San Diego State uses big second half to knock off Houston in Las Vegas Bowl

For the second year in a row, San Diego State tied a program record for wins in a season.

With a come-from-behind 34-10 win over Houston in the Las Vegas Bowl, the Mountain West champion Aztecs notched their 11th win of the season. SDSU won the game with a familiar formula, too.

The Aztecs entered the game with the 12th-best defense in the country and more interceptions (22) than any other team. SDSU added four more to that interception total on Saturday. Three of those interceptions came on consecutive drives in the third quarter to flip what was a 10-6 halftime deficit into a 20-10 lead.

San Diego State also boasted the No. 7 rushing offense in the country. But with standout freshman defensive tackle Ed Oliver making his presence known, Houston put the clamps on the Aztec rushing attack early and jumped out to a 10-0 lead. SDSU senior running back Donnel Pumphrey entered the game with 2,018 yards on the season. He was also just 108 yards shy of Ron Dayne’s all-time FBS rushing record, but had negative yardage on his first seven carries of the game.

Pumphrey finally got things going late in the second quarter, and SDSU was able to cut lead to 10-6 at the half.

Houston senior quarterback Greg Ward Jr. has put up huge numbers in his career, but his turnovers turned the game in SDSU’s favor. Four plays after his second interception of the third quarter, the Aztecs took a 13-10 lead on a 32-yard Pumphrey touchdown run.

On Houston’s next drive, Ward threw into traffic on a wide receiver screen and SDSU’s Ron Smith stepped in front of the pass and took it 54 yards for a pick six, increasing the lead to 20-10.

The Aztecs forced a Houston punt on the next drive, paving the way for Pumphrey to break Ron Dayne’s record with a 15-yard gain early in the fourth.

San Diego State added two more scores in the fourth to put the game out of reach and seal its third bowl win in the past four seasons.

Beyond reaching the 11-win mark again, San Diego State’s dominance was a nice statement for the Mountain West. At 9-3, Houston was considered one of the better teams in the American Athletic Conference, and SDSU handled the Cougars’ high-powered offense without many issues. UH came into the game averaging 459.2 yards per game. In this one, the Cougars mustered only 254 yards.

Houston played this game without Tom Herman, who left for the head-coaching job at Texas. Herman’s replacement, Major Applewhite (formerly the offensive coordinator), made his debut as permanent head coach, but did so with a patchwork coaching staff. Many of Herman’s assistants followed him to Austin, and defensive coordinator Todd Orlando reportedly coached his last game at UH and will rejoin Herman with the Longhorns in the near future.

The Cougars finished the season with a 9-4 record.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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