Dec. 05, 2015
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 1 
| USATSI Photo Gallery | Photo Gallery 3 | Photo Gallery 4
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| STATISTICAL LEADERS | ||||
| Passing | C-Att | Yds | TD | Int |
| Roberts, AFA | 5-11 | 35 | 0 | 0 |
| Chapman, SDSU | 9-14 | 203 | 1 | 0 |
| Rushing | Car | Yds | TD | Long |
| Owens, AFA | 17 | 156 | 0 | 65 |
| Pumphrey, SDSU | 16 | 90 | 0 | 30 |
| Receiving | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
| G. Griffin, AFA | 4 | 35 | 0 | 13 |
| Hazely, SDSU | 5 | 78 | 0 | 44 |
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| MULTIMEDIA |
 Postgame Presser - Munson, Chapman & McGee Postgame Presser - Coach Long |
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| RELATED LINKS |
 Gameday Central | Notes | Depth Chart Season Stats | Mountain West | NCAA Media Guide | Home |
SAN DIEGO-- Redshirt freshman quarterback Christian Chapman passed for 203 yards and a touchdown in his first career start and Donny Hageman nailed 46-yard field goal with 5:10 left in the game to give San Diego State a 27-24 victory over Air Force Saturday in the 2015 Sports Authority Mountain West Championship game. The win gave the Aztecs (10-3) their 20th conference championship in program history and first outright league title since 1986.
In a game that featured five tie scores, SDSU took its first lead of the game with 14:22 left to go on Rashaad Penny's 28-yard run. The Falcons (8-5) tied it again at 24-24 on their ensuing drive on Timothy McVey's third rushing touchdown of the game, this time from two yards out.
After back-to-back 3 and outs, San Diego State got the ball back with 8:08 to play on its own 25-yard line. On the second play of the drive, Chapman connected on a 48-yard pass to Mikah Holder to get the Aztecs to the AFA 25. Facing a 3rd and 27 after a holding penalty and a 6-yard loss that had SDSU on the Air Force 42, San Diego State got back into field goal range on a 13-yard pass from Chapman to Eric Judge. Hageman then cleared the uprights from 46 yards out for the game-winning score.
The Aztec defense stood tall, forcing the Falcons to another 3 and out and, after SDSU had to punt the ball, knocked down Karson Roberts' Hail Mary pass as time expired.
San Diego State only led for 7:43 during the game, rallying back from 7-0, 10-7 and 17-10 deficits. After the Falcons took advantage of a muffed punt and McVey scored from 10 yards out, the Aztecs tied it up first at 7-7 on Chapman's 24-yard pass to Donnel Pumphrey on the first play of the second quarter.
AFA made it 10-7 midway through the second quarter on a 21-yard field goal by Luke Strebel, before Hageman answered for SDSU with a 22-yard make, making it 10-10 at the half.
Air Force went ahead for a third time on its opening drive of the second half, ending with a 3-yard run by McVey.
San Diego State answered with a 13-play, 80-yard drive over 6:36, before Gordon punched it in from 1-yard out to tie it at 17-17. The Aztecs amassed 67 of the 80 yards on the ground on the drive, including a 23-yard run by Gordon on 4th and 1 at the Falcon 29.
After forcing AFA to punt, Penny gave SDSU its first lead at 24-17 on the 28-yard run.
Chapman, who was named the game's offensive most valuable player, finished 9 of 14 for 203 yards and a touchdown, while adding 32 yards on the ground on six attempts (5.3 avg.). Pumphrey ran for 90 yards on 16 attempts (5.6 avg.) and caught two passes for a career-high 64 yards and a touchdown. Jemond Hazely set career highs with five catches and 78 yards in the win for San Diego State.
Na'im McGee finished with a team-high and game-high-tying 10 tackles en route to being named the game's defensive most valuable player. Malik Smith, Calvin Munson and Alex Barrett each added 10 tackles apiece.
The Aztecs' 10 wins are their most since winning 10 as an independent team in 1977 and are one off a school record of 11 in 1966 (as a Division II member) and 1969 (first year of Division I play). Additionally, it was SDSU's ninth straight win, its longest streak since a 10-game winning streak during the 1976 and 1977 seasons.
San Diego State also extended its DI school records of consecutive games with 200 rushing yards (nine) and consecutive games without throwing an interception (11).
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| First Downs | 14 | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Yards | 340 | 436 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Passing Yards | 35 | 203 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Rushing Yards | 305 | 233 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of Plays | 57 | 60 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Penalties-Yards | 2-9 | 5-39 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 3rd Down Conversions | 2 of 11 | 5 of 13 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 4th Down Conversions | 1 of 2 | 1 of 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Kick Return Yards | 94 | 107 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Punt Return Yards | 1 | -4 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Punts-Yards | 6-237 | 5-209 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnovers | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Time of Possession | 28:44 | 31:16 | |||||||||||||||||||||