Recap: San Diego State Rides Rashaad Penny to Victory Against Nevada
San Diego State Pounds Nevada, 42-23.
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Rashaad Penny’s 429 all-purpose yards and 4 touchdowns overshadowed San Diego State’s poor defense.
San Diego State went into the Nevada game already resigning their fate to Fresno State. There was no rematch to have against Boise State at the MWC championship game, only a mid-tier bowl game that might take them to away from the Pacific time zone.
So what’s a 8-2 team to do?
Give Rashaad Penny the ball, and make phone calls to Heisman voters.
Penny’s first touchdown came on a busted trick play which resulted in a 23-yard touchdown quarterback scramble. Yes, you read that right. And it didn’t stop there. The following Nevada possession resulted in a punt to Penny, subbing in for punt returner Quest Truxton, that took 70 yards of poor Nevada coverage to the house. Before the 1st quarter ended it was Penny 14, Wolfpack 10.
RASHAAD. PENNY. #OneCityOneTeam pic.twitter.com/iKv4jpdcD1
— SDSU Football (@Aztec_Football) November 19, 2017
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Penny went on to add a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown in the 4th quarter, tying the NCAA career record for kickoff returns at 7. On special team returns alone he put up 201 yards, and he closed the game with a 67-yard touchdown run and 222 total rushing yards. His 429 all-purpose yard game set a SDSU record and is now the ninth-highest total all-time in the NCAA record books.
Rocky Long revealed the Rashaad Penny for Heisman ploy to the San Diego Union-Tribune, “if anybody was still awake back east, they ought to watch and find out that he’s one of the best five players in the country.”
Penny’s phenomenal day covered up a sluggish first half from the vaunted San Diego State defense.
Nevada threw on 1-on-1 coverage and got big plays out of their receivers. The defense gave up passing plays of 48 yards, 82 yards, and 52 yards. The Aztecs stopped the run, but their pass defense was suspect Saturday night. For the 2017 season, it was their only performance that gave up more than 300 yards of passing yards.
The silver lining to the dismal performance is that San Diego State has gone three games straight holding opposing rushers to under 40 yards and the defense came up 2 turnovers, bringing the Aztecs +1 in turnovers.
Trey Lomax intercepted Ty Gangi midway through the 4th quarter and that was the last time anyone heard of the Nevada offense. By then the Aztecs clean-up crew were in play and ready to close out victory number 9.
It was a flat-out dominance by Rashaad Penny and there’s only one game on the known schedule for the Aztecs. Senior night is next week against New Mexico and it might be one last chance to fight through the East Coast-bias.
Notables:
– QB Ryan Agnew did come in the game at one point because Rocky Long said he had earned it during practice.
– Last week we at the MWWire predicted a SDSU-USF Hawaii Bowl, and the matchup might be in play if USF loses to UCF next week.