They say close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, but coming within five points of upsetting heavily favored TCU last weekend has to count for something for the much improved SDSU Aztecs, even if head coach Brady Hoke doesn’t believe in moral victories. Coming into that game the Aztecs (7-3) were listed as 27.5 point underdogs.

   Undefeated, third ranked TCU was coming off an impressive 47-7 thrashing of previously undefeated Utah. Seven of TCU’s 10 previously routed opponents were limited to single digits by their stifling defense. Among those whippings were two shutouts. The Horned Frogs offense entered last Saturday’s contest averaging more than 41 points per game. Not only were they undefeated, none of their previous 10 opponents were even able to give them a battle. To their credit, SDSU put a scare into TCU before ultimately falling 40-35.

   Outstanding SDSU wide receiver Vincent Brown had a career day scoring two touchdowns and setting up a third. Brown finished with four receptions good for 167 yards and the aforementioned two TDs. Senior fullback and Poway High alum Brandon Sullivan added two more scores from in close and added to his touchdown total making it six on the year. Freshman running back Ronnie Hillman found tough sledding against the dominant TCU defense, but still produced a team high of 54 yards on the ground. Quarterback Ryan Lindley was hot and cold. He connected on 11 of his 26 passing attempts and threw for two touchdowns, but also served up two interceptions and missed several open receivers.

   In addition to being the closest game of the year for TCU it also turned out to be the strangest.

   San Diego State opened the scoring with a Sullivan one-yard plunge set up by a 49-yard pass from Lindley to Brown down to the one yard line. Three minutes later the Aztecs had their second touchdown after middle linebacker Robert Brown (subbing for injured Marcus Yarbrough) slammed into TCU quarterback Andy Dalton near the goal line. The hit jarred the ball loose. Alertly, Jerome Long fell on the loose pigskin in the end zone and in shocking fashion the Aztecs were up by two touchdowns.

   Rather than collapsing, TCU coolly pulled themselves together and dominated the rest of the first half although SDSU still clung to the lead up until the 6:39 mark of the second quarter. Then their dream of and improbable upset quickly vanished as TCU proceeded to reel off 34 unanswered points by the intermission.

   Showing the dogged determination and never-say-die attitude that has been a hallmark of this Aztec team, the Black & Red battled back and scored 21 second half points while limiting their opposition to six. While they ultimately fell short of their goal of knocking off Mountain West leader TCU, they no doubt won the hearts of a growing number of SDSU supporters.

   The Aztecs finish out the regular season with home games November 20 and 27 against Utah and then UNLV. Their seven wins should already be enough to give them their first bowl game since 1998, but they hope to make an already good season that much better by adding to their win total.

   Following their unexpected shellacking at the hands of TCU two weeks ago, the Utes were upset by Notre Dame last weekend 28-3. The question now is which Utah team will show up at the “Q” on Saturday night, the one that started the season with eight straight victories or the team that has collapsed in the last two weeks. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and tickets remain available.