Oregon Runs All Over Stanford In Pac-12 Home Opener

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October 1, 2022

_E1A3320 — Photo by Megan Connelly / fi360 News

EUGENE, OR – After narrowly avoiding a loss last week against Washington State, the 13^th ranked Oregon Ducks advanced to 3-1 late Saturday night after they defeated the Stanford Cardinal 45-27 in their Pac-12 home opener.

Stanford was notably without running back EJ Smith, son of Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, who will miss the rest of the season with an undisclosed injury

The Ducks took a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter when Bo Nix found wide receiver Chase Cota for a 49-yard touchdown pass and continued to roll after that.

Bennett Williams, who had 7 total tackles on the night, forced a fumble on Benjamin Yurosek in second quarter which was recovered by Noah Sewell. The forced fumble was Williams’s first of season, and third of his career.

Once again, the Ducks dominated the ground game, rushing for Season high 350 yards (515 total). Nix led the Ducks on the ground, rushing for a career-high 141 yards and two touchdowns, which is the most in a game by an Oregon quarterback since Jeremiah Masoli ran for 164 yards back on October 31^st, 2009. Sophomore running back and Minnesota transfer Bucky Irving matched his career high, rushing for 97 yards on only 10 carries and sophomore running back Sean Dollars recorded his first career rushing touchdown on 2-yard rush in the fourth quarter.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning has focused his offense around the run game this season, and after the game stated “We want to lean on our strengths, I think our O-line has been a strength all year. Our backs are running really hard. We were obviously able to involve the quarterback in the run game, and wide receivers too, that was part of our plan coming in. If they didn’t take it away, we wanted to continue to lean on it.”

Nix also was great in the passing game, completing 16-of-29 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns, but his night was highlighted by an 80-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter that put the Ducks ahead 38-10.

Wide receiver Chase Cota said “I remember when I saw him get out and he was like 40 yards down the field, I’m like `Please don’t slide, you got the touchdown…Sure enough, he made it.”

The Oregon Ducks will head to the University of Arizona next week as they look to continue their win streak and keep their hopes of making the 2022 College Football Playoff alive.

USC drops ASU in the night cap

By

Eric Ramos

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October 1, 2022

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OCT 1 Arizona State at USC — LOS ANGELES, CA -OCTOBER 01: USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams (13) runs out of the pocket during a college football game between the Arizona State and the USC Trojans on October 01, 2022, at United Airlines Field at The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Jordon Kelly/fi360news)

Caleb Williams threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for another score in a42-2 5 win over Arizona State on Saturday night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Sun Devils only trailed by four points at halftime but the Trojans defense made adjustments in the second half and the offense put together three scoring drives to pull away.

LOS ANGELES, CA -OCTOBER 01: Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Emory Jones (5)] gets sacked by USC Trojans defensive lineman Nick Figueroa (99) during a college football game between the Arizona State and the USC Trojans on October 01, 2022, at United Airlines Field at The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Jordon Kelly/fi360news)

“We’re really excited about the win,” USC head coach Lincoln Riley said. “It’s great to be 5-0. It was a game of momentum. We had some momentum early, but we didn’t do a very good job finishing in the first half.”

USC is 5-0 to start the season for the first since 2020. The Trojans scored a touchdown on each of its first three possessions tonight and has scored on its first three drives in four of five games this season.

USC capped a 9-play, 75-yard opening drive with a Williams 1-yard QB sneak to give the Trojans an early 7-0 lead. Arizona State responded on the ensuing drive with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Emory Jones to Xazavian Valladay.

LOS ANGELES, CA -OCTOBER 01: USC Trojans tight end Malcolm Epps (19) catches a touchdown pass during a college football game between the Arizona State and the USC Trojans on October 01, 2022, at United Airlines Field at The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Jordon Kelly/fi360news)

Williams gave USC a 14-7 lead with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Mario Williams with 1:52 remaining in the first quarter. The Sun Devils added a 40-yard field goal to cut the USC lead 14-10.

