Aztecs Close Enough to Hurt

The San Diego State football team is pretty darn good, especially if it utilizes its assets of WRs Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson, and supreme bomb-tossing QB Ryan Lindley. They proved it in defeating Air Force and coming close in losses at Missouri and TCU, and Saturday night against Utah.

They just aren't quite good enough. The Utes, now 9-2 after getting schooled by the Horned Frogs, embarrassed by Notre Dame and taking SDSU's best shot, are where the Aztecs aspire to be. They have depth, experience and the confidence to know they are good and should win the type of game they found themselves in at rainy Qualcomm Stadium.

While the Aztecs turned the ball over four times, the Utes held onto the pigskin all night. Three of the turnovers were interceptions deep in Utes territory -- the final game-ending play in their end zone -- and a snap bobbled by P Brian Stahovich led to a blocked kick recovered at the SDSU three, leading to the winning points. Such plays are made by the better team, and given up by the lesser team. That's football.

They were able to run the ball while SDSU was held to 2.8 yards per carry. Rocky Long's gambling defense was burned more often than they pressured Ute QB Jordan Wynn, the Oceanside High grad who played efficiently in raising his career prep and college record to 4-0 in The Q. Utah dialed up a reasonable pass rush at times in the second half, and the last interception came with Lindley facing heat.

The teams traded tipped passes that went for touchdowns. The difference is the one the Utes got wouldn't have happened except for a young Aztecs secondary that saw a last seconds of the first half Hail Mary pass go off the fingertips of a freshman and into the hands of an opposing receiver. The third quarter tip drill caught be Brown for a 90-yard score was just a freak thing. However, to show how there is room still be to closed between these two programs, if Brown hadn't grabbed that ball and outrun Ute defenders to the end zone, the Utes would have shut out SDSU in the second half after allowing four touchdowns in the first 30 minutes.

It was a game the Aztecs could have won. Utah looked every bit the struggling team in the first half, and the Brown/Sampson combo absolutely torched their secondary. But they just didn't have enough to make the plays to win, and avoid the errors that make them lose.

The Aztecs are now 7-4 with horrible UNLV ahead and beatable Navy set to face them in the Poinsettia Bowl. The potential remains for a 9-4 season. Even if the Aztecs are not as complete as Utah, are not as good as a Top 25 program, the improvement in head coach Brady Hoke's second year is phenomenal. It might be a few years before SDSU has a roster talented and experienced enough across the two-deep to be a legitimate Top 25 program, but the trajectory is headed in the right direction.