San Diego State: The Aztecs earned one more game with their unlikely homefield advantage at Dignity Health Sports Park. The Broncos aren't alone in struggling against the Aztecs' heavy hitters, but it's a regular season-ending disappointment after an encouraging stretch under Avalos. ''But we know we'll have one more opportunity to finish this season, and we're excited to do that.''īoise State: A team that scored 128 points in its last four games got off to a strong start against the conference's best defense, but couldn't sustain it. ''We'll digest this, think about and look at the things we need to fix,'' Broncos linebacker Kekaula Kaniho said. McMorris' second interception then led to a drive ending in Brookshire's TD run. The Aztecs went ahead 20-16 to open the second half on a 75-yard drive that included a third-and-11 conversion and two fourth-down conversions, including Bell's 2-yard TD run. Brookshire strung together another quick drive ending with Matt Araiza's 37-yard field goal 3 seconds before halftime. Johnson was 9 of 20 for 98 yards when Brookshire relieved him and immediately led the Aztecs 78 yards for their first TD on Matthews' 29-yard catch-and-run. ''In life, things don't always go the way you want them to, but what matters is how you respond to those things.'' ''A lot of my coaches just say I'm a fighter, and I think that's been present,'' Brookshire said. Brookshire returned and struggled through two more starts before Johnson reassumed the starting job for the next six games, with Brookshire bumped to the third string behind freshman Will Haskell, who wasn't in uniform Friday for reasons Hoke wouldn't disclose. Patrick McMorris made two of the Aztecs' three interceptions, and Jonah Tavai got three of their four sacks while the defense harassed and hit Bachmeier throughout the second half, forcing backup Jack Sears to play the final two series.īrookshire began the season as the Aztecs' starting quarterback, but Johnson took over after two games when Brookshire injured his foot. ''We did everything we could to go against one of the best defenses in the country.'' ''For some reason, we just couldn't execute and finish the game out, but everybody fought their hearts out,'' Shakir said. Boise State has its first five-loss season since 2013 under first-year head coach Andy Avalos, a native of nearby Corona, California. Kurt Rafdal and Khalil Shakir caught early TD passes from Hank Bachmeier for the Broncos, whose four-game winning streak ended. I also think we got on our heels a little bit in the first half defensively, and then that wore off.'' ''Coming out after halftime there was an energy that may not have been there earlier, and you could really feel it. ''There's no question about it,'' Hoke said. On their next four drives, the Aztecs turned a 13-point deficit into an 11-point lead.Īztecs coach Brady Hoke said he inserted Brookshire primarily because Johnson was ''banged up,'' but Brookshire immediately showed it was the right decision. Jesse Matthews caught nine passes for 133 yards, and Greg Bell rushed for a touchdown - but Brookshire transformed the struggling San Diego State offense when he took over on the penultimate drive of the first half.
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