SDSU Plays Beat the Clock to Win, 27-26 : Under Final Gun, Aztecs Go Long to Edge Colorado State

The odds were overwhelmingly against San Diego State late Saturday afternoon.

With a minute remaining, the Aztecs trailed Colorado State by six points. They had a first and 20 at their 14-yard line with no timeouts.

So what happened?

The Aztecs drove the field to defeat Colorado State, 27-26, on a five-yard touchdown pass from Todd Santos to Alfred Jackson with two seconds remaining.

“It’s kind of indescribable,” Coach Denny Stolz said. “You have a few of those in a lifetime. I’m sure (Colorado State Coach) Leon Fuller feels as bad as I feel good. When you can toss the football, you are invariably never out of the game if you only need one drive.”

SDSU’s winning drive erased what had been a remarkable comeback by Colorado State. The Rams had scored 20 unanswered points after trailing, 20-6, through three quarters.

But in the end, the Aztecs’ defense and offense both were successful in critical situations.

After SDSU fell behind, 23-20, it fumbled the ensuing kickoff at its 19 with 1:37 remaining. However, the defense limited Colorado State to three yards and Steve DeLine kicked a 33-yard field goal with 1:12 left.

Anthony Conyers was the big-play man on SDSU’s ensuing drive, catching 4 passes for 86 yards.

On first and 10 from the 24, the Aztecs were called for holding, taking the ball back to the 14. On first and 20, Conyers caught a 22-yard pass. He later caught a 19-yard pass to Colorado State’s 45, a 24-yard pass to the 21 and a 21-yard pass to the 5 after an illegal-motion penalty.

“We just ran the same play over and over again,” Conyers said. “After I caught the first one, the strong safety was head-up on me. He might have been trying to bump me, but he didn’t do a very good job. I kept getting open over the middle.”

After first and goal at the five, Santos threw consecutive incomplete passes in the end zone intended for Jackson and Conyers. Then, on third down, Jackson caught his touchdown in the middle of the end zone, setting up Kevin Rahill’s winning extra point.

Jackson beat cornerback Jim King, the nation’s leader in interceptions.

“King came up and pressed me,” Jackson said. “When I saw Todd scramble, I broke under the goal post and got wide open. I don’t think King saw me.”

Colorado State had been playing a prevent defense on SDSU’s winning drive. Stolz defended the opposition’s strategy, saying there would have been a lot of second-guessing had Colorado State been beat deep on man-to-man coverage.

In hindsight, Fuller said there were a lot of things he might have changed, though he declined to elaborate.

“We didn’t make any big plays on that last drive,” Fuller said. “If we had made one big play, we would’ve had a good chance to win. Every pass Santos threw was right on the money. That was just great execution in their passing game. When they had to have it, they had the poise to get the job done.”

SDSU is in second place of the Western Athletic Conference with a 4-1 record, trailing Air Force, 5-1. Colorado State is 3-2. Because Air Force plays one less game than the Aztecs, SDSU can clinch the WAC championship by winning its remaining three games at home against Wyoming, Hawaii and Brigham Young.

When it snowed overnight Friday in Fort Collins, SDSU coaches were concerned that the team might have to concentrate more on its running game because of possible poor field conditions. But it stopped snowing before the game and the field was cleared. Game-time temperature was 39 degrees.

Santos had one of his best performances of the year, completing 27 of 45 passes for 356 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was intercepted once.

At the outset, SDSU received a big break when Colorado State lost 34 yards on a snap over the punter’s head. The Aztecs drove 30 yards, scoring on Chris Hardy’s one-yard run on fourth down.

After the teams exchanged field goals, Jackson beat King on a 43-yard touchdown pass in the right corner of the end zone.

“I told our coaches that (King) was playing the run and I thought I could beat him deep,” Jackson said. “All I did was run down the sideline.”

DeLine kicked a 25-yard field goal 11 seconds before halftime, cutting SDSU’s lead to 17-6.

The Aztecs, who recovered three Colorado State fumbles, had fumble recoveries on the Rams’ first two second-half drives. However, neither resulted in a score.

Later in the third quarter, SDSU took possession at Colorado State’s 21 after a snap was fumbled by punter Rod Smith. The Aztecs netted two yards before Rahill kicked a 36-yard field goal, providing a 20-6 lead.

The Rams cut the deficit to 20-13 on a 49-yard pass from Kelly Stouffer to J. D. Brookhart on the fourth quarter’s first play. Colorado State’s next drive ended at the Aztec 10 before DeLine kicked a 26-yard field goal with 7:18 remaining.

The Rams later took possession with 2:58 left while still trailing, 20-16. They drove 80 yards in 8 plays, scoring on Stouffer’s 3-yard pass to Tony Bevacqua with 1:42 remaining.

Thirty seconds later, after Colorado State had recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, DeLine kicked his fourth field goal.

Thereafter, SDSU demonstrated how to drive the length of the field in one minute without timeouts.

“It’s about as bitter of a loss as I’ve had,” Fuller said. “We don’t want to let this happen again.”