SDSU fans face first Halloween home game in 17 years

San Diego State plays a Halloween home football game for the first time since 2009.

The Aztecs face Washington State on Saturday afternoon at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time. This matchup marks the first time in 17 years that SDSU has hosted a game on October 31. The last such event occurred during a season that featured one of the program's most lopsided losses.

The current squad stands at 3-5 overall and 2-2 in Pac-12 play. They are coming off a loss to Colorado State in a shootout last week. Their opponent, Washington State, enters the game with a 1-7 record and a 0-4 mark in conference play. The Cougars have lost five consecutive games. The Aztecs may still be processing their defensive performance from last week, but the 2009 memory looms large for the program.

On October 31, 2009, San Diego State hosted New Mexico at Qualcomm Stadium. The crowd numbered only 12,647, a figure that suggests many fans chose trick-or-treating over the game. That year, New Mexico had defeated SDSU 70-7 in Albuquerque. That loss was the eighth straight victory for the Lobos and contributed to the departure of then-coach Chuck Long. By the 2009 contest, Brady Hoke was the head coach and former New Mexico coach Rocky Long served as defensive coordinator.

The 2009 game turned on a late first-half drive. San Diego State trailed 10-7 with 18 seconds remaining. Quarterback Ryan Lindley completed an 80-yard drive to take a 16-10 lead. He threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Alston Umuolo and a 7-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DeMarco Sampson. Lindley described that drive as the key to the game, noting the team could create mismatches in two-minute situations. New Mexico responded with 10 points in the third quarter to regain a 20-16 lead.

The Aztecs answered in the fourth quarter with a 10-play, 75-yard drive. Lindley capped the sequence with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Sampson. He finished the game 22 of 38 for 253 yards and three touchdowns. Sampson recorded a team-high seven receptions. Head coach Brady Hoke called the victory important but not pretty. He said the team learned lessons that would be better learned after a win than a loss. The win improved the team's record to 4-4, their first time reaching .500 since 2003.

The positive streak did not continue for the remainder of that season. SDSU lost its final four games to finish 4-8. The following year, the team improved to a 9-4 record and played in a bowl game for the first time since 1998. That season started a 13-year run of bowl eligibility, which remains a school record.