What a game, what a game.
First, those of you whining about Jeff Horton and his play calling need to wander away into oncoming traffic.
The Aztec offense, courtesy of Ryan Agnew, performed well enough. The offensive line looked absolutely anemic during the first possession, then blocked, pushed and shoved to a reasonable degree of effectiveness throughout the remainder of the game.
Mr. Agnew scrambled as needed. He’s not half bad. Ask the UCLA defense as they bit on Ryan beginning to run only to watch him pull back and throw his sole touchdown pass of the afternoon to make the score 17-7. 23/31/293 is a notable effort. Kobe Smith and Jesse Matthews caught 12 of Mr. Agnew’s 23 completions for a total of 190 yards. Do we have a receiving duo of impact?
Speaking of impact, or lack of, the running game was absent. Jordan Byrd started to no real effect. Chase Jasmin scored the first touchdown on a well blocked 3 yard run and did nothing else. Chance Bell had a couple of carries for not much. Juwan was mostly missing in action less the interesting sequence with 25 seconds left in the first half featuring Jeff Horton seemingly willing to take a couple of knees and end the half, when Rocky walked over to him and, um, encouraged Mr. Horton to run actual plays to gain yardage (a thrilling concept), which resulted in Mr. Washington rushing for 15 yards in two carries (his best consecutive rushes of the afternoon). I will say that I was puzzled by Mr. Horton’s repeated (and repeated) attempts at running the ball into the middle of the UCLA defense for no gain or minor losses. However, this shortcoming was easily overcome by the arm of Mr. Agnew.
The d-line continues to impress. At worst they held the UCLA o-line in place which allowed Aztec linebackers into the backfield (as proof consider our 3 sacks of the UCLA quarterback). At best, they applied plenty of pressure forcing throws on the run or brining down UCLA running backs behind or near the line of scrimmage. The 2 fourth down stuffs at 4:04 and 2:31 in the fourth quarter by the SDSU defense was pure fight and desire. At game’s end, allowing 62 yards rushing and 199 yards passing is to be applauded. Finally, the UCLA offense had the ball for only 21:44 the entire game thanks to the Aztec defense.
Matt Araiza was 3/4 in field goal attempts. He hit from 43, 31 and 25. His 6 kickoffs featured 5 touchbacks with the other not returned. That’s right. 6 kicks, no yardage. A worthy defensive weapon this year and the next three. I can’t wait to watch him kick in Fort Collins this October. He may send one into the stands on the fly.
2-0.
Go, Aztecs.
tipmypitch 