San Diego State Looks to Stay Undefeated in Mountain West Play at Boise State
- Coming off a tough 29-26 loss to now 7-1 and 22nd-ranked Washington State on Saturday night, San Diego State travels to Boise, Idaho, to take on No. 15/19 Boise State on short rest for a Friday night game. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. MT (5 p.m. PT).
- The Aztecs (3-4, 2-0 MW) and the Broncos (6-1, 3-0 MW) are two of the three undefeated teams left in Mountain West play along with Colorado State (5-3, 3-0 MW). See page 21 for the complete standings.
- BS will be SDSU’s third opponent out of its last four games that has had more rest than San Diego State. The Aztecs beat both Hawai’i (Oct. 5) and Wyoming (Oct. 12) off its idle (bye) weeks, while Boise State beat UNLV, 29-24, in Las Vegas last Friday night.
- SDSU has played in four consecutive games decided by three points or fewer for the first time in its Division I history (since 1969).
- The streak of playing in games decided by three points or fewer is the longest streak in Mountain West history (since 1999), the longest active streak in the country and matches the longest streak since a five-game stretch for Brigham Young in 2016.
- San Diego State’s last four games have been decided by a total of 10 points. The Aztecs fell at Central Michigan, 22-21, on a last-minute field goal on Sept. 28, then rallied in the fourth quarter for consecutive 27-24 wins over Hawai’i and Wyoming. That was the first time in SDSU’s Division I history that it had back-to-back victories by the same score (in this case 27-24). San Diego State then fell to the Cougars, 29-26, on Saturday night.
- Total score over the four-game stretch: SDSU - 101, SDSU’s opponents - 99.
- Entering Saturday’s game as 17.5-point underdogs, San Diego State led, 26-14, after Marquez Cooper scored his second touchdown of the game with 13:39 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Aztecs, however, surrendered two fourth-quarter touchdowns, allowing the Cougars to escape.
- SDSU outgained the high-powered WSU offense, 414-371, and battled through numerous injuries throughout the game.
- Cooper rushed for 78 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns, marking his 13th career game with multiple scores, while Ja’Shaun Poke caught 10 passes for 80 yards.
- Cooper is the active leader in FBS play in both rushing yards (4,604) and all-purpose yards (5,278), and tied for first in rushing touchdowns (41), third in rushing yards per game (94.0, min. 25 GP) and tied for third in total touchdowns (41).
- Cooper, who has three straight 1,000-yard seasons (2023 at Ball State, and 2021-22 at Kent State under Sean Lewis), has rushed for 748 yards on the year in seven games (106.9 YPG) with eight touchdowns.
- Danny O’Neil, the first true freshman to start a season-opener in SDSU’s Division I history (since 1969), is 109-for-174 for the year with 1,240 yards, six touchdowns and just two interceptions.
- EDGE Trey White is off to a historic start to the season, on pace to challenge the FBS’s record for the most sacks per game in a season (NCAA defensive stats go back to 2000). White is averaging 1.64 sacks per game, just behind the NCAA FBS record for most sacks per game in a season behind Arizona State’s Terrell Suggs (1.71 in 2002) and Louisville’s Elvis Dumervil (1.67 in 2005), and just ahead of Syracuse’s Dwight Freeney (1.46 in 2001).
- White leads the country in total sacks (11.5), sacks per game (1.64), total tackles for loss (15.5), tackles for loss per game (2.21) and tackles for loss yards (92), while also ranking third in total sack yards (61).
- White is already tied for sixth in SDSU single-season history with 11.5 sacks along with current Kansas City Chief Cameron Thomas (11.5 in 2021), only trailing Mike Douglass (21.0 in 1976), Brett Faryniarz (13.0 in 1987), Andy Coviello (12.5 in 1991) and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (12.0 in 1997 and 1999).
- Earlier this month, White was added to the Bednarik Award Watch List for the most outstanding defensive player and was named to five midseason All-America teams.
- As a team, the Aztecs are tied for third in the country with 4.00 sacks per game. White is averaging more sacks per game (1.64) than 43 other TEAMS, including Brigham Young, Oklahoma State, Utah and Wisconsin, among others.
- San Diego State started the season with a 1-3 record, its first 1-3 start since the 2015 campaign. That year, the Aztecs won their 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).
- SDSU has had much success playing at Boise State on “The Blue,” going 2-2 with second-half leads in all four meetings.
- Amazingly, San Diego State is 2-2 all-time at Boise State, while the rest of the current Mountain West teams are a combined 10-96 (.094).
- Since the Broncos joined the MW in 2021, they are 2-2 at home against the Aztecs and 67-12 (.848) against everyone else.
- SDSU is one of only three active FBS teams with a .500 record at BS, joining North Texas and Washington State. All three teams are 2-2 vs. Boise State at Albertsons Stadium.
- San Diego State and the Broncos are meeting for the 10th time on Friday with BS holding a 5-4 series lead.
- This is the sixth time in 10 all-time meetings that one of the schools has been nationally ranked. The nationally-ranked team was 2-3 in previous games.
- Since the first meeting on Nov. 19, 2011 (an Aztec 52-35 loss), each team in the series has traded two-game win streaks. SDSU won in both 2012 and 2013, Boise State won in 2014 and 2017, San Diego State won in 2018 and 2021, and Boise State won in 2022 and 2023.
- Both the Aztecs and Broncos are joining the new-look Pac-12 and will make their debut in the league for the 2026 campaign.
- Following Friday’s game at BS, SDSU will play host to New Mexico the following Friday (Nov. 8).