The game was played on a slick field after 1.5 million gallons of rainwater were pumped out of Qualcomm Stadium overnight. Players went slipping and sliding all night, but organizers met their promise of kicking off on time after several days of torrential rain flooded the field and a portion of the parking lot.
Hillman, the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, scored on runs of 22, 37 and 2 yards, and pulled in a 15-yard scoring pass from Ryan Lindley after a beautifully executed fake. "It was very surprising," Hillman said of his effort, the sixth time this season he gained at least 150 yards. "But the O-line, like I said, you could put a high school senior back there and he would have 1,000 yards behind this line. I can't say enough about them."
SDSU (9-4) hadn't won a postseason game since beating Boston University in the 1969 Pasadena Bowl. The Aztecs had been in only three bowl games since, most recently the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl, which it lost to North Carolina.
SDSU took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on Hillman's 22-yard TD run and Lindley's 53-yard TD pass to Vincent Brown. Navy pulled to 14-7 on Ricky Dobbs' 30-yard scoring pass to Greg Jones early in the second quarter. Hillman put the Aztecs up by two touchdowns again as he ran untouched 37 yards up the middle with 3:15 before halftime. Navy closed within one score on Dobbs' 1-yard keeper 7 seconds before halftime. SDSU held Navy on the opening drive of the second half, when Dobbs' pass went off Bo Snelson's fingertips in the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 3.
Lindley completed 18 of 23 passes for 276 yards while wide receiver Vincent Brown had eight catches for 165 yards, also a Poinsettia Bowl record.
Aztecs Get School-Record 14th Straight Win
LAS VEGAS (AP) - San Diego State left Las Vegas with a school-record 14 straight wins and an unscathed record after two games that proved tougher than they looked going in. D.J. Gay scored 18 points and the seventh-ranked Aztecs avoided a last-minute comeback to beat IUPUI 56-54 on Wednesday night at the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.
Malcolm Thomas fell just shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, despite hurting a toe in his last game for San Diego State, which has its highest ranking in school history. The Aztecs were never ranked until this season.
After shooting an airball to end the first half, Gay took a charge to start the second, touching off a 20-5 run to give the Aztecs (14-0) the lead for good. The Aztecs have the nation's second-longest active winning streak behind No. 1 Duke's 21 straight.
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