FRISCO, Texas – The San Diego State football team completed its final practice on Sunday in preparation for the 2021 Tropical Smoothie Frisco Bowl.
For the second straight morning, the Aztecs conducted their practice 10 miles from team headquarters at Children's Health Stadium, a facility used by the Proper Independent School District in Prosper, Texas. Despite crystal blue skies and relatively light winds out of the north at 8 miles per hour, the Scarlet and Black was greeted by a frosty temperature of 38 degrees with a wind chill factor of 32 on the turf field in north Texas.
Following the animated 90-minute practice in shells, SDSU associate head coach Jeff Horton, a native Texan, reflected on the Aztecs' preparation and his return to the Lone Star State for the Frisco Bowl.
"(This is) a great group of young men; they've worked hard all year," Horton said. "We're really excited about this opportunity (to become) the first team in the 99 years of the program to win 12 games (in a season), so I think we'll show up and be ready to go.
"You don't get to come back home too often and start picking up a little Texas drawl again. It's going to be great to see old friends coming to the game and a lot of the high school coaches of the kids we recruit here. So it's a great time to be back in Texas and show everyone what San Diego State football is all about."
Despite a loss to Utah State in the Mountain West Championship on Dec. 4, Aztec senior defensive lineman Keshawn Banks echoed Horton's sentiments and feels the team has a lot to play for on Tuesday after concluding his last practice as a collegian.
"We still have the ability to accomplish something great with this program, and that's win 12 games, which has never been done here before," Banks said. So there's some mixed emotions. We're excited about the next step in life, but (the last practice) is bittersweet because we love this game.
"This is a good UTSA team, a team that's got a lot of national recognition like we have, so it'll be a good test for us to close out the season and hopefully go out the right way."
Likewise, SDSU senior tight end Daniel Bellinger pondered his last practice in a Scarlet and Black uniform and looked forward to Tuesday's matchup with the Roadrunners.
"It's been a long four years with a lot of ups and downs," Bellinger explained. "We put a lot of work on these fields and it's just surreal. Honestly, it feels good. There's a lot of hard work and preparation for 13-14 games and we want to see it pay off.
"We want to make history (by winning 12 games). We want to keep evolving this program and evolving the game, so it's super exciting. We want to do it."
"You want to be able to end the season on a high note and go into the rest of recruiting in the offseason feeling good about your football team," coach Horton concluded. "So there'd be nothing better than a big win down here on Tuesday."
Sunday's practice concluded with the annual tradition of underclassmen hoisting the Aztec seniors off the field individually on their shoulders.
In addition, Bowl Week activities featured the Frisco Fastpacs charity event, as select players helped deliver weekend meals for underserved children in the Frisco community. Among those players participating included Christian Jones, DJ Herman, Andrew Alves, Jaylon Armstead, Jalen Mayden, Chandler Patterson, Dominic Oliver and Lucky Avinger.
SDSU will have a team dinner on Sunday night at Toyota Stadium before a joint press conference is held at the same venue Monday morning, starting at 9:30 a.m. CT. The Aztecs will then go to a walk through on the field at 2 p.m. CT.
San Diego State (11-2), which has tied a school record with 11 victories this year and finished 24th in the final College Football Playoff Rankings, will tackle No. 24 (AP) UTSA (12-1) on Tuesday, Dec. 21, starting at 6:30 p.m. CT/4:30 p.m. PT.