Deep down, we all knew it was going to go down like this — just as we all know that the Old Oil Can is a meaningless contrived rivalry trophy bought off eBay in 2011.
Still, this is some really gross shit to watch.
Fresno State clinched the Mountain West Conference West Division on Saturday night with a 23-14 win over the an SDSU team now aimlessly staggering to the finish after an inspiring start to the season.
I’d like to get angry over the result or lament some bad breaks or decisions, but the fact of the matter is the Bulldogs were just better tonight.
Sure the Aztecs led 14-10 at the half, but it turns out their one effective offense play of “huck it up to Fred Trevillion and hope he scores a massive touchdown” was only going to work twice, not the four times that was required for a win. Here are the two:
Those were cool!
But SDSU is a running team, at least in theory, and with two starting offensive linemen missing because of injury/suspension against a stout run defense, Juwan Washington (18 carries, 38 yards) had no room to maneuver. Meanwhile Christian Chapman was busy getting pounded to within an inch of his life, and Ryan Agnew wasn’t faring much better.
SDSU’s defense held its own for a half against QB Marcus McMaryion and Fresno’s balanced attack, but they couldn’t hold forever. Unfortunately, forever was what was required.
Even John Baron II missed a key second half field goal for the second time in as many games.
All the good stuff about this team is now bad and we have officially descended into an abyss of sadness. Stop this season, I want to get off.
Turning point
I suppose I could be glib and just say “halftime.” But if you need to pinpoint it, let’s go with early in the fourth quarter with Fresno State up 17-14. The Bulldogs had just had a big run erased by a holding penalty, and suddenly faced a 3rd and 12 at the SDSU 40.
It seemed like a monster momentum swing — for about 30 seconds, anyway.
McMaryion immediately converted by whipping a 37-yard strike to a wide open KeeSean Johnson. Two plays later, the Dawgz were in the end zone and the Oil Can stayed put as the third most valuable object in all of Fresno County, trailing only the mayor’s residence (a Bounder motorhome) and Jeff Tedford’s 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera.
Best Some of Aztecs Twitter
Rock-o-Meter
Rating Rocky Long’s likely enjoyment of the game, on a scale of subtitled French coming-of-age film to 1977 Trans Am with radar detector.
Tonight’s game rated a Regular Prostate Exam on the Rocky scale. It was uncomfortable and somewhat humiliating, but ultimately inevitable. We had steeled ourselves for the worst and it honestly wasn’t as painful as feared. Hopefully it (losing to fucking Fresno) won’t have to happen again for another 2-4 years.
Broadcast News
CBS Sports Network had the game, not ESPN, meaning there was less talk about the College Football Playoff (thankfully) but longer commercial breaks and shoddier production value. While we missed Trevillion’s first touchdown catch because the cameraman had apparently never seen a play-action pass before, we did get to see a weird, fish eye lens shot of the Fresno State band no fewer than 30 times. It’s a give and take!
Also, the commercials absolutely worked on me. I will unfortunately not be blogging anymore as I have enlisted in the U.S. Army.
What’s Next for Football Tecs
There’s nothing more depressing than a Thanksgiving weekend Senior Night with nothing at stake. It’s sure to be a Blue-Out new Saturday night at Tombstone as SDSU (7-4) plays out the regular season string against the Hawai’i ‘Bows (7-5), trying to avoid heading into its depressing bowl game as losers of 4 of 5.
Maybe it’ll rain, too. Might as well, right?
KABEER THIRTY 