San Diego State head coach Sean Lewis made a name for himself with a high-octane, fast-paced, and most importantly potent offensive attack. It usually works pretty well, as we saw in a 45-point outburst in their season opener.
Saturday night was one of the rare outings where it just doesn't click and it cost them in a 21-0 loss to Oregon State at Snapdragon Stadium.
The Aztecs offense was on the field for less than 19 minutes, gained just 179 yards, and earned a sparse seven 1st downs against the Beavers. Amazingly, their defense kept them in the game well into the 4th quarter. OSU got into the end zone on their first possession thanks to a 16-yard TD run by Jam Griffin, then went seven straight drives without scoring a point.
In the 3rd quarter SDSU looked like it was going to score and take control of the momentum. After six straight punts, true freshman quarterback Danny O'Neil lofted a pass deep down the right sideline, where Louis Brown IV made a fantastic catch over the back of a defender for a 35 yard gain. The drive progressed to the OSU 2-yard-line when O'Neil made a freshman mistake.
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The QB tried to score behind the left side of the offensive line but fumbled, giving the ball back to the Beavers, who took advantage of an exhausted SDSU defense. Oregon State went 98 yards on 13 plays, with Anthony Hankerson running the final 15 yards for a score that put it out of reach.
Next week things don't get any easier for the Aztecs when they go to Berkeley to face a Cal team that just beat Auburn on the road.