San Diego State defeated Arizona 30-12 Saturday in a game that many would consider an upset.

Certainly if you look at the Goff Rugby Report rankings, or the D1A Rugby rankings, you’d see what was the expected. The D1A rankings had Arizona at #11 and SD State at #19. GRR wasn’t that much different, ranking Arizona at #13 among all DI teams (DIA, DIAA, Varsity Cup), and SD State at #22.

But the Aztecs took care of business.

“Going into the game we knew Arizona was hot,” said SD State Head Coach Alex Lichtig. “They play in the PAC Conference and they’ve got tough games week-in, week-out. We knew we needed a big effort, and we got it, especially defensively. The entire defensive effort I though was really good.”

And some snappy individual plays and good one-on-one matchups at critical moments did the rest. 

Freshman center Harrison Barkham had a huge day. He wasn’t perfect, but he passed well and found some gaps, and he showed great poise in kicking three penalties and three conversions in a game where he needed to be accurate. Scrumhalf Esmat Wardak, who converted to that position from flanker, was exceptional.

“On attack he always seems to find space,” said Lichtig. “He provides a spark for us.”

In the set piece, the front row of Adahir Aguilera, Kurtis Schmidt, and Johnny Abdulahad were very strong, and late in the game finished well. 

For Arizona, the result was a well-timed wakeup call. Head Coach Sean Duffy said the result was a classic example of the value of an out-of-conference game. The result won’t hurt Arizona in the conference standings, but it was still a valuable lesson.

“I did think San Diego State defended rally well,” said Duffy. “

For Arizona, Matt Rogers scored both the Wildcats’ tries, including a counter-chip, chase, fly-hack, and chase for a try of monumental skill. Those moments were too rare for Arizona. 

San Diego Sate has certainly made a statement in this game. After barely beating Cal Poly and losing to BYU, they take a lot of confidence out of this result.

“These are the same players that played Cal Poly, but this is a very different team,” said Lichtig.