When a college football team goes undefeated through four games, then has a bye week in which it enters the Top-25, then opens conference play with a team that's lost three straight and is obviously not as good, one of two things happens:
A) The undefeated team has a huge letdown and either loses to or barely survives the game.
B) The undefeated team puts together a clinical, no terribly dramatic performance to take care of business and keep the perfect record.
San Diego State went with the latter, soundly beating New Mexico 31-7 on Saturday night in Carson.
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The Aztecs made no secret of what they wanted to do offensively on their very first drive of the game. Running back Greg Bell took a handoff and went 40 yards on his inaugural carry. SDSU went 63 yards for a touchdown and every single one of them was on a Bell rush, the final one a 1-yard TD run and a 7-0 Aztecs lead. Bell had 104 yards on the ground in the 1st half alone.
Their defense was every bit as dominant as we're used to seeing it. In the 2nd quarter, Michael Shawcroft made a great play to rip the ball out of Luke Wysong's hands. Dallas Branch recovered for the first turnover of the night.
SDSU didn't throw the ball all that effectively but they did enough when they needed to. On 4th and 2, Jordon Brookshire bought just enough time with some nice footwork and lofted a 23-yard pass to Tyrell Shavers to keep a drive alive. Brookshire ended up strolling in from the 1-yard line to give the Aztecs a 17-0 lead.
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Safety Trenton Thompson kept the first half shutout intact with an interception at the goal line late in the 2nd quarter.
In the 3rd quarter the Lobos scored a defensive touchdown when Bell was stripped at his own 15 and Ray Leutele took it to the end zone to cut the lead to 17-7. Those were the only points New Mexico scored.
On their next drive Brookshire scored on an 11-yard TD run. On the drive after that Chance Bell took it in from the 8-yard line to cap the scoring on another successful evening for the home team.
The Aztecs are 5-0 and have a short week. They head to San Jose State to face the defending Mountain West Conference champion Spartans on Friday night.
