Nov. 29, 2005
SAN DIEGO - SAN DIEGO STATE GAME NOTES | HAWAI'I GAME NOTES
San Diego State (5-6/4-4 MWC) at Hawai'i (4-7/4-4 WAC)
Television
The game will televised by KFBE-TV and will be available only in the Hawaii.
Radio
XPRS 1090-AM, San Diego. Ted Leitner (play-by-play), John Kentera (analysis), Jack Cronin (sidelines) and Dave Marcus (producer). Josh Rosenberg serves as host for the pregame show.
San Diego State Looks To Even Its Record With A Win At Hawai'i In The 2005 Season Finale
Winners of two straight, the San Diego State football team (5-6 overall, 4-4 MWC) will look to finish with a .500 overall record for the second time in the last three seasons when it heads to Hawai'i Saturday for the 2005 finale. The Aztecs travel off the mainland for the first time since 2002, and carry a two-game win streak in season finales into the 26th all-time meeting with the Warriors (4-7 overall, 4-4 WAC).
Game time for the SDSU-Hawai'i contest is set for a 6:05 p.m. (8:05 p.m. PST) local time kick-off and can be heard in San Diego on the Aztecs' flagship station, The Mighty 1090 AM. The game will televised by KFBE-TV in the Hawaii market only, extending a string of 22 consecutive San Diego State games that have been available either on television or nationally via broadband.
The Aztecs, who are coming off a bye week, have claimed each of their last two contests, defeating Colorado State on the road, before rallying from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Wyoming at home, 34-21.
Against the Cowboys, SDSU trailed 14-7 after two quarters thanks to a pair of turnovers, but escaped from further damage before heading into the locker room, as safety Brett Sturm made a diving interception at his own 23-yard line with under a minute left in the half.
The Aztecs equalized with a one-yard TD run by Lynell Hamilton in the third quarter, but fell behind again when Wyoming opened the final 15 minutes with a six-yard score. SDSU would score 20 unanswered points in the final 9:20 with two Garrett Palmer field goals, a touchdown by Robert Ortiz and a 20-yard interception return for a score by safety Marcus Demps. The Aztec defense then held the Cowboys in check on four plays from the SDSU 12-yard line to finish out the evening.
The win pulled SDSU into a tie for fourth place with Utah and New Mexico in the final Mountain West Conference standings at 4-4 overall. The Aztecs were just a game out of second place and recorded their third upper-division MWC finish in the four-year tenure of head coach Tom Craft.
Hawai'i, meanwhile, will be eight days removed from its last outing, falling to No. 24 Wisconsin, 41-24, at home last Friday. All four of the Warriors victories this season have come during Western Athletic Conference play, knocking off Idaho, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Utah State. Besides the loss to the Badgers, Hawai'i has also faced top-ranked USC and Michigan State during its 2005 nonleague slate.
Hawaii claimed the last game in the all-time series with SDSU, winning in an offensive shootout, 41-40, in the 2002 final in Honolulu. The teams combined for over 1,200 yards in total offense, with almost 1,000 of those yards coming though the air. Excluding the loss in 2002, SDSU has dominated UH in their most recent meetings, claiming nine of the last 10 contests and scoring 35 or more points nine times during that span.
With a victory Saturday, the Aztecs can win their final three contests of a season for the first time since 1980. The streak jumps ahead when considering regular season games only, as SDSU fell in the 1986 Holiday Bowl after winning four straight, and most recently, lost in the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl, following three consecutive league victories. The Hawai'i game is the final contest for SDSU's 18-player senior class, which includes eight starters.