USC marched down the field and tight end Malcom Epps caught a 4-yard touchdown to give the
Trojans a 21-10 lead. Arizona State would not go away and cut the Trojans lead 21-17 on a 6-yard scramble from Jones.

Williams was intercepted in the end zone on its opening possession of the third quarter. It was USC’s first turnover of the season.

LOS ANGELES, CA -OCTOBER 01: USC Trojans wide receiver Jordan Addison (3) catches the ball for a gain during a college football game between the Arizona State and the USC Trojans on October 01, 2022, at United Airlines Field at The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Jordon Kelly/fi360news)

“They made a good play on the ball and that happens,” Williams said. “Things don’t always go your way as I said before. It was how we responded, which is what I was happy about.”

After the defense forced a punt, the Trojans marched down the field and Travis Dye jumped over the line for a 2-yard touchdown.

Williams gave the Trojans a 35-17 in the fourth quarter after he hit Kyron Hudson for a 2-yard touchdown. Valladay scored on a 2-yard run to cut the lead 35-25.

LOS ANGELES, CA -OCTOBER 01: USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams (13) runs out of the pocket during a college football game between the Arizona State and the USC Trojans on October 01, 2022, at United Airlines Field at The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Jordon Kelly/fi360news)

Dye scored his second touchdown of the game to give USC a commanding 42-35 lead with 3:46 remaining in the fourth quarter.

USC is back in action on Saturday, Oct. 8 when they host Washington State.

Kraken dominate Canucks to remain undefeated in preseason

By

Charles Hamaker

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October 1, 2022

Seattle, WA – In their second matchup against each other in three days, the Seattle Kraken handled the Vancouver Canucks in a 4-0 victory. A veteran laden group headlined by Yanni Gourde, Alex Wennberg, and Oliver Bjorkstrand, Seattle continues to build great chemistry. While it is just the preseason, the positive signs displayed by the Kraken continue to remain present and things are looking much better than year one. Before the game began though, Seattle unveiled it’s official mascot.

Yes, the Kraken finally have a mascot. No, it is not the mythical beast that the team itself is named after. The second-year franchises official mascot is named Buoy, and it is a troll. Inspired by the Fremont Troll in Seattle, the reveal of the mascot was received with mixed reviews. While the Kraken branding is typically dark and mysterious, the idea behind Buoy is that the mascot is kid friendly and will act as an ambassador in the community. It may take some time, but Buoy will surely become a lovable part of the franchise. Kraken vice president of entertainment experience and production, Lamont Buford, discussed the goal for Buoy.

“I will say it wasn’t something that we really sought out to do right away, but with this organization, we have always listened to our fans, and our fans were truly wanting to have a mascot. In listening to them, we decided to start the process to get our character,” Buford said.

While typically NHL teams stack their preseason lineups in younger players and roster bubble players, the Kraken have deployed their veterans evenly each game. Seattle seems determined to truly generate great team chemistry before they begin the regular season, and it looks like that is working perfectly to plan. Yanni Gourde, the presumable captain of this team, had a monster game. Gourde scored a goal and added two assists, totaling three points on the night. Teammate Oliver Bjorkstrand spoke about playing on a line with Gourde.

“I like his game, he’s always on the puck. When he has the puck, he always makes smart plays… overall, I really thought that we were able to get some good minutes in,” Bjorkstrand reflected.

Following their fourth win of the 2022 preseason, Seattle will head on the road for two games to finish out their exhibition matches. The first of the two comes on Monday, October 3rd against the Calgary Flames. Puck drop for the game is at 6PM PST, as the two Western Division teams will battle it out on ESPN+.

UCLA jumps on the Dawgs for the win

By

Mykell Mathieu

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September 30, 2022

Pasadena, CA- The UCLA Bruins looks like they are a real player when it comes to the Pac-12!

UCLA pulled off a huge upset against the 15th-ranked Washington Huskies 40-32 in their Pac-12 home opener.

Already leading 9-7 after the first quarter, UCLA dominated the second quarter outscoring the Huskies (17-3) in the quarter and never looked backed. Star quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson tossed touchdown passes to WRs Jake Bobo and Sam Brown in the second quarter alone. He finished the game with 300+ passing yards to go along with 3 touchdown passes. DTR was able to add a rushing touchdown in the third quarter as well.

