SAN DIEGO, CA – Aztec football hosted Idaho St. in a non-conference game where San Diego State was seeking their first win in Snapdragon Stadium. This game happened a week after a home loss to Arizona to start the season. After a strong week in practice, the Aztecs wanted to get back to their winning ways.
The game didn’t start out too hot for San Diego State, on the second play from scrimmage the Bengals completed a 75-yard touchdown pass against a usually stout Aztec defense. Jordan Byrd would quickly stop the bleeding with a big 66-yard punt return to tie up the game. He went on to have an amazing first half which completely changed the tone of the game. Later in the half he would also have a long rushing touchdown to help extend the Aztec lead. However, his impact on special teams may have had the biggest impact. Byrd downed two punts inside the five-yard line putting the Bengals in tough starting field positions all half. After the game, Byrd talked about his special teams plays.
“Give credit to Jack [Browning]… he knows how to put the ball where he needs to put it. [I] just had the extra credit of just grabbing it. On punt return we were working all week… I give all the credit to the guys out there blocking for me,” Byrd stated.
San Diego State went on to win this game 38-7. The work that the Aztecs put in this week was no secret. After losing to Arizona at home to start the season, there was a sense of urgency from the team. They used last week as motivation for this week, and are looking to continue to use that drive for the rest of the season. Coach Brady Hoke spoke about the vibe at practice this week.
“I thought we had a good week. The guys came out on Monday after watching the tape and I really thought they had a lot of energy to them,” Hoke explained. The Aztecs are headed to Utah to play the 13th ranked Utes in what will likely be one of the biggest games of the season for them. They will look to carry over their strong play from Saturday and have another good week of practice.
