San Diego State Continues Road Trip at Central Michigan on Saturday Night

San Diego State Continues Road Trip at Central Michigan on Saturday Night

• Following a week off from competition, San Diego State returns to action Saturday with a road game at Central Michigan. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT).
• After playing five consecutive games in the state of California dating back to last season, the Aztecs (1-2) are playing a game in the Eastern Time Zone for the first time since Sept. 26, 2015 at Penn State.
• SDSU is coming off a 31-10 loss at California on Sept. 14. San Diego State trailed just, 7-3, at the half, but the Bears scored on their first four possessions of the second half to take command of the game.
• The two teams combined for 27 penalties for 237 yards, including 15 penalties for 120 yards for the Aztecs. SDSU’s 13 penalties in the first half were tied for the most in any half for an FBS team in the last 10 seasons.
• One of the crucial penalties on San Diego State was an illegal block in the back on Marlem Louis after Tano Letuli intercepted a pass and returned it 65 yards for the score. Instead of taking a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter, SDSU started on its own 45-yard line and failed to score.
• Redshirt freshman Javance Tupou’ata-Johnson earned his first career start at quarterback for an injured true freshman Danny O’Neil, marking the first time in San Diego State’s Division I history (since 1969) that the Aztecs started a pair of freshmen quarterbacks in the same season.
• Tupou’ata-Johnson was 13 for 29 for 156 yards and a touchdown and two interceptions in place of O’Neil.
• Marquez Cooper, the FBS active leader in both rushing yards (4,129) and all-purpose yards (4,859), ran for 87 yards on 22 carries.
• Cooper has three straight 1,000-yard seasons (2023 at Ball State, and 2021-22 at Kent State under Sean Lewis).
• Cooper enters the weekend ranked eighth in the country with 121.0 rushing yards per game.
• The SDSU defense had a season-high six sacks, including 2.5 by sophomore EDGE Trey White.
• San Diego State is meeting the Chippewas (2-2) for the second time after winning the 2019 New Mexico Bowl, 48-11, in Albuquerque.
• Ryan Agnew passed for 287 yards and three touchdowns in that bowl game, and Jordan Byrd ran for a career-high 139 yards and a score. Jesse Matthews, who shared co-offensive MVP honors with Byrd, caught three passes for 111 yards and his first two touchdowns for the Aztecs, who finished 10-3 with their fourth double-digit win season since 2015.
• SDSU is 16-1-1 against current members of the Mid-American Conference, including a 20-13 win over Ohio last August.
• San Diego State is 11-1-1 against teams that were members of the MAC at the time of the game. Only eight times since 1976 have the Aztecs encountered a school from the MAC.
• SDSU is in the midst of a streak of playing a school from the MAC in six straight seasons. The streak started with a 17-14 San Diego State win vs. Toledo on Sept. 4, 2022 and continued with a 20-13 victory over Ohio on Aug. 26, 2023. The streak continues Saturday in the first of four straight seasons of the Aztecs playing a road game at a MAC school, including Saturday at Central Michigan, Sept. 27, 2025 at Northern Illinois, Sept. 26, 2026 at Toledo and Sept. 3, 2027 at Eastern Michigan.
• SDSU is playing a true road game at a MAC school for the first time since beating Northern Illinois, 42-28, on Sept. 17, 2016. In between that game and Saturday’s game at CMU, the Aztecs have played six games against MAC schools, including four home games and two bowl games on neutral sites.
• One of the most innovative minds in college football over the past decade, Sean Lewis was named the 19th head coach in the history of the San Diego State football program, as announced on Nov. 29, 2023. Lewis, 38, brings an extensive résumé to The Mesa, serving as head coach at Kent State from 2018-22 before spending the 2023 campaign as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Colorado under head coach Deion Sanders. He has also witnessed great success as a coordinator/ assistant coach in stops at Syracuse (2016-17), Bowling Green (2014-15) and Eastern Illinois (2012-13).
• Last season at Colorado, the Buffaloes were ranked sixth in the country in passing yards per game (330.0) and 39th in scoring (32.1) with Lewis calling the plays. When Lewis stopped calling plays, Colorado dropped to 59th in passing (224.0) and 100th in scoring (20.3).