“I’m reading all the articles throughout the whole week. They’re writing us off people saying we are the worst 4-0 team out there” said the ‘turnt up’ 5th year starting quarterback. “My boys played with a chip on their shoulders. I told y’all on Monday to see if Washington can run with us and not the other way around.”

After jumping out to a 40-16 lead in the 4th quarter the Bruins had to fight off the charging Huskies as they cut the lead to eight with 3:59 remaining. UCLA’s offense did their part by picking up first down after first down to finish off their Pac-12 counterpart.

Coach Chip Kelly was pleased that his offense was able to close out the game without giving UW another chance to possibly send the game into overtime. “That’s what great teams have to do. You have to be able to seal the win and not put it in anybody else’s hands.”

With a Chip Kelly led team its all about offense but the Bruins defense led the charge in the game. The defense slowed down a Washington offense that came in averaging 44 points per game, holding them to just 32 points. With most of the scoring coming late. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. struggled early but finished with 345 yards and 4 touchdowns. The issue was the three turnovers early that put his team in a whole.

The Bruins now move on to another big game as the defending Pac-12 champion Utah Utes comes to town Saturday October 8 at 12:30pm. Washington looks to bounce back as they travel to Sun Valley for a matchup with the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Kraken come alive again in second period, shutout Flames 3-0

By

Charles Hamaker

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September 27, 2022

NelsonAaron_Seattle_TampaBay_3_16_2022-3 — Photo by Aaron Nelson / fi360 News

Seattle, WA – In similar fashion to their last game, the Seattle Kraken used a second period surge and solid goaltender play to beat the Calgary Flames. A slow and sloppy first period by the second half of the Kraken roster (the first half playing yesterday) shows that this still is the preseason. The power play continues to search for its identity, but the offense found more ways to get on the board. The bright spots displayed in the first two games of the preseason, early or not, continue to give Seattle hope that the Kraken will have a competitive 2022-2023 campaign.

Yesterday, it was Martin Jones and Joey Daccord in net that shutout the Edmonton Oilers. Today, it was Philipp Grubauer and Magnus Hellberg that continued Seattle’s now back-to-back nights of scoreless hockey. Grubauer, aiming to have a much better year than his career low in 2021-2022, looked sharp and active. Perhaps Seattle bringing in new goaltender coach Steve Briere has helped not only Grubauer, but the rest of the position group. Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol discussed the goaltender play postgame.

“Both nights we got good, solid performances. Couple good saves at the right time along the way. I thought Grubi had a real good, solid night. A little more chaotic night in front of him, but ultimately, he did a good job of finding pucks,” Hakstol reflected.

Forward Daniel Sprong found some success with Seattle late last season, after being acquired in exchange for some draft picks from the Washington Capitals. Nicknamed “the Flying Dutchman,” Sprong has a heavy shot and can score at a quick pace, shown in his 16 games with the Kraken. While his case for a return might have been solid at the end of last season, things got crowded in Seattle’s forward room of the course of this offseason. Sprong now has to work his way into a roster spot, and that began tonight.

Sprong used his heavy shot with a little under eight minutes left in period two. Creeping up from the center circle, Sprong one-timed a clean pass from Vince Dunn behind the net. The shot was aided by a screen in front of Calgary goalie, and Seattle was on the board. The easiest way to catch a coach’s eye is scoring, and Daniel Sprong can certainly do that. How often he needs to do it, may be the decider between making or missing the cut.

A few promising factors have stuck out in this back-to-back to open the Seattle preseason. A strong penalty kill, forward depth, creative offense, and sparks of potential on the power play. The word chemistry has been thrown around a lot, considering the mixture of veterans and young players that have participated in the two games. While normally teams don’t play as many veterans as Seattle, the Kraken are making sure they get their roster to gels when regular season begins. Head coach Dave Hakstol discussed how he has viewed these past two games.

