Last time the jerseys in blue lost 5 in a row during a single season was back in 1970. The resilience, grit and determination of the band of brothers was not gonna let that happen no matter the cost. Bronco seems to have made all the right decisions saturday beginning in the trenches. In a brilliant move the 62 rushing attempts were the most since 1996. It took the pressure off of Jake and placed it on the shoulders of the offensive line. All those carries allowed the cougs to play keep away with an unheard of time of possession just over 45 minutes. By keeping the Aztec offense off the field it also enabled the cougs to hold San Diego State to a minus 2 rushing yards in the first half and 53 for the entire game. The cougs OL grated the road for 271 rushing yards to beat the Aztecs at their own game 24-21. Di Luigi and Kariya both had 22 carries each. JJ ran for a career high of 134 yards while Brian rushed for another 85. Juice even became one of the backfield staples with 11 touches for 50 rushing yards. Even Matt Marshall became more involved converting a 16 yard pass to Mike Muehlmann on a fake field goal. Yes, a fake field goal keeping the cougar drive alive ultimately resulting in the first TD of the game for the cougs. Nice change from the vanilla keeping defenses honest.
It's definately a beautiful sight to see cougar football back where it should be making plays, executing at a higher level and stretching the field. The defense definately was pumped up and ready to roll. Van Noy emerged as a force finishing the game with 5 tackles, one sack and very easily could have had a fumble recovery. Sophomore linebacker Brandon Ogletree played tough with a pass interception as well. The coug defense stood strong, held together like a band of brothers and made things happen. In short, on saturday the Aztecs were simply outgained, outmuscled and outplayed.
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