SFU football suffers new low with 83–7 loss to Azusa Pacific

At least the weather was nice.

Not much else good can be said about SFU football’s 83–7 loss to the Azusa Pacific Cougars at their homecoming game. The game set a Great Northwest Athletic Conference single game scoring record for Azusa Pacific. It could also quite possibly be SFU’s most lopsided loss ever, ahead of a 70-point loss in 2006, according to The Vancouver Sun.

“Our effort wasn’t good enough, we didn’t match their intensity from the get-go,” said head coach Kelly Bates. “[There were] [t]oo many undisciplined penalties that stopped any kind of momentum that we tried to build.”

With an injury-depleted Clan lineup — missing linebackers Jordan Leech and Gabe Lopes, among others — Azusa Pacific built a commanding lead early in the game.

SFU started the game with the ball, and on the first play of the game actually converted for a first down when Gavin Cobb received a 10-yard pass from Miles Richardson.

However, the Clan fumbled the ball on the very next play and gave Azusa possession. They rushed down the field to score a touchdown and took a 6–0 lead after missing the extra point.

On the kickoff, SFU recovered the ball on their own eight-yard line. Richardson made two complete passes to Cobb for 14- and 32-yards, but both were waved off because of flags. The latter flag resulted in a team safety for SFU and two more points for the Cougars.

Just 17 seconds later, Azusa Pacific put up another touchdown, after a good kick return put them on SFU’s 18-yard line.

By the end of the first quarter, they were up 29–0, and were on SFU’s goal line, setting up another touchdown six seconds into the second quarter.

One of the few highlights of the game for SFU came in the second quarter. When SFU was on fourth down and 18 yards, Spencer McCabe, who is listed as a defensive end but has served as the team’s punter for the season, scrambled on a failed punt attempt and ran 34 yards for the first down.

SFU managed a touchdown in the third quarter when Richardson threw a 10-yard pass just in-bounds to sophomore Rysen John, who was playing in his first game of the season. Jalen Jana did much of the heavy lifting on the drive, putting up 49 total yards.

But by the time SFU scored their touchdown, it was already 67–7. Azusa Pacific put up two more touchdowns and a safety to make the score 83–7 at the end of the third quarter.

By then, the Cougars had already switched quarterbacks twice. In the fourth quarter, neither team scored. Azusa Pacific finished the game with 610 offensive yards to SFU’s 289.

Receiver Justin Buren and McCabe went down with an injury and neither returned to the game.

SFU plays Central Washington on Saturday, September 30 on the road. Central Washington currently has a 4–0 record, with two of those wins coming in the conference. One of those wins was a 17–16 victory against Azusa Pacific last weekend.

Kickoff is at 1 p.m.