Aztecs, Short on Time, Kept It Basic at the End

Long after San Diego State’s impressive comeback victory Saturday, quarterback Todd Santos reflected on the situation that had been.

“I was thinking about how three timeouts would have helped us a great deal,” Santos said. “That’s what made it tough.”

The Aztecs drove 86 yards in one minute without any timeouts left to defeat Colorado State, 27-26, on a five-yard pass from Santos to Alfred Jackson with two seconds remaining.

On Colorado State’s previous drive, the Aztec defense had taken a timeout after each play. When the Rams took a 26-20 lead on a field goal with 1:12 remaining, SDSU was out of timeouts.

After the kickoff was returned to the 24, the situation worsened when SDSU was called for holding on its next play. At that point, the Aztecs had a first and 20 on the 14 with one minute remaining.

Their strategy was basic, but it worked. Santos would throw over the middle to Anthony Conyers on one play, then throw the ball out of bounds on the next.

Conyers caught 4 passes for 86 yards on the drive. However, the Aztecs were still five yards short in the final seconds because of an illegal motion penalty at Colorado State’s 21. Jackson’s touchdown, setting up Kevin Rahill’s winning extra point, came on the third play from the five.

In retrospect, some Aztecs thought that Colorado State’s prevent defense might have played into their favor.

“They left the middle wide open,” Santos said. “I thought they might set a guy 20 yards back in the middle of the field. Once we completed a few passes, I was surprised they didn’t do it.”

Aztec Coach Denny Stolz did not second-guess the opposition’s defense.

“Trying to protect a lead is a precarious situation on defense,” Stolz said. “The prevent defense allows the offense to make some plays. You can second-guess it until hell freezes over. If you play bump-and-run and give up an 80-yard touchdown, people will ask, ‘Why the hell did you do that?’ ”

Actually, the game never should have come down to a last-minute drive for SDSU.

The Aztecs dominated the first three quarters and led, 20-6, going into the fourth quarter. But when Colorado State’s Kelly Stouffer threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to J. D. Brookhart on the first play of the fourth quarter, the momentum changed.

Winning never comes easy for the Aztecs, who have won five games by a combined 20 points and have yet to win by more than seven. Their three losses have been by 50 points total.

In critical situations, SDSU has displayed a remarkable ability for making the big play.

Jackson caught a 38-yard touchdown pass with 10 minutes remaining to defeat Cal State Long Beach, 27-24, in the season opener. Kenny Moore caught a 41-yard pass in the final drive the next week, leading to Chris Hardy’s two-yard touchdown run with 52 seconds remaining to beat Utah, 37-30.

SDSU, which has a bye this week, must now concentrate on playing Wyoming on Nov. 15. When that game arrives the Aztecs must forget about Colorado State, one of the most remarkable victories in the school’s history.

Aztec Notes

Todd Santos, a junior, has moved into third place on SDSU’s all-time list with 41 touchdown passes in his career. . . . Backup quarterback Jim Plum will also be a backup wide receiver from now on, Coach Denny Stolz said. Plum was a wide receiver on five plays Saturday but did not catch a pass. . . . SDSU, 4-1 in the Western Athletic Conference, can clinch a Holiday Bowl berth by winning its remaining three games at home against Wyoming, Hawaii and Brigham Young. Air Force (5-1) has one remaining WAC game at home against BYU. The Falcons are at a disadvantage because they play one fewer conference game than BYU or SDSU. BYU (3-1) plays its final four WAC games on the road against Hawaii, Utah, SDSU and Air Force.