After falling behind in the fourth quarter, San Diego State turned to the big play in the passing game to rally for a 27-24 win over Wyoming on Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium.
Danny O’Neil threw for a career-high 254 yards, connecting on three passes of 27 yards or more in the second half as SDSU (3-3, 2-0 Mountain West) had all five of their second half big plays in the final frame to head into the bye week on a winning streak.
"This group does a tremendous job persisting until they succeed," said head coach Sean Lewis. "We've seen that all the way through... for the guys to be able to clear it, refocus, know and understand what they're capable of (by) being present in the moment and where we're at...
They're just a resilient group and the way that they persist is really impressive."
The Aztecs allowed a 51-yard touchdown run to Wyoming (1-5, 1-1) quarterback Evan Svoboda on the first play of the final frame, then held the Cowboys to 50 yards over their remaining 15 plays to earn their sixth straight win over an opponent coming off a bye.
SDSU sacked Svoboda six times — tying their season high — while corralling eight tackles for loss, with NCAA leader Trey White recording two sacks and three TFLs. Ryan Henderson added 1.5 sacks as five different players contributed takedowns of Svoboda for a loss.
Wyoming put up the only points of the third quarter, turning the opening drive into a 42 yard field goal after a 15 play, 50 yard drive.
While SDSU generated only 21 yards of offense on just ten plays in the third, Jordan Napier provided a jolt on the third Scarlet and Black play of the fourth with the Aztecs trailing 24-17 and facing a third-and-10 at their own 20-yard line.
He beat his man in coverage and snatched a 53-yard completion for the longest SDSU play of the game, which was both the longest grab of Napier's career as well as the longest pass O'Neil has completed.
Lewis highlighted a moment earlier in the week where Napier wasn't able to come up with a similar catch in a best-on-best drill. The coaching staff challenged him, letting Napier know that he was capable of making the catch and the expectation was that he would make that play come game day.
"We talk about how the guys show up and they're leaning into the coaching, they're starving to get better and they're humble enough to learn," Lewis said. "That's huge to have those moments and those impactful plays."
The next play Napier again beat his man, this time on a route up the right sideline and came down with a 27-yard touchdown reception through double-coverage to tie the game.
"What clicked was seeing we needed to have each others backs... coming to the fourth quarter where it gets nitty and gritty, that's where we connected," Napier said.
The redshirt freshman finished with a career high 91 receiving yards on three catches and hauled in his third scoring grab of the year.
It was the second of three straight deep balls that O’Neil completed, as the freshman found Nate Bennett for 41 yards to kickstart what ended up being the game-winning drive. Marquez Cooper, who carried for 87 yards on 25 carries with a touchdown, ripped off a 27-yard run that set the Aztecs up inside the red zone.
Gabriel Plascencia made his second field goal of the day when the drive stalled, booting a 28-yarder with 7:35 to play to make it 27-24. The redshirt junior transfer from College of San Mateo had carried the Aztec shield for SDSU pregame.
"What you've seen in the fourth quarter, that's what our offense really has, that's what we really do," Napier said. "From the start of the game, it's just little things that we've got to work on to get it going from the start."
The Aztec defense held Wyoming to punts on their final three full possessions of the game.
Linebacker Kyle Moretti had an SDSU-best seven tackles with a sack in his second week filling in for the injured Tano Letuli at 'SAM', while Cody Moon recorded six tackles as he started in place of the injured Owen Chambliss at the 'WILL' linebacker spot.
"It's unfortunate the guys got hurt but that's just the way it goes, you've got to be prepared... every part of the defensive staff (and) all the guys trusted me and they made me look good," Moretti said. "I've still got some things I need to clean up, but it was a really good day (and) I'm just thankful for all the guys and the coaches."
SDSU had taken a 17-14 lead at the break when O’Neil orchestrated the final scoring drive of the opening half, connecting with Ja’Shaun Poke on a 19-yard catch and run, then finding Jude Wolfe for 35 yards up the right sideline. Cooper bashed his way in for a four yard touchdown run at the 5:14 mark.
With the Aztecs working their two-minute drill before halftime the Cowboys forced the first interception of O’Neil’s career. Backside pressure deflected the pass high in the air from behind, which was picked off by lineman Connor Shay on the SDSU signal caller’s 128th attempt of the season.
Wyoming turned the turnover into a field goal attempt for kicker John Hoyland, who missed from 50 yards to end the half with the Scarlet and Black in front.
The defense set SDSU up for the first two scores of the game, with Bryce Phillips intercepting a field-side out route near midfield and returning it 42 yards. Plascencia knocked through a 22-yard field goal for the early 3-0 lead.
Three drives later Eric Butler baited another field-side out, snatching his first career interception and running it back 43 yards for a touchdown to put the Aztecs back in front by a 10-7 margin at the end of the first quarter. The Aztecs have won six straight when they've scored a defensive touchdown.
"Those turnovers are huge, and obviously to be on the plus side of the turnover margin again and getting points off that is another way to play some incredibly complementary football as we continue to refine and build an identity offensively," Lewis said.
Both of Wyoming’s first half touchdowns came on drives that benefited from trick plays.
Their first score came on their third drive in the first quarter off a 70-yard flea-flicker completion to Jaylen Sargent. Then, after SDSU took the lead back the Cowboys were faced with a fourth-and-six near midfield and faked a punt for a 17-yard run.
Running back Sam Scott took the next run inside the red zone with a 27-yard counter. SDSU looked poised to force a field goal, but a third down back corner fade to tight end John Michael Gyllenborg caused a pass interference penalty that led to Scott’s one-yard touchdown run and a 14-10 lead for the hosts.
San Diego State will be on a bye next week and returns to action at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26 against Washington State at Snapdragon Stadium.
"I truly don't believe we're as close to where we can be, and it's what we talked about afterwards — winners find a way to win," Lewis said.
"There's going to be opportunities for us to look at this tape, to grow and improve so we can continue to put ourselves in the best position coming out of this bye into the second half of the season."
This story was updated at 11:16 p.m.