Football

San Diego State Welcomes New Mexico for Second Straight Friday Night Game

The Aztecs welcome New Mexico on Friday night.

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San Diego State Welcomes New Mexico for Second Straight Friday Night GameSan Diego State Welcomes New Mexico for Second Straight Friday Night Game
Justin Truong
  • San Diego State returns home to face New Mexico on Friday night at Snapdragon Stadium. Kickoff for the Aztecs (3-5, 2-1 MW) and Lobos (3-6, 2-3 MW) is set for 7:30 p.m. PT.
  • SDSU is coming off a 56-24 loss at No. 15/19 Boise State last Friday night. San Diego State spotted the Broncos 28 points before scoring on a Gabe Plascencia 27-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
  • True freshman quarterback Danny O’Neil threw a pair of 30-yard touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to Jordan Napier and Mekhi Shaw.
  • San Diego State was 6-for-6 on fourth down in the game, matching the most conversions in FBS play without a fail since 2007. Four of the six fourth down conversions came on one drive alone, ending with the Napier 30-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-5.
  • Marquez Cooper rushed for 94 yards on just 16 attempts (5.9 avg.), while Jordan Napier had a game-high eight catches for 79 yards and a touchdown.
  • Cooper is the active leader in FBS play in rushing yards (4,698), all-purpose yards (5,379) and rushing touchdowns (42), and third in rushing yards per game (94.0, min. 25 GP) and total touchdowns (42).
  • 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 842 yards on the year in eight games (105.3 YPG) with nine touchdowns.
  • The Aztecs are the only team in the country with only one player scoring a rushing touchdown.
  • O’Neil, the first true freshman to start a season-opener in SDSU’s Division I history (since 1969), is 123-for-204 for the year with 1,395 yards, eight touchdowns and just four 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 1.44 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), Louisville’s Elvis Dumervil (1.67 in 2005) and Syracuse’s Dwight Freeney (1.46 in 2001).
  • White leads the country in sacks per game (1.44), tackles for loss per game (2.06), total tackles for loss (16.5) and total tackles for loss yards (94), and also ranks second in total sacks (11.5) and fifth 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 fourth in the country with 3.63 sacks per game. White is averaging more sacks per game (1.44) than 17 other TEAMS.
  • 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).
  • Friday marks the 45th meeting between New Mexico and San Diego State, with the Aztecs owning a 29-15 series advantage.
  • SDSU has won the last nine games against New Mexico, which is tied for its longest active winning streak against any team. Ironically, San Diego State also has a nine-game winning streak against New Mexico State.
  • The Aztecs started their winning streak against the Lobos with a 23-20 victory on Oct. 31, 2009. This was after SDSU lost eight consecutive games to UNM, including a 70-7 decision on Oct. 18, 2018 in Albuquerque.
  • San Diego State has scored 30-plus points in four straight games in the series and in seven of the last nine meetings.
  • The Aztecs own a 14-8 lifetime record against New Mexico in San Diego. SDSU has won its last four home games in the series, dating back to a 20-17 Lobo win on Oct. 31, 2009.
  • Friday will be the first game between the two schools in San Diego since Nov. 24, 2017 when the Aztecs won, 35-10.
  • Following Friday’s game against the Lobos, SDSU travels to UNLV the following Saturday (Nov. 16).