Sept 14, 2003
Final Stats?|? Notes
EL PASO, Texas (AP) - San Diego State's defense forced six turnovers and held its second straight opponent without a touchdown as the Aztecs shut out Texas-El Paso 34-0 Saturday night.
Leading the defensive charge for San Diego State (2-1) was cornerback Jacob Elimimian, who intercepted two passes, returning one of them 85 yards for a touchdown.
The Aztecs' defense, which also held Ohio State without an offensive touchdown last week, held UTEP (0-3) to 261 total yards, an average of 3.1 yards per play.
Offensively, Lynell Hamilton rushed for 107 yards on 22 carries.
Senior running back DeAngelo Nedd had his first two career carries at San Diego State and scored twice on runs of 28 and 3 yards.
Matt Dlugolecki completed 18 of 28 passes for the Aztecs for 180 yards.
UTEP's Orlando Cruz, under heavy pressure all night, completed just 11 of his 28 pass attempts for 75 yards and two interceptions.
J.C. Mejia got the Aztecs on the board 6:51 into the game with a 26-yard field goal.
On the first play of the second quarter, UTEP drove deep into San Diego State territory when the Aztecs' Elimimian intercepted Cruz's pass and returned it for his touchdown and a 10-0 lead with 14:44 remaining in the period.
Fale Poumele's two-yard run with 2:54 left in the second period gave the Aztecs a 17-0 lead, which they held at halftime.
San Diego State has now gone 121-minutes and 20 seconds without allowing an offensive touchdown.