Advertisement

Utah State rolls over San Diego State to win Mountain West title

Utah State won its first Mountain West title in dominating fashion on Saturday.

The Aggies (10-3) took advantage of a short-handed San Diego State team and steamrolled the Aztecs 46-13. Utah State scored the first 14 points of the game and even led 23-3 in the third quarter after a blocked punt turned into a safety.

Yes, even San Diego State’s Matt Araiza, the best punter in the nation, wasn’t spared from the destruction.

San Diego State (11-2) was missing over a dozen players because of COVID-19 protocols and Saturday’s game was the chance for the first 12-win season in school history. Instead, the opportunity for 12 wins will have to wait until the bowl game.

Utah State’s first Mountain West title comes in Blake Anderson’s first season with the team. After an 0-3 start to 2020 under Gary Andersen, the Aggies made a coaching change. Anderson, the former coach at Arkansas State, took the job after interest from Power Five schools before the 2020 season and immediately turned a team that went 1-5 in 2020 into a 10-win team in 2021.

Part of that was an upgrade at quarterback. Logan Bonner came with Andersen from Arkansas State and threw for over 300 yards and four touchdowns on Saturday.

San Diego State isn’t built to keep up with an offense that torches its defense like that. The Aztecs have consistently played in low-scoring games all season and simply aren’t built to come back from three-touchdown deficits.

The loss is San Diego State’s first MWC title game loss in three appearances. Utah State’s only previous MWC championship game appearance came in 2013 when USU lost the inaugural game 24-17 to Fresno State.