San Diego State slips by the Toledo

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 30th at 7:30pm. The Rockets will be back home to host Central Michigan for Homecoming on October 1st 3:30pm EST.

Final 1-yard touchdown Jordan Byrd (#15) Photo by fi360 News