The Aztecs are undefeated in their new century.
Fresh after celebrating their 100th anniversary last year, San Diego State kicked off the 2023 college football season with a 20-13 victory over the Ohio Bobcats.
The new century started off a lot like the latter part of the last century, with the Aztecs relying on their running game and defense.
SDSU scored on the first drive of the game, taking the ball 44 yards in a little over four minutes with runs by Kenan Christon and short passes from quarterback Jalen Mayden. That led to a 49-yard field goal right down the middle of the goal posts by the reigning Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year Jack Browning.
Ohio answered with a long drive of 14 plays and 89 yards that led to a 19-yard field goal by kicker Gianni Spetic. It could have been worse. An Ohio pass from the 2-yard line was broken up in the end zone by safety Cedarius Barfield.
Both offenses plodded along through the start of the second quarter when the Aztec defense again asserted itself, with linebacker Zyrus Flaseu sacking Ohio quarterback Kurtis Rourke and knocking him out of the game.
An unsuccessful drive by the Aztecs followed, but they got the ball back right away as new Ohio quarterback CJ Harris, who replaced Rourke, promptly threw an interception on Ohio’s 42.
The Aztecs, however, were not able to capitalize on the mistake when Browning missed an 38-yard field goal.
Ohio took advantage on its next possession, driving down the field to give Spetic another chance, and he nailed a 40-yard field goal.
The Aztecs got the ball back as the defense again rose up, this time with an interception by Barfield near the Aztecs goal line.
With time winding down, it seemed the first half would end in a slim 6-3 lead for Ohio, but the Aztecs mounted a quick scoring drive.
Aided by a roughing-the-passer penalty against Ohio, the Aztecs went 71 yards in seven plays over 44 seconds on a scoring drive capped by a Mayden 13-yard pass to wide open tight end Mark Redman.
The late score give the Aztecs a 10-6 halftime lead despite only generating 135 total yards in the half.
“That’s just something we’re really proud of, to be able to put some points on the board and give the defense little bit of relief as well,” Redman told San Diego Sports 760.
A long drive by Ohio at the start of the second half led to nothing thanks to a missed field goal by Spetic. The Aztecs answered later with a long drive of their own that resulted in a 21-yard field goal by Browning to push the SDSU lead to 13-6.
From there, the defense and a ball-control offense took over.
Ohio punted on its next possession and the Aztecs used some short runs and clutch passing to go 79 yards in 11 plays, taking more than 6 minutes off the clock. The drive ended with a Mayden lob to Redman for a touchdown, making it 20-6 Aztecs.
With a little over five minutes left, Ohio mounted a long march down the field, consuming nearly four minutes as the clock wound down.
They eventually scored a touchdown, cutting the lead to 20-13, but only after they were rescued by a roughing-the-passer flag against the Aztecs. The penalty was costly, negating an interception return for a touchdown by freshman safety Marcus Ratcliffe that had excited the Snapdragon Stadium crowd of 23,867.
The Aztecs took possession, but weren’t able to run out the clock, leaving the Bobcats with 55 seconds to try to tie the game. But a couple of big plays from SDSU, including a batted down pass and an interception, sealed the the victory.
The take-aways stood out for head coach Brady Hoke.
“Getting the three interceptions were huge,” he told Sports 760.
Updated at 11:45 p.m. Aug. 26, 2023
