FRESNO, Calif. – Seemingly with the game in hand, San Diego State was unable to stop Fresno State's miraculous comeback in a 32-28 loss Saturday night at Valley Children's Stadium.
Quarterback Jake Haener threw three touchdown passes, including a 37-yarder to Nikko Remigio with 56 seconds remaining, as the Bulldogs (4-4, 2-2 MW) scored the final 22 points of the game, including 15 in a 13-second span, to rally past the Aztecs (4-4, 2-2 MW) for the Battle of the Oil Can.
Jordan Mims' 3-yard touchdown run capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive with 1:09 remaining and Haener connected with Zane Pope on the 2-point conversion to bring FS to within three points at 28-25.
Fresno State then recovered an onsides kick and, on the first play of the ensuing drive, Haener found Remigio with a short pass. Remigio got rid of a SDSU defender diving for his legs and raced untouched for the game winner.
Jalen Mayden's desperate heave was picked off by Carlton Johnson to seal the game for the Bulldogs.
San Diego State lost, despite outgaining FS, 449-391, holding Fresno State to negative 3 yards rushing, its fewest in a home game since at least 1996, and wasting an epic performance by Mayden.
Mayden, starting his third career game at quarterback after moving back over to the offensive side of the ball from safety, completed 19 of 24 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns, nearly missing his second 300-yard passing game. He also scored twice on the ground and rushed for a team-high 43 yards, joining Ryan Katz (2012) as the only Aztecs with multiple passing and rushing touchdowns in the same game since at least 1996.
Following a Fresno State field goal, Mayden scored on a 28-yard run in the first quarter and found a streaking Kenan Christon for a 26-yard scoring strike in the second quarter to put SDSU up, 14-3.
Fresno State answered with a 21-yard pass from Haener to Remigio before San Diego State ended the scoring in the first half with a Mayden 1-yard touchdown run, taking a 21-10 lead into intermission.
In the third quarter after taking advantage of a 33-yard run by punter Jack Browning on fourth-and-4, Mayden found Jesse Matthews in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown, giving the Aztecs their largest lead of the game at 28-10.
Haener hit Pope with an 8-yard score on the final play of the third quarter before the late-game heroics pushed the Bulldogs past SDSU in the final moments of the fourth.
Mekhi Shaw led San Diego State with a career-high five catches for 64 yards, while Tyrell Shavers (4 receptions, 66 yards) and Christon (2 receptions, 75 yards) contributed to the passing game, along with Jesse Matthews (4 receptions, 37 yards, 1st touchdown of the season).
The Aztecs, who sacked Haener a season-high seven times (SDSU entered with 11 total sacks through seven games), were led defensively by Michael Shawcroft, who had a career-high 10 tackles to go with 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Jonah Tavai added six tackles, 2.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.
San Diego State led for 47 of the 60 minutes in the game, but had its streak snapped of 30 consecutive victories when leading at the end of the third quarter. The Aztecs also had their eight-game win streak snapped in games decided by one score (eight or less points).
Aztecs Fall, 32-28, at Fresno State