“We’ve got an awfully long ways to go in terms of building the complete package, that’s for sure… I really liked the pace that we played with in the first period, better than what we saw at the same time last night… there’s portions of the game where you can see a lot

of solid play, and there’s other times when things got broken down and looked sloppy. We’ll take advantage of two good practices here coming up, take advantage of that and keep building,” Hakstol said.

Seattle will get a day off before traveling up north to visit the Vancouver Canucks. The Kraken will battle their geographical rivals to the north at Rogers Arena with a puck drop time of 6:30PM PST, as more critical periods go by with many players working to earn spots. Many decisions will need to be made by Seattle, whether it is who makes the cut with the NHL squad, the AHL squad in Coachella Valley, or getting cut.

Kraken find fun offense; strong penalty kill to top Oilers in first preseason game of 2022

By

Charles Hamaker

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September 26, 2022

Seattle Kraken vs Minnesota Wild 4-2 11/13/2021 — Period 3

Seattle, WA – To open up their 2022 preseason, the Seattle Kraken won their first preseason contest at Climate Pledge Arena in franchise history. After a first period that defined “shaking the rust off,” Seattle used some fun and creative offense to get on the board and never look back. Kraken netminders Martin Jones and Joey Daccord kept the Oilers scoreless, displayed quality between the pipes. While it is just day one, the Kraken showed potential of a much better team compared to last year.

2021 second overall pick Matty Beniers made plenty of noise in his first ten games, tallying nine points. Beniers is now a Calder trophy favorite, and it seems like he will live up to that expectation. In period one, the University of Michigan man nearly scored off of a pass from new teammate Oliver Bjorkstrand, but barely missed slipping the puck in the net. In period two, Beniers righted his wrong and smashed a wicked shot past Edmonton keeper Olivier Rodrigue. Beniers disregarded the nearly impossible angle and beat Rodrigue top shelf. Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol reflected on Beniers’ performance, postgame.

““He’s been really confident with the puck, seeing the ice really well… real positive things that’s he’s doing, working, skating, competing. He’s driving the compete level.”

A big issue for Seattle last season was their lack of production on the power play. With some offensive additions, and some veteran defenseman to quarterback the power play, there is hope that the Kraken can improve in that department. While Seattle did fail to find the back of the net tonight, going 0-6 on the power play, there were encouraging signs visible. Being able to draw these penalties was a positive, and Oliver Bjorkstrand was allowed to roam freely as a bumper.

With the new additions of Oliver Bjorkstrand, Andre Burakovsky and some veteran defenseman, it seemed that Seattle got better on paper instantly this offseason. Tonight, some of that improvement was visualized in the penalty kill, some sparks on the power play, and fun lines featuring new additions and tenured players. The main factor of importance in this preseason for Seattle is building cohesion within its new roster, and if they can do that, the Kraken will be much better than their inaugural season. Seattle head coach Dave Hakstol discussed the chemistry postgame.

“We have some nice building blocks in play, some foundational pieces…. It’s really important that we pass what we’re doing here along. Start to get a little sense of the importance of what we’re doing here”

The Kraken will play the second game of a back-to-back when they take on the Calgary Flames tomorrow, Tuesday, September 27th. As to get playing time for many different players, Seattle has split their squad in two. The second half of the Kraken roster, including fourth overall pick Shane Wright, will take on a mostly star-less Flames team. Puck drop is at 7PM PST inside of Climate Pledge Arena.

The Sharks Shows Promise For San Jose

By

Troy Ewers

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September 25, 2022

San Jose Sharks (Photo by Angel Virelas / fi360 News)

San Jose, CA – You never want to make bold statements after the first preseason game, especially in hockey, but for the San Jose Sharks their opening preseason game against the LA Kings showed how good this season’s Sharks team can potentially be. They’re like a stock you’re seeing before it goes public.

The game started with a lot of energy from the Sharks and 7 minutes in, rookie Luke Kunin got the first goal, thanks to a beautiful set up by veteran San Jose guys Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl. The Sharks led the entire 1st period not only on the scoreboard, but in shots on goal.

Attacking goalie Jonathan Quick every possible chance they could. San Jose goalie Kahkonen stopped the 5 shots that came his way and the 1st period ended 1-0 Sharks.

