Western was on the move at the start of the second quarter, but a penalty proved costly. Nikko Watson took the Leathernecks' first play in the second quarter for 55 yards, the longest run of his brief Western career, and longest by a Western player this season. However, after a 2nd-and-1 run for no gain, a 15-yard penalty pushed Western to another long third down situation and the team would eventually be forced to punt.

Down by seven late in the second quarter, Western was facing 4th-and-7 at the SDSU 37. Too long for a potential field goal attempt into the wind, Western went for it and missed on an incomplete pass.

The Jackrabbits (5-6, 4-4) needed seven plays and 40 seconds to cover 63 yards. Western thought to have held SDSU on 3rd-and-10 thanks to Maurice Hood breaking up a pass in the endzone but a personal foul penalty on Western kept the drive going. Austin Sumner rushed for an 8-yard TD, and a 14-0 lead heading into the locker room.

According to head coach Mark Hendrickson, mistakes again at key times hurt the Leathernecks chances.

"One thing I do not like to do is to sound like a broken record, but this season I guess I have been. We give everything we have every Saturday. They play very hard and very physical, but we make some key mistakes and that sets us back. It's happened in several games and it's frustrating.  That certainly is the summary of today," said Hendrickson. "There were a lot of good snaps today. We executed well on defense and offensively we saw some good execution by linemen allowing Nikko to break up field. Unfortunately it is frustrating. The effort is there, the enthusiasm is there and physical play is there."

During the decisive third quarter SDSU picked off two Josh Hudson passes and turned those into two field goals. Hudson completed a pass to Terriun Crump, but while fighting for extra yards Winston Wright stripped the ball, recovered and raced 68 yards for a touchdown.

Kieron James intercepted his team-leading third pass of the season, putting Western at the SDSU 15 late in the fourth quarter. However, the Leathernecks could not convert 4th-and-5 on the 10. On their next drive following a SDSU punt, Crump took a reverse and went 37 yards to the seven. Three plays later Cody Reardon threw his first collegiate touchdown pass, a 3-yard score to Crump to avoid the shutout.

With injuries to three running backs, Watson made his first collegiate start. Playing in just his third collegiate game, Watson rushed for a game- and team season-high 170 yards on 29 carries. He also caught a 9-yard pass.

"Injuries have affected us. We're not going to begin to say that's the number one reason that's why we aren't on the winning side of the ballgame. Nikko and Larry (Patterson) played very well. Several key backups are out as well and that just cuts out your depth," stated Hendrickson. "Injuries and mistakes hurt momentum at times."

Crump caught five passes for 28 yards, and in the process surpassed 2,000 career receiving yards (2,005). His TD catch was the 11th of his career, tying him for 10th place all-time. He also overtook fifth place all-time in pass receptions with 131.

The defense was led by senior linebackers Kevin Palermo and Ryan Carleton with 11 stops each. Carleton set a career-high in tackles while making his first start as a Leatherneck.

Kieron James added a career-high nine tackles and a blocked field goal attempt to go with his interception. Ryan Davis broke up a career-high five passes and made eight solo tackles, matching his tackles career-high. Theon Dixon led all players with 4.5 tackles for a loss, eight tackles in all.

"Ryan Davis had several broken up balls. He's very talented and skilled. He had a good game last week (in his second start at cornerback) and he had another good game today. Kevin Palermo, Tim Franken and Mike Garoppolo all played well," said Hendrickson.

Western actually out-gained SDSU on the ground (229-80) and in total offense, 289-288. However, the Jackrabbits held the ball six minutes longer and were 6-of-16 on third down while holding Western to 3-of-13.

Sumner completed 19-of-39 passes for 208 yards. Justin Syrovatka made a 27- and 28-yard field goal in the decisive third quarter, but had his 33-yard attempt on the opening drive blocked.

Western closes out the campaign next Saturday (Nov. 19) at home versus North Dakota State, which entered the day undefeated and the top-ranked team in the FCS but lost its regular season home finale. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Western honored its 16 seniors prior to the start of today's game. Of the 16, three were not able to play due to injuries... Redshirt-freshman Sam Kachanuk made his second straight start at tackle... Crump's 37-yard run was the first rushing attempt of his career... Reardon entered his junior year a career 0-for-2 passing, but has completed 9-of-17 passes for 74 yards and a score in four games played this year... Myers Hendrickson's 17 punt return yards on two attempts was the second-highest yardage total of the year... Watson is averaging 126 rushing yards in his three games played. On 74 carries this year he has lost only five yards rushing (379 net yards)... Davis had five of the team's six pass break-ups today. He now has seven this season and 13 in his two-year career... Dixon increased his team-leading tackle for loss total to 11.5... Palermo is nine tackles away from 100 this year.