• In 2021, Kent State set program records in plays (1,052), yards (6,907), first downs (364), rushing yards (3,482) and passing yards (3,425). Additionally, the Golden Flashes ranked third in the country that year in rushing (248.6) and first downs (364), fourth in total offense (495.2) and 30th in scoring (33.0).
• In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Kent State led the country in scoring (49.8) and total offense (606.5), ranked second in in pass efficiency rating (191.2) and third down conversion percentage (56.1), third in rushing (283.0) and fourth down conversion percentage (87.5), and 10th in passing (323.5).
• While at Syracuse, his 2016 offense set or tied 40 program records, including passing yards (3,855), while the 5,290 yards were the second most in school history.
• Lewis also had the fourth-ranked offense (546.8) at Bowling Green in 2015 and the sixth-ranked scoring offense (42.2).
• The Aztecs have posted a .500 or better overall record and a winning record in Mountain West action in 13 of the past 14 seasons, only failing to do so last year (4-8 overall, 2-6 in MW).
• San Diego State once again plays one of the toughest schedules in the country with seven of its 11 FBS games against teams that made a bowl game in 2023 and three against former Pac-12 teams (hosting Oregon State on Sept. 7, at California on Sept. 14 and hosting Washington State on Oct. 26).
• SDSU returns only two all-Mountain West players from a year ago in Mekhi Shaw (honorable mention at both wide receiver and punt returner) and Kenan Christon (honorable mention at kick returner).
• Gone from San Diego State are second-team honorees TE Mark Redman, OL Cade Bennett, CB Noah Tumblin and P Jack Browning, including the latter two which are vying for spots in NFL camps. Other all-conference performers gone from SDSU are QB Jalen Mayden, LB Zyrus Fiaseu and CB Dez Malone. In all, 18 starters are gone from the 2023 squad.
• Joining first-year head coach Sean Lewis are 55 total newcomers (combining scholarships and walk-ons).
• The Aztecs do not have a single player in his final year of eligibility who began his career at San Diego State. SDSU and Troy are the only teams in the country without a player in his final year of eligibility who began his career at his current school (see chart on right).
• Overall, the Aztecs have 15 players in their final year of eligibility, which is the fifth fewest in the country. Only Illinois (12), Troy (12), Iowa State (14) and San Jose State (14) have fewer (see chart on right).
• Additionally, SDSU returns only 54 players from a year ago, which ranks as the fourth fewest in the country.
• San Diego State has 44 scholarship newcomers, the sixth most in the nation. The 40 scholarship returnees are tied for the sixth fewest in the country.
• Lewis has brought along an impressive coaching staff to The Mesa, including six full-time coaches with previous coordinator experience. Three assistant coaches on the Aztec offensive staff have previous offensive coordinator experience, including pass game coordinator Lanear Sampson (2023 co-offensive coordinator/2022 pass game coordinator at Austin Peay), run game coordinator Mike Schmidt (2023 run game coordinator at Mississippi State, 2022 run game coordinator at Syracuse) and quarterbacks coach Matt Johnson (2023 offensive coordinator at Kent State). Additionally, senior offensive analyst Ryan Lindley was SDSU’s offensive coordinator last season.
• Defensively, Eric Schmidt is in his first season as SDSU’s defensive coordinator. Schmidt previously spent two seasons at Washington as its special teams coordinator and coach of the EDGE position on defense. Defensive edges coach Rob Aurich (2022-23 defensive coordinator at Idaho, 2018-21 special teams coordinator at South Dakota, 2015-17 defensive coordinator at Bemidji State) also has previous coordinator experience.
• Finally, associate head coach Zac Barton is in his first season as SDSU’s special teams coordinator after spending last season at Kansas, where he served as the Jayhawks’ special teams analyst. Prior to Kansas, Barton coached the special teams at Kent State from 2018-22 under Lewis.
• San Diego State opens Mountain West play the following week against Hawai’i at home on Oct. 5. It will be the first Aztec home game since Sept. 7 against Oregon State.