San Diego State wide receiver Jordan Napier shouted out in frustration during Wednesday’s practice when he got open downfield, but the Aztecs couldn’t get him the football.
Maybe it was Napier’s emotions bubbling over. After a breakthrough game with five catches last week against Hawaii, Napier’s intensity continues to increase.
Whatever it was, the Aztecs found the 6-foot-2 redshirt freshman from Fontana when they needed him in Saturday afternoon’s 27-24 Mountain West win at Wyoming.
Napier sparked SDSU’s slumbering offense with 53- and 27-yard catches on back-to-back plays in a fourth-quarter comeback before 23,155 at Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium. The victory evened SDSU’s record at 3-3 while improving the Aztecs to 2-0 in the conference.
“It’s good to go on the road and get a conference road win here and build on the momentum from last week,” SDSU coach Sean Lewis said in a postgame interview with San Diego Sports 760. “(We) continue to stack these successful opportunities and successful moments that the guys are creating.”
SDSU quarterback Danny O’Neil’s second throw to Napier was for a touchdown that made it 24-24 with 13:54 remaining in the game. Napier accounted for all 80 yards on the four-play scoring drive.
“That’s just offense all coming together, O-line making it a good pocket for Danny to make the pass,” Napier told San Diego Sports 760, adding, “When those balls go up in the air, our wide receivers coach says nothing bad can happen, it’s either got to be our ball, or nobody’s ball.”
Said Lewis: “Those guys are developing a great relationship as we move through the year. It’s a testament to their work that they’re doing that no one sees until, obviously, game day with it. Their relationship, their connection and, obviously, those in those critical situations to be able to rely and trust on one another, they’re explosive plays, and none of that happens without the protection that’s happening up front with the O-line.”
The big plays continued when SDSU got the ball back, with O’Neil hitting wide receiver Nate Bennett with a 42-yard completion. Running back Marquez Cooper (25 carries, 87 yards, touchdown), bottled up most of the day, then burst through the line for a 26-yard gain.
When the drive stalled at the Wyoming 5-yard line, SDSU kicker Gabriel Plascencia came on for a 28-yard field goal with 7:35 to play that proved to be the difference against Wyoming (1-5, 1-1).
SDSU’s defense forced the Cowboys to punt away three straight possessions in the fourth quarter. Wyoming got the ball back on its own 3-yard line with 21 seconds remaining and advanced it to the 23, but the Aztecs swarmed Wyoming quarterback Evan Svoboda before he could launch a Hail Mary as time expired.
Napier’s emergence was particularly significant because it came moments after Svoboda had provided the biggest play of the second half. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Svoboda likes to run and is a load to bring down, although the Aztecs limited him to 1-yard rushing in the first half.
When he faked a handoff on the first play of the fourth quarter, Svoboda found a seam in the SDSU defense and ran 51 yards untouched for 24-17 Wyoming lead.
SDSU again struggled to play four solid quarters of football, but reached the season’s midpoint as a .500 team. The Aztecs have a week off now before resuming the season with a non-conference game Oct. 26 against Washington State (5-1) at Snapdragon Stadium.
O’Neil (16-for-27, 254 yards, TD/INT) suffered his first interception of the season when the Cowboys’ Connor Shay corraled a tipped pass with 1:23 remaining in the second quarter. It ended a string of 127 straight passes without a pick to begin his college career.
Wyoming kicker John Hoyland missed a 50-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, allowing the Aztecs to take a17-14 lead into the locker room.
The Aztecs’ best offense was a good defense while Wyoming relied on trick plays in a back-and-fourth first half.
SDSU cornerback Chris Johnson intercepted a pass by Svoboda (12-for-31, 181 yards, TD/2 INTs) and returned it 42 yards to the Wyoming 10-yard line midway through the first quarter. Three plays advanced the football only six yards, so the Aztecs settled for Plascencia’s 22-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
The Cowboys used a flea-flicker in the first quarter for a 70-yard touchdown pass from Svoboda to wide receiver Jaylen Sargent. SDSU cornerback JD Coffey III bit on the fake, allowing Sargent to get 20 yards behind the Aztecs defense to give Wyoming a 7-3 lead with 5:46 remaining in the first quarter.
It was only the second play of the season of more than 40 yards for Wyoming.
Apparently, returning an interception to the red zone wasn’t enough assistance for the Aztecs’ offense. So when SDSU safety Eric Butler stepped in front of a sideline pass in the closing seconds of the first quarter, Butler returned it for a 43-yard touchdown and a 10-7 Aztecs lead.
SDSU had just 61 yards of total offense in the first quarter, punting away three possessions in the period.
The Cowboys tried another flea-flicker early in the second quarter. It would have worked, but Wyoming wide receiver Justin Stevenson let the ball go through his hands at SDSU’s 20-yard line.
Wyoming had something else up its sleeve on the same drive when faced with a fourth-and-6 at its own 44-yard line.
The Cowboys faked a punt and Jayden Williams rumbled 17 yards to the SDSU 39.
Five plays later, aided by a pass inference call against SDSU cornerback Bryce Phillips, Wyoming running back Sam Scott scored on a 1-yard run for a 14-10 lead.
SDSU responded with its first good offensive drive of the game, with quarterback Danny O’Neil guiding an eight-play, 75-yard drive. Running back Marquez Cooper capped it with a 4-yard touchdown run, just getting the nose of the ball across the goal line for a 17-14 advantage.
Notable
• SDSU edge Trey White, who came into the game as the nation’s co-leader in sacks, got to Svoboda twice in the second half, giving him 11 sacks on the season. SDSU’s Ryan Henderson had 1 1/2 sacks and teammates Kyle Moretti and Tupu Alualu added one apiece.
• SDSU’s Tyler Pastula had seven punts that totaled 330 yards, a 47.1-yard-per-punt average. Pastula’s performance included a 75-yard punt in the first quarter, a 46-yarder in the third quarter that was downed on the Wyoming 2 and a 29-yarder that he stopped at the 7 in the game’s final minute.
• Penalties once again plagued SDSU, which came into the game as the nation’s second-most penalized team. The Aztecs committed nine penalties for 67 yards against Wyoming. They are averaging 10 penalties a game, which is second only to New Mexico.
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