The Aztecs give up the lead in the 4th quarter in a loss to Washington State – NBC 7 San Diego

After the second bye week of the season, San Diego State was a 17.5-point underdog at home against a 5-1 Washington State team that received votes in the final Top 25 poll. They covered this spread easily, but missed the chance to cause an upset.

The Aztecs let a 12-point fourth-quarter lead slip in a 29-26 loss to the Cougars on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium.

Trailing 14-12 in the second half, San Diego State scored two straight goals. The first touchdown came from a gadget play that worked perfectly. Freshman wide receiver Jordan Napier backpedaled and threw a dart to fellow wideout Nate Bennett on the run, giving him a 27-yard touchdown and a 19-14 lead.

The defense forced a three-and-out and the Aztecs got going again, this time with an 11-play, 69-yard drive that ended with Marquez Cooper scoring his second touchdown of the game with a one-yard Run scored to give SDSU a 26-14 lead with 13:39 to play.

After that, things didn't go the way they wanted.

Cougars quarterback John Mateer hit Carlos Hernandez for a 34-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 26-21. The Aztecs drove into field goal range, but on 3rd-and-12 from the Washington State 22-yard line, true freshman QB Danny O'Neil missed linebacker Taariq Al-Uqdah, who was in front of a slant Route jumped to intercept him.

Mateer led the Cougars down the field and scored the winning score himself with a 2-yard TD sprinter. The loss drops the Aztecs to 3-4 and SDSU faces an even tougher test next week before facing 17th-ranked Boise State on Friday night.