Aztecs Knock Off Idaho State 38-7
The football team's first win of the season is also their first win in Snapdragon Stadium.
The Aztec football team (1-1) earned their first win of the 2022 season with a 38-7 victory over Idaho State (0-2) Saturday evening at Snapdragon Stadium.
SDSU was fueled by three long touchdowns in the first half and their defense held the Bengals scoreless for the final 59 minutes to earn their first win in Snapdragon Stadium.
Jordan Byrd had two touchdowns, a 66-yard punt return early in the first quarter and then a 53-yard rush on the first play of the second quarter.
Sandwiched between Byrd's scores was a Braxton Burmeister 47-yard rushing touchdown. Burmeister also completed a 14-yard touchdown to Tyrell Shavers in the fourth quarter.
The Bengals scored their lone touchdown on the second play of the game when Xavier Guillory caught a slant and scampered for 75 yards.
The Aztecs outrushed Idaho State 380-80 and averaged 8.8 yards per carry. Jaylon Armstead led all rushers with a career-high 96 yards, which included a 61-yard run late in the game.
Davaughn Celestine had a team-high nine tackles (eight solo) and broke up two passes. Patrick McMorris, C.J. Baskersville and Caden McDonald each added eight tackles while McDonald had a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss.
SDSU will head to nationally-ranked Utah (1-1) next Saturday night (7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT) for their first road game of the year.
The Aztecs are meeting the Utes (1-1) for the second straight season after not playing one another since Utah left the Mountain West in 2010. San Diego State has lost all four meetings against the Utes when Utah was nationally ranked (2004, 2008, 2009 and 2010). The Utes enter Saturday ranked 14th in the AP/Top 25 Poll and 15th in the coaches poll.
AZTEC NOTES
* San Diego State rushed for 380 yards and averaged 8.84 yards per attempt, improving to 53-2 in its last 55 games when rushing for at least 200 yards.
* SDSU's special teams, which is ranked second in the country in ESPN's efficiency rating, also got a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown by Jordan Byrd and four punts inside the 5-yard line from Jack Browning.
* Since the start of the 2016 campaign, San Diego State is tied for the nation's best record against the Pac-12 Conference. (min. 6 games played). The Aztecs and Notre Dame are each 7-3. The next three-best teams against the Pac-12 are members USC (36-17), Washington (34-17) and Utah (34-19).
* Only six schools have more wins than SDSU's 13 since last season, including Georgia (16), Alabama (15), Louisiana (15), Cincinnati (14), Michigan (14) and Oklahoma State (14).
