Brady Hoke on both sidelines in Michigan-San Diego State matchup

Brady Hoke and the five assistant coaches who left San Diego State with him when he was hired away by Michigan were on the sidelines at the Big House in Ann Arbor on Saturday, when Hoke’s past team met his present.

And when we say sidelines, we mean it literally. They were on both.

While Hoke and his new staff worked with the Wolverines, San Diego State used photos of Hoke and his former Aztecs assistants to call in plays from its sideline.

San Diego State didn’t make its players available to the media after a 28-7 loss, but based on the postgame comments of Aztecs Coach Rocky Long, it can be assumed it was done out of respect.

San Diego State’s program was a mess before Hoke took over for the 2009 season, but the Aztecs went 9-4 last year and, like Michigan, entered Saturday’s game 3-0.

Long, who was Hoke’s defensive coordinator, expects Michigan to make the same kind of progress. “Brady will win a national championship here,” Long said after the game.

San Diego State came into the game having scored 21 points or more in 17 consecutive games, and the Aztecs were able to move the ball just fine — they were in Michigan territory in 10 of their 13 possessions (not counting one play just before halftime).

Ronnie Hillman ran 21 times for 109 yards, his sixth consecutive 100-yard game for the Aztecs, but he lost two fumbles. And though Ryan Lindley passed for 253 yards, the senior, making his 35th consecutive start, looked nervous in the pocket and missed several open receivers.

San Diego State also had no answer for Denard Robinson, who passed for 93 yards and ran 21 times for 200 yards and three touchdowns.

The day wasn’t a total loss for the Aztecs, though: Their payday was a little more than $1 million for taking the game.

By air and ground

Chris Forcier, a transfer from UCLA, threw seven touchdown passes for Furman in a 62-21 win over Presbyterian. … Mohamed Sanu of Rutgers caught a school-record 16 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-26 win over Ohio. … Bernard Pierce of Temple ran for 149 yards and five touchdowns in a 38-7 rout of Maryland. … Air Force had 792 yards of offense in a 63-24 win over Tennessee State, running for 595 yards and six touchdowns in 66 carries.

This stings

Sometimes there’s no place to go but down.

Georgia Tech scored 35 points, ran for 312 yards, and accumulated 496 total yards in a win over North Carolina — and saw its nation-leading averages in all three categories take a dive.

The Yellow Jackets came in averaging 59.3 points, 427.67 yards rushing and 675.33 total yards.

Optimistic view

Brian Kelly has taken some heat for his language and sideline rants, but Notre Dame’s coach took the glass-is-half-full tack after the Irish’s lackluster 15-12 win over Pittsburgh.

Of Tommy Rees’ play on Notre Dame’s midway-through-the-fourth-quarter, game-winning drive, Kelly said, “That’s why he’s our starting quarterback.”

Rees was eight-for-eight for 74 yards on that drive, but otherwise only 16 of 33 for 142 yards with an interception against a Pittsburgh pass defense that came into the game ranked 119th out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

Straight shooter

For the first time in school history, three Oklahoma State receivers had 10 catches in the same game as the Cowboys rallied for a 30-29 win over Texas A&M.

Josh Cooper had 11 receptions for 123 yards, Justin Blackmon 11 for 121, and Hubert Aryiam 10 for 92, as quarterback Brandon Weeden, a 28-year-old former minor league baseball player, threw 60 passes without an interception, completing 47 for 437 yards and two touchdowns.

Which is not to say Weeden zeroed in on just those three targets. Eleven Oklahoma State receivers caught passes.

Pretty important

Boston College defeated Massachusetts for its first win of the season after losses to Northwestern and Duke.

Asked how important the win was, Coach Frank Spaziani didn’t mince words. His reply: “How important is your next breath?”

mike.hiserman@latimes.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.