San Diego State head coach Sean Lewis has made a name for himself with a high-caliber, fast-paced, and most importantly, powerful offense. It usually works pretty well, as we saw in a 45-point outburst in the season opener.

Saturday night was one of those rare outings where it just didn’t work out, and it cost them a 21-0 loss to Oregon State at Snapdragon Stadium.

The Aztecs’ offense was on the field for less than 19 minutes, gained just 179 yards and managed just seven first downs against the Beavers. Amazingly, their defense kept them in the game well into the 4th quarter. OSU got into the end zone on their first possession thanks to a 16-yard touchdown run by Jam Griffin and then managed seven consecutive drives without scoring a point.

In the 3rd quarter, it looked like SDSU was going to score and take control of the game. After six straight punts, freshman quarterback Danny O’Neil hit a pass deep down the right sideline where Louis Brown IV made a fantastic catch over the back of a defender for a 35-yard gain. The drive went to the OSU 2-yard line when O’Neil committed a freshman fumble.

The quarterback attempted to score behind the left side of the offensive line, but fumbled and gave the ball back to the Beavers, who took advantage of SDSU’s depleted defense. Oregon State managed 98 yards in 13 plays, with Anthony Hankerson running the final 15 yards for a score that put the ball out of reach.

Things won’t get any easier for the Aztecs next week when they travel to Berkeley to face a Cal team that just beat Auburn on the road.