The San Diego State University football Aztecs lost in the Hawai'i Bowl match-up against Middle Tennessee in Honolulu.
On Christmas Eve, the Aztecs lost 23-25 to Middle Tennessee in a game where SDSU led 14-0 at one point before the lead slipped away down the stretch.
The Aztecs' two touchdown lead had SDSU on the driver's seat in the first quarter, until the Blue Raiders from Middle Tennessee turned this into a ballgame that featured up to six lead changes before eventually winning it.
This Hawai'i bowl game was practically won by Middle Tennessee kicker, Zeke Rankin, who tied the Hawai'i Bowl record for field goals converted by successfully making four of five field goal attempts in this victory from 44, 49, 26 and 37 yards out.
SDSU still has the opportunity to secure this bowl victory late in the game after taking a 23-22 lead with just under six minute es left in regulation.
However, Middle Tennessee calmly drove down the field 55 yards in a dozen plays that led to a successful 37-yard field goal by Middle Tennessee's Zeke Rankin with just two minutes to go.
This game-winning field goal closed the chapter on SDSU's 2022 football season, finishing with a 7-6 overall season record.
“Obviously, we would have liked to have won the football game,” SDSU head coach Brady Hoke said after the bowl game defeat. “Our defense played well. We needed probably to (not) turn the ball over a little bit, but I can tell you that’s a good, hard-hitting football team that we played," he added.
Coach Home also stated that if there's one thing they could have done better, it's producing more offensive opportunities and capitalizing after a quality performance from their defense.
“The thing we would have like to have done, obviously, is do a little bit more from an offensive standpoint. We just didn’t, it just didn’t go our way.”
