Cougars lose defensive battle against San Diego State 13-3

SAN DIEGO – In a game with points at a premium, the BYU football team came up short, losing to San Diego State 13-3 Saturday night at SDCCU Stadium.

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The San Diego State (9-3) defense held BYU's offense out of the end zone the entire night, despite the Cougars (7-5) putting up 338 passing yards on the Aztecs. BYU quarterback Zach Wilson went 31 of 53 for 316 passing yards in the game while Talon Shumway led all Cougar receivers with six catches for 83 yards.

The Cougar defense held its own but gave up a touchdown just before halftime to give San Diego State enough down the stretch. BYU gave up just 269 total yards to the Aztecs, a season-low for the Cougars. Linebacker Isaiah Kaufusi led the defense with nine total tackles including six solo stops.

A pass from wide receiver Aleva Hifo to tight end Matt Bushman for 22 yards got BYU into the red zone. Skyler Southam capped off the drive with a 24-yard field goal to put the Cougars up 3-0 with just under four minutes left in the first quarter.

Before the second quarter could end, San Diego State scored the only touchdown of the game. A 25-yard pass deep into BYU territory resulted as a touchdown as the Aztecs pulled ahead 7-3 going into halftime.

Late in the third quarter, San Diego State connected on a 44-yard field goal just inside the upright to give the Aztecs a 10-3 lead with over five minutes left in the quarter.

San Diego State tacked on another field goal in the fourth quarter to securing the win 13-3 holding BYU scoreless in the second half.

BYU has concluded its 2019 regular season and has accepted an invitation to the SoFi Hawai’i Bowl at Aloha Stadium. The game will be played on Tuesday, December 24 at 3 p.m. HT (6 p.m. MT) on ESPN. The opponent will be announced at a later date.