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Aztecs grind down Falcons, win 30-14

San Diego State running back Donnel Pumphrey, left, is stopped by Air Force defensive back Weston Steelhammer.
( / AP PHOTO)
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A 300-yard passer. A 100-yard runner. A 100-yard receiver.

That trio of circumstances doesn’t happen often for most teams. At San Diego State, it’s only occurred three times in the 50-game Rocky Long coaching era.

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You’re supposed to win when you’ve got athletes playing that well. The Aztecs did so on Friday night in an important, 30-14 victory over Air Force. It just wasn’t as pretty as the statistics might have indicated.

Running and passing in big chunks, SDSU nevertheless found the Falcons to be stingier as the field got shorter. One drive ended in an interception, another in a field goal miss, but kicker Donny Hageman successfully booted three field goals, Quinn Kaehler threw a touchdown pass and D.J. Pumphrey scored his 16th rushing TD of the season.

That was enough, in front of 28,626 at Qualcomm Stadium, to give the resurgent Falcons only their third loss in 11 games this season.

It was a heartening win for the Aztecs, who at 6-5 clinched bowl eligibility for a fifth straight season and with a 4-3 record in the Mountain West allowed their division title hopes to maintain a faint heartbeat.

Kaehler passed for 326 yards, Pumphrey rushed for 131 and receiver Ezell Ruffin made seven catches for a season-high 126 yards and a touchdown. SDSU rolled to 503 yards in offense, its most since Week 2 at North Carolina.

The defense didn’t have the gaudy individual statistics, but after so many nearly great performances, it played about as completely as could be expected. Running a 3-4 scheme, SDSU held the No. 7 rushing offense in the country to 140 yards on the ground – an impressive 148 below its average.

The Falcons were limited in their attack by the loss of 1,000-yard rusher Jacobi Owens, who was out with an injury. Dangerous quarterback Kale Pearson was held to only 59 yards running and 10 of 21 passing for 171.

“The whole defense – pick ‘em out and name ‘em all,” Aztecs coach Rocky Long said. “You don’t hold Air Force to 140 yards rushing. Are you kiddin’ me? They had 189 yards passing – (74) on one play. How could you play any better?”

SDSU capped the great effort when sophomore linebacker Calvin Munson – enjoying the best night of his young career – returned an interception 56 yards for touchdown in the game’s waning minutes.

The Aztecs defense, which struggled in losses to make the big stop at the right time, came up with a huge effort on the first play of the fourth quarter. Air Force went for a first down on fourth-and-2 at the SDSU 47. The Falcons tried Devin Rushing up the middle, and tackle Christian Heyward, getting extra playing time due to the foot injury of Alex Barrett, led SDSU’s swarming tackle for a 1-yard loss and change of possession.

The Aztecs couldn’t take advantage of the stop, though, when their drive stalled and Hageman missed a 26-yard field goal that would have boosted the lead to 12 points.

The first half had an all-too-familiar look for SDSU in this season of good, but not fruitful enough starts.

With the exception of a single play – Air Force’s 74-yard touchdown pass from Pearson to Garret Griffin down the sideline – the Aztecs dominated in nearly every facet on the field and on the stat sheet, but trailed 14-13.

Four times in the game’s first 19 minutes SDSU drove inside Air Force’s 20-yard line, and it came away with only 13 points on two Donny Hageman field goals (20 and 36 yards) and a 14-yard touchdown pass from Kaehler to fullback Adam Roberts.

After the TD, the Aztecs got the ball back right away by forcing a fumble on the return, and Pumphrey’s 11-yard run got SDSU a first down at the Air Force 15. But after two short runs, Kaehler tried to a squeeze in a third-down pass to Ruffin, and one of the two players blanketing the receiver, safety Weston Steelhammer, intercepted.

The defense, which limited Air Force to 102 yards and six first downs in the half beyond the TD, forced a three-and-out, and SDSU drove to the Air Force 8. But Pumphrey could get only 5 yards on two carries, and the Aztecs tried an inside run to Ruffin on third down that gained nothing. Hageman’s field goal made it 10-0.

SDSU had running troubles again on a second-quarter drive that got to the Air Force 17. Two runs by Chase Price lost 2 yards, and a third-down pass went incomplete. Another disappointment, another Hageman field goal.

Pumphrey’s biggest run of the half – a 50-yarder – went for naught when Ruffin was called for holding on the play.

The Aztecs lost the field-positon battle late in the half, twice having to punt from deep in their own territory. The last punt gave Air Force the ball at the SDSU 42 with 2:33 left in the half, and the Falcons scored the go-ahead touchdown in eight plays.

The Falcons led despite being outgained 283-176 while possessing the ball for only 9:45.

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