Utah State defeats San Diego State, 41-20 in final road game

In their final road test of the 2024 slate, the San Diego State Aztecs face a Utah State Aggies team with two of its three wins this season over the past three games on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Maverik Stadium.

SDSU (3-7, 2-3 Mountain West) and the Aggies have identical records, with both teams having picked up wins against Hawaii and Wyoming. The Aztecs are coming off a 41-20 loss at UNLV on Nov. 16, while Utah State blistered the Rainbow Warriors 55-10 at home.

Marquez Cooper carried 26 times for 97 yards against the Rebels, becoming the 11th player in NCAA DI history to rush for four 1,000-yard seasons in his career and the first to rush for 1,000 yards in a season with three different teams. His 1,062 yards ends a two-season drought for the Scarlet and Black having a 1,000-yard back and he becomes just the second back — Greg Bell rushed for 1,091 yards in 2021 — to top that plateau since Rashaad Penny's history 2017 season.

Danny O'Neil threw a pair of touchdowns, connecting with Louis Brown IV for 29 yards and with Ja'Shaun Poke for 46 yards, marking the fourth time this season the true freshman has tossed two scores in a game. SDSU was out-gained 515-270 in total offense, with UNLV splitting their yards between 262 passing and 253 rushing.

Utah State scored the first 24 points of the game against Hawaii, piling up a 321-47 yard rushing advantage with running back Rahsul Faison carrying 20 times for 191 yards and two scores. Quarterback Spencer Petras completed 20-of-30 for 255 yards with two touchdowns — the graduate student leads the Mountain West and is eighth in the nation in passing (286.0 yards per game), is second in the conference and 14th nationally in total offense (291.5 yards per game) and led the conference while slotting sixth in DI with 26.13 completions per game. Faison is nine yards away from a 1,000-yard rushing season, which would make him the 16th Aggie to reach the mark.

Catch up on coverage leading in to Saturday:

• UNLV dominates San Diego State, moves to 8-2
• Depleted San Diego State offensive line toughing it out during character-building season (San Diego Union Tribune)
• 5 Things to Watch: Aztecs travel to Utah State hoping to end four-game losing streak (San Diego Union Tribune)
• Aztecs Game Preview: SDSU vs. Utah State (East Village Times)