Aztecs Perfect Season Ends In Alabama

SDSU's 13-game winning streak snapped in loss

Given the fact the Mountain West Conference is not terribly good these days there was hope that, if San Diego State was able to navigate its non-conference schedule without a loss, it would steamroll its way to the Mountain West Conference Championship Game with an undefeated record.

That possibility ended in Mobile, Alabama with a 42-24 loss to the South Alabama Jaguars. SDSU simply made too many mistakes to win a game on the road against a Sun Belt team that already has a win over an SEC opponent (Mississippi State) this year.

The Aztecs were able to move the ball behind running backs Donnel Pumphrey and Rashaad Penny. Pumphrey ran for 151 yards on 25 carries, making him the all-time leading rushing in Mountain West Conference history. He also became the 21st player in major college football history to top 5,000 career rushing yards and passed nine players on the all-time NCAA rushing list, including a few guys you might have heard of before:

Lorenzo White (Michigan St.)
Melvin Gordon (Wisconsin)
Ray Rice (Rutgers)
Michael Turner (Northern Illinois)
Darren Sproles (Kansas State)

Interestingly, three of those guys (Gordon, Turner and Sproles) were drafted by the San Diego Chargers. Pumphrey and Penny both had a rushing touchdown.

But the Aztecs were not able to overcome a few big plays. In the 4th quarter, trailing 28-24, SDSU was punting from its own 46 yard line when a bad snap rolled all the way down to the Aztecs three yard line. South Alabama scored two plays later to put the Jags on top 35-24.

On their next possession the Aztecs were moving the ball well when quarterback Christian Chapman and fullback Nick Bawden could not complete a handoff, the ball rolled free, and Devon Earl returned it 80 yards for the final score of the game.

The Aztecs fall to 3-1. They open Mountain West play next week at Qualcomm Stadium against UNLV.

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