The second period was a scoreless stalemate with the Sharks playing a physical game, but sometimes not being able to contain their physicality which resulted in penalties and that would be a theme also in the 3rd period.

“This was great practice for their special teams” considering how little it was worked on during training camp,” said coach David Quinn “He was a fan of the physicality his boys played with, but it has to be controlled.”

The penalties would result in the Kings scoring their first goal of the game a minute into the 3rd period. Halfway through the 3rd, Timo would put the boys in teal up 1 and in a late game breakaway, Kings would tie it up with a building silencing shot from Blake Lizotte, ending the game in a tie. We have overtime.

The overtime would be a rough exchange for both teams. The physicality was intense and both squads amped up their style of play, but with 1:27 left in OT, Sharks captain Logan Couture would get a tape to tape assist from Erik Karlaaon and the puck finds the back of the net. Sharks win!

Again it’s only game 1 of preseason with the first game of the regular season 10 days away in Prague, so maybe we should take this display with a grain of salt, but if you’re assessing what the Sharks can improve and what they already do well, there is more than meets the eye for San Jose.

Eklund looks as good as advertised and the veterans on this team seem ready for this season. A strong goaltending outing and a system that seems geared towards more physical styles of play make this team seem not only like a different Sharks team than in the past, but a team building real identity. Let’s see if this identity can stay with San Jose in this upcoming season.

5 interceptions are Bonner’s nightmare

By

Joseph Whalen

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September 25, 2022

2B5A8090 — Photo by Jason Strother / fi360 News

Logan, Ut- With a week to reset the blue faithful hoping the offense had worked out the kinks. The Running Rebels defense made sure the Aggies did not solve the puzzle, beating Utah State for the first since 2007 34-24.

The Running Rebels defense stole the show as they intercepted the Aggies signal caller 5 times not including various turnovers throughout the game.

The Rebels defense stole the show as they intercepted the Aggies signal caller 5 times not including various turnovers throughout the game.

It did not start off as such Bonner opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Justin McGriff (6 rec 103 yards) to take an early 0-7 lead. He would go on to throw for 313 yards on 27 completions later adding two more touchdowns to Terrel Vaughn who had 6 catches for 74 yards.

Maverick Stadium- let us take a second to tip our hats to Utah State as they have dedicated this evening’s game to Mental Health awareness, we can always use more awareness and mental health support.

Last year’s conference championship must seem like an eternity ago at this point. Aggies sit at a mere 1-3 after 4 games into 2022 season.

Today’s game verses UNLV picked up were the Aggies left off prior to their bye week. With a quick three and out, interceptions, third down conversions to ultimately boo’s raining down from the fans. So bad the Aggies could not buy a third down conversion from Sajak or Vanna
white.

With a week to reset the blue faithful hoping the offense had worked out the kinks. The Running Rebels defense made sure the Aggies did not solve the puzzle, beating Utah State for the first since 2007 34-24.

It did not take for UNLV and Doug Brumfield took matters into his own hands with 4 yard to run capping an 89-yard drive.

Utah State would help aid UNLV’s next score with a low snap causing the Aggies punter’s knee to touch the ground as he knelt to grab the ball causing a turnover on downs from their own 5-yard line setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by Doug Brumfield giving the running rebels the lead
14-7. Brumfield showed a little arm too as he connected with Kyle Williams from 6 yards out on a fade route to the corner of the endzone.

UNLV running back Aidan Robbins added 28 carries for 89 yards and
a touchdown. This victory is the first time since 2008 UNLV has started 3-1 making them perhaps mountain west favorites for their own conference title.

Utah St will travel down the road to face off against BYU on Thursday night September 29. Now UNLV will host New Mexico Friday night September 30th.

Jaydn Ott’s 3 TD Game Secures Cal’s First Pac-12 Win

By

Troy Ewers

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September 24, 2022

California Golden Bears vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish SEPT17 — California Golden Bears September17, 2022. (photo by Andre Hollis / fi360 News)

Berkley, CA- Jaydn Ott came into this game 189 rushing yards in the first 3 games. Well Mr. Ott you just set a new career high. 274 rushing yards against Arizona in front of the largest crowd Cal-Berekley has had so far. Along with 3 touchdowns, Ott proved in front of the Bears’ fans he was the energy drink that this Cal offense needed today.

