Will weather come into play for SDSU-Air Force game?

The now-ranked Aztecs beat Stanford, but are aware they need to stay focused through the hype. Hear from head coach Rocky Long, quarterback Christian Chapman and cornerback Ron Smith about preparing for Air Force.

By Kirk Kenney

Sept. 22, 2017 8:45 PM PT

colorado springs, colo. —

A light rain began falling Friday afternoon, tapping at the windshields of visitors making the 80-mile drive from Denver International Airport to the Air Force Academy here.

It didn’t appear the heavy stuff would be coming down for a while yet — possibly during Saturday’s San Diego State-Air Force game.

The Weather Channel forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of rain on Saturday with evening thunderstorms. The low is expected to be 46 degrees, so snow isn’t in the forecast.

SDSU head coach Rocky Long doesn’t think rain would have an impact on the game, although it might make it more difficult for the quarterbacks to throw the ball. Of course, both the Aztecs and the Falcons are run-oriented teams.

“I don’t think it matters unless it’s a downpour or the field’s sloppy,” Long said, “then the offensive teams, both teams, have the advantage because they know where they’re going and the defense is changing directions.

“They have a turf field, so if it just sprinkles a little there’s no advantage one way or the other.”

The Aztecs had one of the best rushing performances in school history last season at Utah State in a game that was played in a downpour for much of the contest.

SDSU rushed for 400 yards, then the second most in program history (it was bumped to third two weeks later when the Aztecs had a school-record 474 yards at Nevada). D.J. Pumphrey rushed for 223 yards in the game. Juwan Washington, a sophomore backup this season to Rashaad Penny, had career highs in carries (14), yards (137) and touchdowns (2) against the Aggies.

SDSU had a 22-minute delay in last week’s 20-17 win over Stanford when the stadium lights went out.Long said it wasn’t a big deal.

“Since they were little, tiny kids playing Little League football,” Long said, “(players) take breaks at halftime where they go sit on the sidelines for 20 minutes where they eat oranges and they drink pop and go right back out and play.

“So it’s no different than they’ve been trained ever since they were little kids.”

A lightning delay is another story, in the coach’s mind.

Lightning interrupted last week’s Cowboys-Broncos game at Denver’s Sports Authority Field at Mile High, forcing the teams to head for cover late in the first quarter. An hour passed before the game resumed.

NCAA rules require teams to be pulled from the field when lightning strikes within eight miles of the stadium. The teams are not allowed to returned until 30 minutes have passed without another lightning bolt.

“I’ve been in the locker room for 45 minutes because of a lightning delay before,” Long said. “They send you back inside because they don’t want you outside.

“After the game’s two-thirds of the way finished? That’s miserable.”

Hopefully, the SDSU staff will have orange slices and pop available, just in case.

Aztecs