“Good Day-Bad Day in Football Weekend”

============

They had to win football games.
1-did..the Chargers
1-did not.. the Aztecs

The Chargers won in Cincinnati.
The Aztecs lost badly to Utah State.

1-team stays in the playoff race
The other stumbles into a second level bowl game.

The Chargers offense won the first half, jumping on every Bengals mistake to vault out to a 24-0 lead.  Justin Herbert threw 3-TD passes in the lst half, and at one point had a (203-37) yardage advantage.

The Chargers defense won the second half, with a touchdown return for a TD of a fumble by struggling young player Trevaughn Campbell, and Chris Harris’  end zone interception that snuffed out a comeback drive.  Both 4th quarter plays by the Bolts stunted a Bengals comeback.

The Bolts wound up with 6-sacks and 4-takeaways in bashing Bengals QB-Joe Burrow, playing with a finger injury behind an offensive line that had lost 2-starters.

The Chargers survived shakey play again from their secondary, and injuries to Joey Bosa (concussion) and Justin Jones (knee) in the defensive front.  They  survived two more sacks allowed by oil-leaking right tackle Storm Norton.

They really manhandled Cincinnati in grabbing the big lead, and jumping on a Bengals team that did not look like anything we saw a week ago when Cincinnati bashed  the Steelers.

The Chargers stay alive for a wildcard playoff spot, though nearly not a complete team

The Aztecs cratered, losing badly to Utah State.  All the things that made San Diego (11-1) disappeared.

My biggest fear came thru, that the substandard quarterback back play SDSU got most of the season, came back to haunt them again.

They were horrific in terms of disciplined play, taking 6-personal fouls while trying to play tough guy football.  It was stupid play and something that unglued their coach, a visibly upset Brady Hoke.

All American kicker Matt Araiza had two punts blocked, shanked 2-punts, and missed a field goal, most of that while the game was still within hand.

Jordan Brookshire’s magic of a week ago in the Boise State win, was gone.  replaced by inaccurate passes that we have seen  this year .  Gone too were 3-tight ends and special teams players because of a covid outbreak last week that limited practices and impaired some of their personnel packages.

SDSU looked terribly fatigued, as if the street fight the week before in beating Boise State took a terrible physical toll on their ability to do it again.  USU’s hired gun QB  Logan Bonner stood in there to throw for 341-yards and TDs against a fatigued defense.

It was a horrific beatdown losing (46-13) on nationwide television.  That and the fact Coach Brady Hoke showed no transparency when refusing to talk to the San Diego media about the Covid outbreak on his team, then promptly telling CBS what happened.  Hoke’s credibility relationship with the media took a beating too.

And the Aztecs get relegated to a second tier bowl game, playing Texas-San Antonio in a game very few in San Diego will care about…the Frisco Bowl in Texas

Chargers find a way to win.  Aztecs deliver a hard to believe horrible loss.

Good Day-Bad Day-Football Weekend.

==============

Please follow and like us: