San Diego State overwhelms New Mexico in 31-7 win

Tribune Content Agency

CARSON, Calif. — San Diego State got off to the fast start it was seeking in Saturday night’s Mountain West opener against New Mexico.

SDSU running back Greg Bell, returning from an injury, went 40 yards on the team’s first play from scrimmage and rushed for all 63 yards in a two-minute touchdown drive.

The Aztecs seemed to be driving with the parking brake on thereafter. Even so, they moved forward.

No. 25-ranked SDSU had little trouble in a 31-7 victory over the Lobos in front of an estimated 2,000 fans at Dignity Health Sports Park.

The Aztecs (5-0, 1-0 Mountain West) now will bid to become bowl eligible next week at San Jose State (3-3, 1-1 MW), which lost 32-14 at Colorado State.

The Aztecs overwhelmed New Mexico (2-4, 0-2), which has had difficulty stopping opponents and found it impossible to outscore them during a four-game Lobos losing streak.

As New Mexico head coach Danny Gonzales said coming into the game: “We’re not good enough on defense yet to be so bad on offense.”

It was the Aztecs’ eighth straight victory over New Mexico, although it was the first time in 16 meetings that Rocky Long, now the Lobos’ defensive coordinator, found himself on the wrong side of the score.

Dozens of Aztecs players and coaches lined up to give Long a handshake and a hug at midfield after the game.

After SDSU’s defense stopped New Mexico on three downs to open the game, the Aztecs quickly got the ball in Bell’s hands.

His 40-yard carry was followed by runs of 4, 7, 11 and 1 yard, helping Bell to 104 yards rushing by halftime.

His 1-yard rush was for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 11:21 remaining in the first quarter.

It looked too easy.

So the Aztecs made things more difficult for themselves.

Mostly, it was the passing struggles of starting quarterback Jordon Brookshire, who was returning from an ankle injury suffered four weeks ago at Arizona.

Brookshire looked fit, especially on a third-and-6 scramble in which he broke a tackle on the way to a 22-yard gain. But the senior from Santa Rosa struggled with his throws, missing several receivers early on to stall drives and explained why SDSU had but a 17-0 halftime advantage.

In fact, Brookshire’s first attempt was nearly intercepted by New Mexico defensive end Justin Harris.

Before the first quarter ended, Brookshire overthrew wide receiver Elijah Kothe out of bounds, overthrew wide receiver Jesse Matthews by five yards over the middle and threw high to wide receiver BJ Busbee on a short route to the right.

A humorous moment came when Brookshire overthrew Kothe in the left corner of the end zone and the ball hit an advertising board for the Broken Yolk Cafe — right on the image of an egg.

There’s a yoke joke in there somewhere.

SDSU’s Matt Araiza made a 40-yard field goal to give SDSU a 10-0 lead as the second quarter opened.

The Aztecs got the ball back two plays later when New Mexico fumbled and SDSU junior cornerback Dallas Branch scooped up the ball with his right hand.

Branch, on the field for the first time this season, could be excused for not using two hands.

His left hand was wrapped like a club to protect the injured fingers that had sidelined him since summer.

The club would make it difficult to come up with an interception, so Branch found another way to get his hand(s) on the ball.

That gave SDSU possession at the Lobos 34-yard line, but the Aztecs turned the ball over on downs when they went for it on fourth-and-2 and Brookshire threw an errant pass into the end zone.

Brookshire was 6-for-16 for 65 yards in the first half (11-for-24, 130 yards for the game), much of the yardage coming on a 23-yard completion to a wide open Tyrell Shavers.

The play came on a fourth-and-2 from New Mexico’s 37-yard line, keeping alive a drive that ended with Brookshire running untouched to his left for a 1-yard touchdown with 4:35 remaining in the first half to make it 17-0.

New Mexico appeared headed for a score before the half ended, moving quickly inside the SDSU 10-yard line before Aztecs senior safety Trenton Thompson picked off a Terry Wilson Jr. pass at the 1-yard line.

Thompson had another interception in the third quarter, but it was wiped away when he was called for pass interference.

SDSU’s offense sputtered in the third quarter, but the defense came up with stop after stop against a Lobos offense that had totaled only 23 points in its last three games.

New Mexico’s touchdown came with its offense watching from the sideline. Lobos linebacker Ray Leutele stripped Bell of the ball, scooped the ball out of the air ad scored a 15-yard touchdown with 4:41 remaining in the third quarter.

The boost was short-lived.

SDSU came right back with a two-minute touchdown drive capped by Brookshire’s 11-yard touchdown run.

Brookshire’s best pass of the evening, down the right sideline to Busbee for 36, and a pair of New Mexico penalties fueled the drive.

SDSU running back Chance Bell added an 8-yard touchdown run two minutes into the fourth quarter.

Backup quarterback Lucas Johnson took over for Brookshire with 11 minutes remaining in the game and the Aztecs holding a 24-point lead.

Greg Bell finished with 21 carries for 111 yards, the fourth time in five games this season he has surpassed 100 yards.

SDSU produced 336 yards in total offense — rushing for 203 yards on 43 carries — while limiting New Mexico to 193 yads (127 passing and 66 rushing).

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