Aztecs notch huge 21-19 upset over No. 19 Boise State

Boise State wasn’t down for long, though.

Quarterback Joe Southwick led Boise on a 12-play 68-yard drive that ended with tailback D.J. Harper’s 1-yard touchdown run.

But on this night, it was Long 1, Petersen 0 in the battle of two of the gutsiest coaches in college football.

After that first touchdown, Petersen opted to go for two.

But receiver Matt Miller’s pass was high.

At the time, it didn’t seem to matter. What’s one point in the scheme of a game, right?

But that choice to go for two instead of kicking the extra point would eventually come back to haunt the Broncos.

For the next two quarters, both teams settled into something resembling trench warfare.

Boise State managed a second touchdown midway through the second quarter when Harper scored again, this time on a fake reverse where he kept the ball and motored into the end zone for a 16-yard run.

Still, aside from that one aberration, defense was the name of the game. At halftime, SDSU had 96 total offensive yards to Boise State’s 176, and each quarterback had less than 100 passing yards.

Then came the third quarter, and everything changed.

Redshirt freshman Dwayne Garrett became the Aztecs’ unsung hero when he blocked a Boise State punt in the third quarter deep in Bronco territory.

Garrett’s blocked punt gave the Aztecs the ball at the Broncos’ 8-yard line, and two plays later, running back Adam Muema rumbled into the end zone on a three-yard touchdown run.

Chance Marden converted the extra point, and just like that, SDSU led Boise State 14-13.

It was the first time all season that the Broncos had trailed at home in the third quarter.

Sensing a momentum shift, the Aztecs did not let up. They came right back out on defense determined to preserve the lead, and held things that way till the fourth quarter, when Long went for it on fourth down again and Walter Kazee punched in the winning touchdown on a 1-yard run.

Boise State would score again at the end – a 1-yard touchdown pass from Southwick to fullback Dan Paul.

That failed two-point conversion on Boise State's first drive? It ended up mattering.


