If a football team scores the first 13 points of a game and knocks the opposing team's quarterback out in the 1st half, it's perfectly acceptable to assume that team ended up winning the game. It's certainly reasonable to think maybe they lost but it was close.
You would be completely forgiven if you did not think the other team's backup QB would lead a 41-point explosion that resulted in a three touchdown win. Alas, that's the scenario that played out for San Diego State on Saturday on their road trip to Utah State.
The Aztecs jumped out to a 13-0 lead then watched it morph into a 41-20 loss to the Aggies, sending SDSU to their fifth straight loss. A pair of field goals and a 14-yard touchdown run by Marquez Cooper gave the Aztecs the early lead. Cooper finished the day with 118 yards on 23 carries, making him the 23rd running back in college football history to top 5,000 career rushing yards.
Utah State was having all kinds of trouble moving the ball on the Aztecs defense. Early in the 2nd quarter Trey White came screaming off the edge to sack Aggies QB Spencer Petras, who suffered an injury to his throwing arm on the hit. Petras, a transfer from Iowa who scouts think will end up in an NFL training camp, was replaced by backup Bryson Barnes, a transfer from Utah who had only attempted three passes over the last two months.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Barnes went bonkers. He led the Aggies to a touchdown on six of his next eight drives and gouged the Aztecs with his arm and legs. Barnes completed 13 of 15 passes for 139 yards and three touchdowns will rushing 15 times for 193 yards and another score.
On the other side, SDSU's offense suffered from the same thing that's plagued it most of the year: red zone efficiency. In the first half they had a chance to build a major lead, advancing inside the USU 20 yard line four times. They scored just one touchdown.
San Diego State will come home for their final game of the season next Saturday, facing Air Force at Snapdragon Stadium.
