If San Diego State's football program is making progress in Year 3 of coach Chuck Long's tenure, it's doing so at a speed better gauged by glaciation.

On an evening where football took a back seat to fireworks, the Aztecs dropped their fifth straight Mountain West Conference game dating to last season in a 35-10 loss to Air Force.

Before a KGB SkyShow-enhanced crowd of 43,630, SDSU fell to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play. For those still offering up a postseason prayer, it should be noted that the Aztecs play three of their next four games on the road.

SEAN M. HAFFEY / Union-Tribune Aztecs head coach Chuck Long reacts to an interception returned for a touchdown in the third quarter of last night's game against Air Force at Qualcomm Stadium.

Without quarterback Ryan Lindley, who suffered a sprain of the AC joint and a slight separation of his throwing shoulder a week earlier, the Aztecs already were operating at a substantial disadvantage.

When paired against Air Force, however, it's the SDSU defense that typically suffers most, and this occasion proved no exception. The Falcons (4-2, 2-1), who pancaked the Aztecs a year ago with 670 yards in a game they won 55-23, finished with 473 last night.

It was the fifth time this season that an opponent has amassed more than 450 yards against the Aztecs, who entered the contest ranked 106th among the nation's 119 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams in total defense.

It has been a shortcoming tethered to an offense whose inability to sustain drives has been nothing short of devastating. Having built a 10-7 lead at the half while limiting the league's top rushing team to 140 yards, SDSU managed just 13 total yards in the second half and finished with 165.

TOUCHDOWNS KGB SkyShow SDSU's annual rain of pennies from heaven. Drew Westling SDSU quarterback's first Division I start far from flawless, but he also accounts for team's lone TD. Air Force offense Falcons could invite you into the huddle and you couldn't stop it. TURNOVERS SDSU's revolving QBs Putting Darren Mougey behind center once provided element of surprise; fifth time cost Aztecs a touchdown. Familiar face SDSU's defense masquerades as monster in first half; matador in second. The future Aztecs play three of next four on road. – MICK McGRANE

In turn, a defense that was on the field for more than 43 minutes and allowed TCU to run 90 plays in a 41-7 loss a week earlier, teetered, tottered and eventually tipped over. Air Force ran 84 plays and had the ball nearly 10 minutes more than the Aztecs.

The Falcons, whose average of 270.8 yards on the ground ranked sixth in the nation, amassed 261 of their 401 yards rushing in the final two quarters, turning a close game into a blowout.

“It's about getting stops, it's about getting them off the field and keeping them off the scoreboard,” said Aztecs senior linebacker Russell Allen. “In the first half, we did a good job of doing what we needed to do; in the second, we didn't. That was really the story of the game. In the second half, we just flat-out didn't play well.”

Showing little regard for a defense that was allowing 245.2 yards rushing, Air Force, utilizing the no-huddle, moved 78 yards on 16 consecutive running plays to take a 7-0 lead on its opening possession, quarterback Tim Jefferson scoring on a 1-yard run.

Backup quarterback Drew Westling, making his first Division I career start, got the Aztecs even on their final possession of the first quarter, capping a 14-play, 73-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge.

SDSU, which ceded 94 yards on the ground in the opening quarter, tightened its grip in the second and took a 10-7 lead when kicker Lane Yoshida connected on a 45-yard field goal with 3:08 left in the half.

“We were in a good flow, mixing things up, but we really just got out of our rhythm,” said Westling, who completed 14-of-18 passes for 93 yards in the first half, but hit just 4-of-17 attempts in final 30 minutes while being sacked four times. “With a team like Air Force, they do such a good job with ball control. When you get behind, it's tough.”

The Aztecs found themselves in just such a position with less than six minutes gone in the third quarter when Falcons tailback Clark Asher (15 carries, 109 yards), who had not a single carry in the first half, scored on a 9-yard run to make it 14-10.

A 1-yard scoring run by Falcons fullback Todd Newell (St. Augustine High) made it 21-10 before linebacker Justin Moore sealed matters with a 25-yard interception return with 3:23 gone in the fourth quarter.

“It was a tale of two halves, and our second half wasn't good at all,” Long said. “It was really discouraging. We just ran out of gas.”

Mick McGrane: (619) 293-1850; mick.mcgrane@uniontrib.com