SDSU Defeats Utah in Final Minute : Hardy’s Touchdown With 52 Seconds Left Secures 37-30 Victory

This was the type of game that often led to San Diego State’s losing tradition over the past three years.

The Aztecs had two touchdowns called back by penalty against Utah on Saturday night. They blew a 29-17 lead in the fourth quarter, falling behind 30-29.

But unlike the past, these Aztecs didn’t fold. They came back.

Chris Hardy’s two-yard touchdown run with 52 seconds remaining lifted the Aztecs past Utah, 37-30, in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

The winning drive was what SDSU hopes will become vintage Aztecs again one day.

Starting from its own 29 with 2:14 remaining, SDSU drove 71 yards in five plays to score.

“We know we have the ability to win football games,” Coach Denny Stolz said. “It’s a matter of whether we can get it out of our players. Every time they do this, they’ll get a little more confident.”

SDSU had not won on the road since the fifth game of 1984 when it beat Wyoming, 21-0. The Aztecs, who beat Cal State Long Beach last week, had not started 2-0 since Doug Scovil’s first year as head coach in 1981.

When SDSU’s winning drive began against Utah, the Utes were penalized for an illegal substitution.

Tight end Robert Awalt and Hardy winked at each other. They thought it was the start of something good.

The key play of the winning drive was a 41-yard pass from Todd Santos to Kenny Moore on second-and-two from the Aztec 37.

Santos called an audible, thinking Moore could beat Utah on a post pattern. When the play worked, SDSU had a first down on Utah’s 22.

“I saw their strong safety and weak safety get tied up on a crossing pattern,” Moore said. “Todd saw it also. He threw the pass a little behind me, but I came back.”

The Aztecs continued their comeback on Santo’s 12-yard pass to Awalt on the next play. Then, from Utah’s 10, Santos threw an eight-yard pass to Alfred Jackson. Hardy scored his third touchdown of the evening the next play.

Hardy and Corey Gilmore each had third-quarter touchdowns called back on holding penalties. Hardy’s was a 46-yard run, Gilmore’s a 60-yard pass play.

“Whether they were penalties or not, I don’t know,” said Stolz, who argued both calls. “I’d just as soon get back the two touchdowns and come back some other time.”

Utah had rebounded after falling behind through three quarters, 29-17.

The Utes pulled to within five points, 29-24, on Larry Egger’s seven-yard pass to Carl Harry with 11:35 remaining.

Just 1:24 later, Utah took the lead when Mike Jones returned an interception of a Santos pass 21 yards for a touchdown. Mario Mitchell stopped Eddie Johnson on a running two-point conversion attempt, leaving Utah ahead, 30-29.

Santos also had an interception returned 74 yards for a touchdown in last week’s 27-24 victory over Long Beach.

“It was the same type interception I threw against Long Beach,” Santos said. “We have to work on that. I just made a bad throw.”

Santos made few bad throws, completing 30 of 38 passes for 306 yards and 2 touchdowns with 2 interceptions. He has 5,576 career yards, trailing leader Brian Sipe by 194 yards on SDSU’s all-time passing list.

“Last year, we got to (Santos) and rattled him,” said Jim Fassel, Utah coach. “This year, our pass rush was extremely poor. They protected him well.”

Hardy also had a big game, rushing 28 times for 131 yards and 3 touchdowns.

“We planned to run a lot,” Hardy said. “They had the blitz coming inside, so I ran outside a lot. Coach Stolz told me all week to be ready to carry the ball.”

The Aztecs balanced their offense well, gaining 431 yards in 82 plays. Utah netted 270 yards in 54 plays.

“We had a perfect game plan that made it easy on us,” Santos said. “We wanted to be balanced.”

At the outset, Utah indicated it could drive at will. The Utes went 61 yards in six plays their first drive, scoring on an eight-yard pass from Egger to Bryan Bero.

SDSU, which was stopped its first drive, was much better the second and third times around. The Aztecs drove 80 yards in 11 plays their second drive and 58 yards in 11 plays their third drive, both resulting in touchdowns.

Kerry Reed-Martin scored the first touchdown on a four-yard Santos pass. Hardy later scored on a three-yard run, giving the Aztecs a 14-7 lead with 12:14 left in the half.

The Utes tied the game later in the half, covering 74 yards in five plays. Eddie Johnson scored on a six-yard pass from Egger with 2:14 left in the half.

Santos, who had completed 10 straight passes at that point, wasn’t so fortunate the remainder of the half.

First, he threw an intended pass to Awalt that was intercepted by Lance Wingert at the Aztec 39. Andre Guardi gave Utah a 17-14 lead with a 49-yard field goal 1:28 before halftime.

Then, SDSU drove to Utah’s six with 11 seconds left, but Santos made a critical mistake.

With the Aztecs out of timeouts, Santos was sacked for a 15-yard loss by Greg Smith. Santos was helpless to call timeout as time expired.

Utah gave back two points on a bizarre play on the second-half kickoff. Gerald Johnson bobbled a kickoff in the end zone, ran the ball out then went back in the end zone and touched his knee down. It was ruled a safety.

The Aztecs took a 22-17 lead on their next drive, scoring on Hardy’s 26-yard run after his 46-yarder was nullified. The drive was kept alive by a roughing the kicker penalty. Gilmore’s running attempt failed on the two-point conversion.

SDSU increased its lead to 29-17 the next series on a three-yard pass from Santos to Gilmore. Though leading by 12 points, the Aztecs needed to come back one more time.

The players presented a game ball to Stolz, who celebrated his 52nd birthday Friday.

“The amazing thing is that I have always been involved in football my entire life on my birthday,” Stolz said. “I’ve had some great things and some bad things happen. This was one of the the great ones.”