SAN DIEGO — San Jose State entered Friday night’s game at San Diego State knowing it had to limit Aztec running back Donnel Pumphrey to even have a chance of pulling off an upset.
And sure enough, a defense that performed well in last week’s win over Nevada focused on the nation’s leading rusher.
The problem was that the Spartans struggled in pass coverage early on, allowed Pumphrey to rush for 135 yards and two scores on 24 carries, and couldn’t generate much offense.
A season-high seven penalties through three-and-a-half quarters didn’t help the cause either.
The result: an ugly 42-3 loss and a 2-6 record (1-3 in Mountain West play) for coach Ron Caragher’s Spartans, who host UNLV next week.
“You’ve got to be able to attack them and stop their run game,” said Caragher. “They hit some big runs, which I thought was a shame, a crying shame because I thought defensively, we did a good job of containing the ball. Guys tackled him and hit him pretty good … but I thought we played pretty good against him. He’s gonna get his yards when you give him the ball 30 times. I thought we tackled pretty good, but a couple times there, he got a crease on us.”
San Jose State forced a punt on San Diego State’s first possession but cracked on the second. Aztec quarterback Christian Chapman capped a 10-play, 70-yard drive by hitting tight end David Wells for a 4-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter.
Wells, who entered the game with eight receptions, caught five in the first quarter alone as Spartan linebackers were repeatedly caught off guard by play-action fakes and misdirection.
“We were packing the box to stop the run,” said sophomore linebacker Frank Ginda, whose second-quarter interception of Chapman gave the Spartans a brief glimmer of hope. “We just have to a better job of adjusting when they are attacking us like that.”
San Diego State went ahead 14-0 when Pumphrey’s backup, Raashad Penny, scored on a 3-yard run early in the second quarter. That play was set up when Chapman found Penny wide open on a wheel route out of the backfield.
He beat freshman safety Trevon Bierria and caught Chapman’s well-placed pass for a 35-yard gain.
Bierria’s night got worse on the next possession.
Chapman threw a deep pass up the seam to Pumphrey. Bierria sprinted over to break it up but was flagged for targeting. Bierria was ruled to have dipped his helmet into Pumphrey’s shoulder/head area, a 15-yard penalty was assessed and Bierria was ejected.
The NCAA and NFL are cracking down on such hits in an effort to reduce head injuries. Still, it’s a tough call to make in a fast-moving, physical sport.
“It was probably a good call,” Caragher said. “Here’s my deal with that, though, that people don’t understand: You’re a young man and you’re competing and you’re playing as hard as you can. You’re flying. … It’s not like you can freeze frame and say: “I”m going to lower my center of gravity” It’s bang bang. Like that. That fast. He catches it and you hit him. He’s a young man, he tries hard, gives it his best and he gets ejected from the game. It wasn’t like he said: “I’m going to target that guy” and he ran and lowered his head and hit him with the crown of helmet. It happens that fast.”
Pumphrey happened fast as well.
On the next play after the ejection of Bierria, he ran left, picked up some nice blocks and outraced Spartans cornerback Jermaine Kelly for a 27-yard touchdown, the 57th of his career. That score tied him with Aztec great Marshall Faulk for the most in school history.
His second score — a 23-yard romp up the middle late in the third quarter — moved him past Faulk, gave the Aztecs a 35-3 lead and essentially erased any hopes for a San Jose State comeback.
“They run the same plays over and over,” said Ginda, who finished with eight tackles (five solo) as well as the interception. “They just execute really well.”
Spartan quarterback Kenny Potter completed 13 of 29 passes for 104 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked three times and absorbed several crushing hits before giving way to freshman backup Josh Love in the fourth quarter.
The Spartans gained 100 yards rushing on 28 attempts and finished with 209 yards of total offense.
San Jose State’s best chance to score a touchdown and perhaps make a game of it came right after Ginda’s interception with just under six minutes remaining in the first half.
Potter completed a pass to running back Malik Roberson for 10 yards to set up a first-and-10 at the San Diego State 13-yard line.
On third-and-six, Potter rolled to his right and appeared to complete a pass to Justin Holmes in the front corner of the end zone for an apparent touchdown. The Spartan bench briefly celebrated but officials ruled that Holmes didn’t secure the catch before coming down and it was ruled incomplete.
Kicker Bryce Crawford connected on a 26-yard field to goal to trim San Diego State’s lead to 21-3. After getting a stop, the Spartans got the ball back with 53 seconds remaining in the half, but after they gained 26 yards on seven plays, the clock expired following a Potter scramble.
“We just didn’t execute on offense,” Caragher said. “That’s the bottom line: we just didn’t do enough to give ourselves a chance to be in the ball game the way we hoped to. Even when we had some good field position, we just weren’t able to execute.”
The Aztecs (6-1, 3-0 in Mountain West play) are bowl eligible for the sixth consecutive season and have won a FBS-best 14 straight conference games and nine straight games at home.
The San Diego State defense has not allowed an offensive touchdown in three conference games. Pumphrey has 27 100-yard rushing games in his college career and now ranks eighth on the all-time NCAA rushing list with 5,518 yards.
“You never really know where he’s going to cut,” said Ginda. “You just have to try to play smart and play low because he’ll make a quick move on you. He’s a good running back.”