Eric Evelhoch -- The Sporting Tribune
General view of Snapdragon Stadium after Marquez Cooper's five-yard receiving touchdown for San Diego State during the second quarter against New Mexico.
FINAL: New Mexico 21, San Diego State 16
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego State football team returns home, looking to snap a two-game losing skid as they face the New Mexico Lobos at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night at Snapdragon Stadium.
The Aztecs (3-5, 2-1 Mountain West Conference) fell behind at then-No. 15 Boise State 28-0 before a Gabriel Plascencia field goal and a touchdown run by Marquez Cooper. SDSU limited Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty to 37 yards in the first half, but quarterback Maddux Madsen carved up the secondary to the tune of 307 yards and four touchdowns, while Jeanty finished with 149 yards rushing on 31 carries with two scores. Cooper finished with 94 yards on 16 carries, and Danny O'Neil bounced back from a pair of first half interceptions to throw a pair of 30-yard touchdowns in the fourth quarter to Jordan Napier and Mekhi Shaw, finishing with 155 yards passing.
New Mexico (3-6, 2-3) is also coming off back-to-back losses, falling 17-6 at Colorado State on Oct. 26 and dropping a 49-45 decision at home against Wyoming on Nov. 2. Lobos quarterback Devon Dampier leads the team in rushing, ranking fifth in the conference with an average of 82.78 yards per game while ranking second in the Mountain West with an average of 249.22 yards passing per game. He has accounted for 23 total touchdowns (10 passing and 13 rushing) while throwing 12 interceptions. Running back Eli Sanders has the most carries on the team, with 101 and has run for 661 net yards with six touchdowns.
The Lobos average the fourth most passing yards per game but have allowed the third-most in the Mountain West (255.11 yards per game) and have the lowest defensive pass efficiency. Their ground game averages the third-most yards (230.89) per game, but they have allowed the second-most yards against on the ground (237.22). Their offense averages the third-most points in the conference (34.78) but they have allowed the second-highest scoring average against (40.78).
Catch up on coverage leading in to Saturday:
- Midweek on The Mesa: Potential for points, field conditions and bounce backs
- Aztecs shown where they want to go as a program in loss at Boise State
- 5 Things To Watch: Aztecs' Friday night game against New Mexico shapes up as a shootout (San Diego Union Tribune)
- San Diego State vs New Mexico - Ten things to watch (East Village Times)
- Friday storylines: New Mexico and San Diego State football meet on similar ground (Albuquerque Journal)