SAN DIEGO — Sweet revenge is nectar San Diego State can slowly sip and enjoy on the way to a bowl game after slowly taking apart BYU 13-3 Saturday night in a showdown of two former Mountain West foes.
Rocky Long has suffered through 10 losses to BYU over seasons at New Mexico and with the Aztecs, but on Senior Night on his own turf, his fired-up Aztecs ended BYU’s five-game winning streak dating back to October by out-hustling and out-playing the Cougars and, it looked like, just wanting it more.
“It’s great to win and nine games; it looks good on your record,” said Long. “BYU is a very good team and a class act. Now this season is over, I can say this defense is the best I’ve ever been around. We made our field goals and they missed theirs and we won.”
Long’s defense allowed BYU just a field goal after the Cougars were puffed up from generally whipping Utah State and Liberty and generally slaughtering Idaho State and UMass.
This win avenged the loss to BYU the last time these teams met in the 2012 Poinsettia Bowl when Kyle Van Noy almost beat the Aztecs all by himself.
“This is not indicative of what we’re capable of doing,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said.
“This is not indicative of what we’re capable of doing.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake
The Cougars’ offense had its own hand in the Aztecs’ defensive domination. False starts, a fumble, illegal motion, two interceptions, passes completed short of first-down markers, huge sacks taken and a 26-yard field goal that bounced off the upright in crunch time. They all helped doom the Cougars.
This offense, which exploded the past two weeks against weak foes, ran 81 plays against SDSU and scored only 3 points. That is neither efficient nor competitive. It is lazy football, lacking urgency and focus.
“I had a lot of off-balance throws in a small pocket and I have to do a better job of throwing on balance. They did a great job getting their hands up and tipping balls. We need to step up and get in the end zone, that’s the only stat that matters,” said BYU quarterback Zach Wilson.
This was a disappointing performance to end the regular season for a team that looked like it had built momentum heading into a bowl game in Honolulu on Christmas Eve.
In this lackluster BYU outing, one has to credit Long. He got everything out of his Aztecs.
BYU put up more yards on Long’s defense than any team this season, the previous high yielded was 376, yet BYU scored just a field goal.
BYU was outplayed through three quarters and then played panic ball in the fourth. The Cougar defense, playing against one of the worst offenses in FBS and facing Carson Baker, a quarterback who’d never played a down of college ball, gave up scoring drives of 10, 11 and eight plays and the only touchdown of the night.
Baker (19-24, 172 yards) had an impressive efficiency rating of 153.1. Wilson, playing against the best defense he’s faced since Washington, was 31 of 53 for 316 yards with two interceptions and a fumble for a QB efficiency rating of 101.
This game solidified a theory that Kalani Sitake’s team has a hard time with consistency and handling success. They were favored to end this season on a 6-0 run until Saturday spit it back and said, “Nope, you aren’t good enough.”
This is a challenge Sitake will take with him and his extension to lead the program.
“None of us played well enough to win and we have to look at it and it starts with myself,” said Sitake.
BYU out-gained SDSU 416 yards to 269, had 23 first downs to SDSU’s 12 and still lost. That speaks to how flawlessly Long’s team played at home. The Cougars lost in the margins, turnovers and inside both the defensive and offensive lines where such battles are often decided.
SDSU, the aggressor, simply fought like ninjas. The Cougars meowed their way into post-season December.
SDSU’s secondary got a lot of hands on long balls BYU receivers have been hauling down for five games.
In heading to its bowl in Hawaii, BYU’s field-goal kicking game is in shambles. Skyler Southam replaced Jake Oldroyd for this game and after giving BYU’s its only points on a 24-yarder in the first quarter to go up 3-0, he had a 29-yarder hit the upright in the third and simply missed a 26-yarder at the end of the game.
He has to be searching for a psychologist’s soft couch after beating out Oldroyd during the week. BYU kickers have made just 5 of their last 13 field goals.
BYU’s season ends at 7-5, a record predicted by our sportswriters who cover the Cougars, Jeff Call, Jay Drew and Brandon Gurney. I had BYU starting 0-4 then winning eight straight to finish 8-4. That prediction was 11 points off at the end of 12 games, and it fell on this night in a place the Cougars have created historic plays for four decades and really should have Saturday.
“We just have to learn how to finish. Finish the half and finish the game,” said linebacker Isaiah Kaufusi.
“I think at the beginning of the year it was like that except for the past few weeks, but this week we didn’t and they just got us,” said Kaufusi.
The Cougars leave warm San Diego for the chill of Utah’s winter and 15 practices in preparation for a bowl game.
A win would have been a nice way to finish, but in a way, this loss may be very good for BYU’s bowl preparation after all the fuzzies and pats on the back the past five weeks.
This team has a lot of work to do to look more polished, executing with fewer mistakes and creating points in these 15 practices.
The agenda is set.
“We have to work hard. We owe it to the seniors. Next year begins now,” said Sitake.