Rocky Long making himself right at home at Boise State’s Albertsons Stadium
Most opposing football teams enter Albertsons Stadium with a bit of trepidation.
Rocky Long might as well pull up the Turnover Throne and take a seat.
The San Diego State coach looked right at home on Boise State’s blue turf Saturday afternoon, leading the Aztecs to a 19-13 victory to become the only team since the 1990s to defeat the Broncos twice on their own field.
“Every time you come here, if you don’t come with the right attitude, you’re gonna get run right out of the stadium,” Long said. “I guess I got the right kind of guys because they come with the right attitude.”
[Related: Boise State offense wilts in the daylight; Analysis: Boise State, Rypien flop in big game; scoring summary]
Since the construction of Albertsons Stadium in 1970, Boise State has amassed a record of 261-55 at home — a winning percentage of more than 82 percent and the highest of any stadium in the country built before 1980.
But Long and the Aztecs haven’t struggled the way other teams have in Boise. SDSU is now 2-1 in games at Albertsons Stadium. They beat the Broncos 21-19 on Nov. 3, 2012, and lost 38-29 on Nov. 15, 2014. The Aztecs nearly won in 2014, too, blowing a 20-0 lead.
“I know when we come here that it’s gonna be a really good game because they’re a really good football team,” Long said. “They play the way the game is supposed to be played and they’re coached well.”
San Diego State neutralized the near-capacity crowd of 36,679 early with two picks of Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien in the first quarter. Darren Hall’s interception on the Broncos’ second drive would have been a pick six if he hadn’t slipped.
It was Rypien’s first interception of the season, and just the kind of momentum the Aztecs needed.
“I think we gained confidence with the first one,” Long said. “We were playing man coverage, and Darren Hall made a hell of a play. ... I thought after the one interception, I thought that our whole secondary gained confidence and started playing better than they have all year.”
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The Aztecs limited the Broncos to just 72 total yards in the first half and held on to win for the 11th time in a row when leading at the half.
“It feels good to get a win here,” Hall said. “They beat us last year and it was tough. It hurt last year. They came into our own place and beat us.”
This time, San Diego State’s defense returned the favor, halting the Broncos’ potential game-winning drive with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game.
“We practice the two-minute drill every Tuesday and every Wednesday at the end of practice,” Long said. “So we just do what we do in practice and hopefully they execute well enough to win.”
It was the fourth time in six meetings that the underdog won this matchup — and the third time that winning team was the Aztecs, who came to Boise as 14-point underdogs.
“I think that there’s a lot of things about last year’s game that we did poorly, and they came and whooped us. They absolutely whooped us in every stage of the game,” Long said. “I think if you have kids that are competitive, they don’t want that to happen again, so they come with a little different attitude, and I thought our players came with a great attitude today.”
Boise State leading tackler out
Boise State junior safety DeAndre Pierce, the Broncos’ leading tackler, missed Saturday’s game against San Diego State. Pierce has 23 tackles this season. Coach Bryan Harsin said he would provide an update on Pierce on Monday.
Senior defensive tackle David Moa also was out. He has been limited all season and missed three of the first four games.
Cornerback Tyler Horton, who missed the previous two games, started. STUD end Jabril Frazier, who missed the Wyoming game, played. Horton led the team with eight tackles and recovered a fumble.
“It felt good to be back out there with my boys,” Horton said. “Getting the news that I was cleared this week, emotions were everywhere.”
Broncos switch kickers
Sophomore Joel Velazquez replaced senior Haden Hoggarth as the kicker for PATs against San Diego State. Velazquez was 1-for-2, making the first PAT of his career. The Broncos didn’t try a field goal.
Velazquez’s miss ended a streak of 157 consecutive made PATs for the Broncos, dating to 2015.
Quick hits
Boise State wore white pants, blue jerseys and blue helmets. The last time Boise State wore white pants and blue jerseys at home was Nov. 26, 2011, against Wyoming. The Broncos won 36-14. ... Running back Skyler Seibold carried the Hammer for Boise State. ... Wide receiver A.J. Richardson was the single-game captain. ... Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien passed BYU QB Max Hall (2007-09) for second on the Mountain West all-time passing yards list. Rypien has 11,435 career passing yards.
This story was originally published October 6, 2018 at 7:38 PM.