San Diego State measured progress incrementally through the first half of the football season.

Saturday night against Washington State it was with leaps and bounds. And pains. Growing pains.

The Aztecs thrilled an announced crowd of 26,937 (18,375 turnstile) at Snapdragon Stadium with an exciting brand of football fans have been eager to see. And they were poised to upset a Washington State team that arrived as a two-touchdown favorite, taking a 12-point lead less than two minutes into the fourth quarter.

But Washington State scored a pair of fourth-quarter TDs, the second one after picking off a pass by SDSU quarterback Danny O’Neil, for a 29-26 victory over the Aztecs.

The team played incredibly hard tonight, SDSU coach Sean Lewis said. Weve got to be much better in certain situations, critical areas. We can continue to improve off all of it, but I thought we fought really, really hard. It was great to see guys step up against a really good team.

Were going to continue to grow, were going to continue to improve and were goiong to continue to take strides as we move forward.

After the Cougars went ahead with 5:03 remaining, SDSU (3-4) had one last possession to retake the lead. But the drive stalled at the Aztecs 41-yard line and Lewis chose to punt rather than go for it on fourth-and-22. The crowd booed the decision.

Lewis said the thought was to be able to flip the field and lean on your defense that had been playing very, very well and be able to get a stop and get the ball back, especially since a field goal would have sent us to overtime.

SDSU had all three timeouts remaining as well as the two-minute timeout. All those stoppages didnt stop Washington State (7-1) from holding onto the football until time expired. Washington State actually punted it back to SDSU with 22 seconds remaining, but the Aztecs were calling for roughing the kicker and the Cougars kept the ball.

After trailing 14-12 at halftime, SDSU seemed to have everything going for it in the second half.

The Aztecs defense forced Washington State to punt away four straight possessions. SDSU also covered a loose ball when the Cougars muffed a punt.

The greatest excitement came on two particular plays:

A leaping 27-yard touchdown catch by SDSU wide receiver Nate Bennett — on a pass from wide receiver Jordan Napier, of all people — in the third quarter and a 1-yard leap into the end zone by SDSU running back Marquez Cooper (18 carries, 78 yards, 2 TDs) in the fourth quarter rallied the Aztecs.

Coopers score gave SDSU a 26-14 advantage with 13:39 remaining in the game.

Washington State quarterback John Mateer (19-for-27, 257 yards, 2 TDs/20 carries, 45 yards, 2 TDs) came right back with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Carlos Hernandez that made it 26-21.

A 2-yard scoring run by Mateer, and a two-point conversion, put the Cougars on top 29-26 with 5:03 left.

“We cant get lax with that lead, said Letuli, who had a game-high 10 tackles. We need to play a full four quarters. Every play, every down, we cant get lax and be complacent. We need to do a better job of playing all four quarters.

It definitely hurts. They all hurt. But weve seen some good things.

Added Bennett: It stings. If it doesnt, then theres a problem there. At the end of the day, we cant let it affect us too much. Weve just got to learn from it.

SDSU emerged from a off week rested and ready against Washington State.

The Aztecs didn’t even make it to kickoff before players began to heading for the sidelines.

Starting wide receiver Louis Brown IV, starting tight end Jude Wolfe and third-string quarterback AJ Duffy didn’t dress. All three watched in street clothes as punishment for a violation of team rules.

Adding injuries to insults, O’Neil (22-for-34, 195 yards, INT) and starting right guard Tyler McMahon were injured on the same drive late in the first quarter.

SDSU edge rusher Darrion Dalton had to be helped from the field in the second quarter.

The defense already was playing shorthanded, so to speak.

Linebackers Tano Letuli and Owen Chambliss both started with protective wrappings on their surgically-repaired right hands.

That’s all the Aztecs needed against an opponent favored by two touchdowns coming into the game.

The Cougars looked as advertised when they completed their first drive with a 26-yard touchdown pass on a flea flicker, Mateer connecting with tight end Cooper Mathews for a 7-0 lead.

SDSUs injuries began piling up with five minutes remaining in the first quarter, moments after the Aztecs defense stopped Washington State on a fourth-and-3 play at the SDSU 28-yard line.

On the first play of the next drive, O’Neil was sacked for a 7-yard loss by Washington State’s Ansel Din-Mbuh.

The true freshman QB from Indianapolis stayed down on the torn up turf. Trainers came out and examined O’Neil’s left shoulder as Lewis looked on. O’Neil left the field under his own power and was examined further on the sideline before going to the locker room.

Four players after O’Neil was injured, McMahon went down when a Cougars player rolled up on his left ankle.

McMahon’s ankle was taped up and he stood on the sideline in the second quarter, though backup Saipale Fuimaono stayed in at right guard. McMahon did return late in the second half, pressed back into service when right tackle Nate Williams left the field with a left foot injury.

SDSU backup quarterback Javance Tupou’ata-Johnson took over when O’Neil was injured, guiding the Aztecs on a drive that ended with Gabriel Plascencia’s second field goal of the quarter.

Plascencia’s 28-yarder cut the Cougars’ lead to 7-6 as time expired in the opening period. Earlier, the kicker booted a 46-yard field goal on a drive extended by a fake punt. That played stirred the crowd as well when punt protector DJ Herman received the snap and shoveled a pass to JaShaun Poke that went for a 21-yard gain.

Washington State boosted its lead to 14-6 midway through the second quarter on a drive that consumed half the quarter before Mateer squirmed over the goal line on a fourth-and-1 keeper.

O’Neil returned in the final two minutes of the first half to lead the Aztecs on a six-play, 60-yard drive that culminated with a 7-yard touchdown run by Cooper.

SDSU’s two-point attempt failed and the Aztecs went into the locker room trailing by two points.

Notable

• The Aztecs return to Mountain West play on Friday at Boise State. Kickoff is 5 p.m. PT (Fox Sports 1).

The Broncos (6-1, 3-0 MW) sit atop the conference with Colorado State (5-3, 3-0) after a 29-24 win at UNLV. Boise State running back Asthon Jeanty carried 33 times for 128 yards and a touchdown. He leads the nation with 1,376 rushing yards and is second with 18 rushing touchdowns.

• SDSU edge Marlem Louis played a game for the first time as a father. He and his wife welcomed their first child, Marlem Louis Jr., on Tuesday.

• SDSU, second in the nation with 10 penalties a game, was whistled for eight penalties for 78 yards against the Cougars.