Mister Harriel. On the very next play Hornets QB Kevin Thomson tossed a 64-yard touchdown pass to B.J. Perkinson to give Sac State a 14-13 lead.
They held it deep into the 4th quarter when SDSU put the game in the hands of their workhorse. The Aztecs put together a 13 play, 82 yard touchdown drive and 47 of those yards came from running back Juwan Washington, who finished it with a 4-yard TD run. Agnew hit Parker Houston for a 2-point conversion and a 21-14 lead with 4:05 to play in the game.
On their next possession Thomson was sacked by linebacker Kyahva Tezino on 4th and 3 to get the ball back and two plays later Washington broke loose on a 20-yard TD run, his 3rd scoring run of the night, to put it away. Washington finished with 156 yards on 36 carries.
The Aztecs move to 1-1 and next week host Arizona State.
