On Friday night, the San Diego Aztecs (6-1) dominated the San José Spartans (2-6) 42-3 at Qualcomm stadium in San Diego, CA.
For a while, it seemed as if the 25,613 fans at Qualcomm stadium would not be seeing much scoring when the game started with three-consecutive punts.
However, the Aztecs decided to change that and put on a show. The action started in the first quarter, as Christian Chapman connected with David Wells for a 4-yard TD pass to put the Aztecs up 7-0.
In the second quarter, the Aztecs got to work early when Rashaad Penny completed a 56-yard drive with a 3-yard TD run.
A scary moment came in the middle of the second quarter when Donnel Pumphrey caught a pass and Spartans safety Trevon Bierria delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit. After looking at the replay, the officials decided to eject Bierria for “targeting” Pumphrey in the head.
Despite being shaken up, Pumphrey remained in the game. Immediately following the hit, Pumphrey showed his toughness as he ran for a 27-yard TD to extend the Aztecs’ lead to 21-0.
Going into the half, the Aztecs led the Spartans 21-3.
The Aztecs dominated the second half of the game and outscored the Spartans 21-0 in the third quarter.
San Diego State opened the half with a lengthy 75-yard drive that resulted in a 4-yard rushing TD by Rashaad Penny. Later on in the quarter, the Aztecs widened the lead as Pumphrey concluded another drive with a 23-yard rushing TD. With this TD, Pumphrey surpassed Marshall Faulk and became San Diego State’s leader in rushing (58) and overall TDs (63). The Aztecs finished the quarter on a fantastic 73-yard run by Penny that put an exclamation point on a 42-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Aztecs defense was excellent and held the Spartans to only 209 total yards (142 passing & 67 rushing). Overall, the Aztecs put pressure all night on Spartans QB Kenny Potter and sacked him five times.
Player of the game:
Junior running-back Rashaad Penny, for the second time all season, rushed for over 100-yards. In addition, he had career-high TDs (3) and averaged 11.7 yards per carry. Penny finished the night with 105-yards on 9 carries, 2 receptions for 64 yards, and 3 TDs.
Up next:
SDSU: The Aztecs will travel on the road to face the Utah State Aggies on Oct. 28th.
SJSU: The Spartans will go back home to face the UNLV Rebels on Oct. 29th.