Football

San Diego State Set to Begin Conference Play Against Hawai'i

San Diego State football returns home to Snapdragon Stadium to host the University of Hawai'i to begin Mountain West play.

Media Central Opens in a new window Tickets vs. Hawai'i Opens in a new window Mini-Plans Opens in a new window Season Tickets Opens in a new window Pregame Notes Opens in a new window Tailgating Info Opens in a new window
San Diego State Set to Begin Conference Play Against Hawai'iSan Diego State Set to Begin Conference Play Against Hawai'i
Derrick Tuskan/San Diego State

San Diego State Opens Mountain West Play Against Hawai’i Saturday Night at Snapdragon Stadium

  • Coming off a tough, 22-21, loss at Central Michigan, San Diego State returns to Snapdragon Stadium to host Hawai’i in the Mountain West opener for both teams Saturday night at 5 p.m. PT.
  • Saturday will be the first home game for the Aztecs (1-3) since Sept. 7, a period of four weeks (28 days). 
  • Saturday is also the lone home game for SDSU in a span of 48 days.
  • San Diego State led for over 38 minutes at CMU last Saturday but missed two chip field goals in the fourth quarter as Chippewa kicker Tristan Mattson connected on his third field goal of the game - a 46-yarder - with five seconds remaining. 
  • The Aztecs led, 21-13, at the half in their first game in the Eastern Time Zone since 2015 as true freshman Danny O’Neil returned from missing the Sept. 14 game at California by connecting with tight end Jude Wolfe on a pair of touchdown passes following an earlier touchdown run by Marquez Cooper. 
  • SDSU, however, was held scoreless in the second half, including consecutive drives late with the missed field goals.
  • Wolfe became the fourth San Diego State tight end since at least 1996 with two touchdowns in the same game, while Louis Brown IV had a career-high 149 yards on eight catches. 
  • O’Neil had a career-high 246 passing yards and two touchdowns, while stretching his streak to 80 passes without an interception to start his collegiate career.
  • Cooper logged his 19th career 100-yard rushing game (second this season) with 111 yards on 34 carries, the second-most rushing attempts of his career.   
  • JD Coffey III had a career-high 15 tackles in his second start, while Trey White continued his monster start to the season with four tackles for loss, including three sacks. 
  • After leading the country with 39 penalties through their first three games, the Aztecs had just four accepted penalties at Central Michigan for 36 yards.
  • SDSU is 1-3 for the first time since the 2015 season. The year, San Diego State won its final 10 games of the year, including a 27-24 victory over Air Force in the Mountain West Championship game and a 42-7 win over Cincinnati in the Hawai’i Bowl. 
  • That was the first of back-to-back MW championships for the Aztecs, who have three in league history (2012, 2015 and 2016).
  • Cooper is the active leader in FBS play in both rushing yards (4,330) and all-purpose yards (4,970), and tied for second in rushing touchdowns (36), third in rushing yards per game (94.1) and sixth in total touchdowns (36).
  • Cooper, who has three straight 1,000-yard seasons (2023 at Ball State, and 2021-22 at Kent State under Sean Lewis), enters the weekend ninth in the country with 118.5 rushing yards per game.
  • Fellow captain White, meanwhile, leads the defense with eight tackles for a loss of 56 yards and six sacks for 27 yards, while adding a forced fumble and a pass breakup. The nearby Chula Vista native  leads the Mountain West in six defensive categories, including sacks per game (1.50, 2nd in FBS), total tackles for loss yards (56, 2nd in FBS), total sacks (6.0, 3rd in FBS), tackles for loss per game (2.00, T-4th in FBS), total tackles for loss (8.0, T-7th in FBS) and total sack yards (27, T-23rd in FBS). 
  • SDSU is meeting Hawai’i for the 39th time on Saturday with San Diego State owning a 25-11-2 advantage, including wins in 10 of the last 12 games and 19 of the last 23 outings dating back to 1990.
  • 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.
  • Following Saturday’s home game, San Diego State heads to Wyoming on Oct. 12 for the first time since winning its last Mountain West championship on Dec. 3, 2016. 
Media Central Pregame Notes Tickets vs. Hawai'i Mini-Plans Season Tickets Tailgating Info