San Diego State vs. Cincinnati: Score and Reaction for 2015 Hawai'i Bowl

The San Diego State Aztecs rolled to a 42-7 drumming of the Cincinnati Bearcats in the Hawai’i Bowl, capping one of their best seasons in program history.

The Aztecs in 2015 tied a program record with 11 wins, and have reached a bowl game in each of head coach Rocky Long’s five seasons, now with two postseason victories after Thursday’s, which manifested through outstanding performances in all three phases.

Two of the Aztecs’ touchdowns came from offense, with one apiece from defense and special teams. 

Rashaad Penny led the charge with a tone-setting score for a touchdown on the game’s opening kickoff, courtesy of SportsCenter:

The Aztecs also halted a field goal with incredible ease, as shown by RedditCFB:

And defensive lineman Alex Barrett stamped the dagger with a pick-six to put SDSU up 42-0 with just over nine minutes remaining in the fourth. 

The defensive scores have been a regularity under Long, as shown by Jamie McConeghy of SDSU Media Relations:

The SDSU defense in particular stood out against Cincinnati’s FBS fourth-ranked offense, per Kirk D. Kenney of the San Diego Union-Tribune:

The Aztecs held the Bearcats to just 279 yards of total offense—substantially below their 559.4 season average that tallied 36.1 points per game—and were just over three minutes away from handing the Bearcats their first shutout since 2005.

Granted, Cincinnati was without quarterback Gunner Kiel, and backup freshman Hayden Moore struggled mightily, throwing three interceptions and finishing 19-of-30 for 202 yards and zero touchdowns.

Countering quarterback Christian Chapman of SDSU was just 8-of-11 for 113 yards and a touchdown, and running back Donnel Pumphrey added a 16-yard passing score himself. Pumphrey finished with 99 rushing yards and was narrowly on the verge of tying Marshall Faulk's SDSU record for 100-yard games with 23, per ESPN Stats & Info. 

The Aztecs head into the offseason optimistic about the future and building off their best run to date—particularly given they began the season with a sluggish 1-3 start.

Meanwhile the Bearcats have to be scratching their heads about where to go from here after failing to win the American Athletic Conference and stumbling so hard in their season finale.

Postgame Reaction

Not only did the Aztecs reach a program high with 11 victories, but their 2015 performance manifested into one of the longest active win streaks in the FBS, per NBC Sports:

Long said postgame that his team deserves consideration among the nation’s elite in light of the convincing win, per Jordan Carruth of the Mighty 1090 in San Diego:

The Bearcats dropped to 7-6 on the season after a pair of 9-4 campaigns in the three years under head coach Tommy Tuberville. Jason Williams of the Cincinnati Enquirer opined that given the Bearcats’ high expectations of winning the AAU in 2015, that the head coach may be on the hot seat:

Dustin Fox of ESPN was much more concise and direct with his assessment:

Ultimately, this was a matchup of two teams that appear headed in different directions.

Given SDSU’s convincing cap of the season, the Aztecs could very well find their way into the final rankings. But Cincinnati, however, will be back to the drawing board after a 2015 season that will likely be remembered as a "could have been" campaign.