This game would come to a close and Cal would win 49-31 and have such a high boost of energy after the W, which was needed after the loss to Notre Dame. This game makes Cal 3-1 and 1-0 in the Pac-12, which considering in a month when they come back home, they’ll need all the conference victories they can get.

Cal’s WR Jeremiah Hunter(3) catches a 37 yard pass to set up Cal’s Photo by Jorge Birelas / fI360 News.

The 1st quarter was a battle between the two teams with no one clearly having the upper hand, even though Arizona was up a touchdown. Cal’s defense that has been a highlight so far this season, couldn’t contain Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura, who was dishing the ball to 4 different receivers and 2 running backs, but before Arizona even touched the ball, Jaydn Ott scored a 73-yard touchdown in the 2nd play of the game.

Once the 2nd quarter started Ott had energized the team so much even Plummer was back to balling, finding Sturdivant for a TD which tied the game 14-14. Ott would start every drive with at least 5 yards a carry and I mean every drive of the first half.

The game would go back and forth with de Laura getting in the end zone and Ott or Plummer would follow that up with a highlight play. The 2nd half the gap of this game would be wide open. The Cal defense would make plays every moment that counted. Ryan Puskas would record his first career sack and cornerbacks Earby & Woodson were getting a hand on the ball anytime de Laura put it in their sights.

As the 4th quarter would close, Ott would send the fans home with something special to cheer for, a 72 yard touchdown which would be it for the day.

This last highlight run not only solidified a victory for Cal, but Jaydn Ott now has the 3rd most single game yards in school history and this is a school that had Marshawn Lynch.

San Diego State slips by the Toledo

By

Jevone Moore

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September 24, 2022

San Diego, CA- The legs of running back Jordan Byrd just kept churning when needed. With 41 seconds left of the clock Byrd picked the 1-yard winning touchdown to secure 17-14 victory over Toledo Rockets.

Byrd carried the football 16 times for 116 yards with two touchdowns that kept the Rockets on the field. The offense as a whole only managed 288 total yards with 222 yards being on the ground.

Byrd feet in the air in the middle of the pile still churning. Photo by fi360 News

Aztecs quarterback Braxton Burmeister controlled the game till the end where he led the team on the winning drive down the field from their 33-yard line to start with 2:51 on the clock. Burmeister set up touchdown with rush for 15 yards down middle of the field to 1 yard line.

If the Rockets could just find the endzone and keep the turnovers at bay their 377 total yards would be enough for win.

Their quarterback DeQuan Finn threw for 240 yards with a touchdown completing 21/39 pass. The stat that hurt was the three interceptions for the Rockets. DeMeer Blankumusee was main target with 8 catches for 112 yards.

Corner Chris McDonald celebrates an interception. Photo by fi360 News

This teams haven’t met before but were able to get up close and personal during today’s match up.

The Rockets were looking to bounce back after facing a tough Ohio State team at the Big House.

The Aztecs playing only their third game in Snapdragon Stadium with a 35,000-seat capacity is finally feeling like home. The fans get loud making it a fun atmosphere for the Mountain West Conference.

Blankmuse extends out for a catch. Photo by fi360 News

Byrd was the team point maker with the Aztecs defense coming up strong only bending but not breaking in the end. Senior WILL (Weak Side) linebacker Michael Shawcroft (#46) led the team with 9 total tackles that included 4 solos.

On the other side was linebacker Caden McDonald (#54) snatched an interception with 4 tackles to help the Aztecs.

Toledo coach Jason Candle loved how his team fought all game including seeing the toughness of his quarterback Finn coming back into game with ankle re-tapped to fight with his teammates.

Next Friday the Aztecs will travel to play Boise State on Friday night September 30^th at 7:30pm. The Rockets will be back home to host Central Michigan for Homecoming on October 1^st 3:30pm EST.