San Diego State had to overcome the loss of their starting running back and one of the worst officiating mistakes in the history of college football in their meeting with Eastern Michigan.
Lo and behold they did it.
The Aztecs somehow pulled off a 23-20 overtime win over the Eagles at SDCCU Stadium on Saturday.
Junior running back Juwan Washington, one of the nation’s leading rushers, was lost to an arm injury in the second quarter. He had 61 yards on 12 carries when he got hurt so the Aztecs had to lean on their backup running back and, since senior Christian Chapman is out with a knee injury, their backup quarterback.
Both men acquitted themselves well.
QB Ryan Agnew threw for 176 yards and a pair of touchdowns, one to tight end Parker Houston and another to wideout B.J. Busbee. RB Chase Jasmin carried it 16 times for 94 yards as the Aztecs built a 17-3 lead.
Then EMU took over for a while. Quarterback Mike Glass hit Arthur Jackson for a 37-yard touchdown, part of a 17-point run that put the Eagles on top 20-17. And then the officials made their boo-boo.
Agnew rolled to his right and threw a dart to Houston that would have given the Aztecs a first down inside the EMU 15-yard line … but for some reason, the zebras blew the play dead saying the QB had stepped out of bounds before delivering the pass. Replays showed the ball was out of his hands long before reading the sidelines but the play is not reviewable.
So SDSU had to rely on kicker John Barron II, one of the best in the nation, to hit a 50-yarder to force overtime and Barron stuck it right down the middle.
In OT the Eagles got the ball first but didn’t have it for very long. Redshirt freshman Darren Hall picked a great time to make his first career interception. Barron won it a few plays later with another field goal.
The Aztecs improve to 3-1, have a bye next week, and then open Mountain West Conference play at Boise State on Oct. 6.
