For a few minutes on Saturday evening, Aztecs fans had a terrible feeling that they were about to witness the worst loss in the 100-year history of San Diego State's football program. SDSU fell behind Idaho State, an FCS program, on a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage.
The fear dissipated quickly. The Bengals didn't score again in a 38-7 Aztecs win, their first victory in their new Mission Valley home. Just three minutes after ISU's big play Jordan Byrd did what he does best: make big plays.
The Mountain West Conference preseason Special Teams Player of the Year took a punt back 66 yards for a score to level it 7-7 and set off a run of 38 unanswered Aztecs points. Byrd also ran for a 53-yard touchdown and finished with 169 total yards. SDSU's passing game still needs to find a way to get off the ground. Braxton Burmeister completed 15 of 26 pass attempts for a scant 108 yards and one TD, a 14-yard strike to Tyrell Shavers.
But, they made up for that by running wild. SDSU ran it 43 times for 380 yards and three touchdowns, including a 47-yard scramble by Burmeister. Eight different Aztecs got a carry, led by Jaylon Armstead's 96 yards on just five rushes.
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This was a game the Aztecs should have dominated, and for the most part they did. But, they're going to need to be a lot cleaner to have a chance next week at 13th-ranked Utah. The Utes rebounded from their season opening loss at Florida with a 73-7 dismantling of Southern Utah.
