- Coming off its final idle week of the season and riding the momentum of a four-game winning streak, San Diego State travels to Fresno State with the Battle of the Old Oil Can on the line. The game is set to start at 12:30 p.m. PT Saturday, airing on FS1 and San Diego Sports 760, the flagship radio station of San Diego State athletics.
- The Aztecs (5-1, 2-0 MW) and Bulldogs (5-2, 2-1 MW) are both coming off idle weeks. This is the first time SDSU has played a regular-season game where both teams didn’t have a game the week before since Sept. 20, 2014 at Oregon State.
- At 5-1, San Diego State is off to its best start since the 2021 team started 7-0 en route to a 12-2 season with its most wins in program history. That 2021 squad finished 25th in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll.
- The four-game winning streak for the Aztecs is tied for the 12th-longest active streak in the country.
- SDSU is receiving votes in both the AP Top 25 poll and the Coaches poll for the second straight week. San Diego State has seven votes in the AP poll, the 31st most in the country. In the coaches poll, the Aztecs have four votes, tied for the 34th most.
- With a combined .769 winning percentage between SDSU and FS, this is the highest combined winning percentage San Diego State has been involved in (min. 10 GP) since playing No. 24 UTSA in the 2021 Frisco Bowl. In that game, the Aztecs entered with a 11-2 record, while the Road Runners were 12-1 for a combined 88.5 winning percentage. SDSU won that game, 38-24.
- Saturday’s game between SDSU and FS also marks the 12th in the Battle of the Oil Can series. The extra incentive started in the 2011 game, where the Aztecs won, 35-28, at Qualcomm Stadium. The "Battle for the Oil Can" was coined as the result of a contest that was run jointly by the Fresno State and San Diego State Alumni Associations in the fall of 2011. Entrants were asked to suggest a name for the rivalry game and as well as a trophy to commemorate it. Of the 65 entries received, one stretched back into history telling about the discovery of an oil can from Fresno (circa 1935) that was supposedly recovered during a San Diego State campus building project.
- "The oil can likely came from a time when Aztec and Bulldog fans traveled to football games between the two schools via the old, twisting, precipitous Grapevine section of Highway 99 over Tejon Pass," said Jacquelyn K. Glasener, executive director of the Fresno State Alumni Association.
- The alumni associations agreed on the winning entry, the "Battle for the Oil Can," and purchased an antique oil can to be the basis of the trophy, which will be awarded to the winner of this year's game.
- "Cars in those days carried extra oil and water to be sure they could make it through difficult trips," added Jim Herrick, assistant vice president of alumni engagement.
- Amazingly, this is the sixth time that the Aztecs (5-1) have been at least 5-1 through six games over the last 10 seasons. Out of the five previous times it started with at least a 5-1 record, SDSU has four 10-wins seasons, including 2016 (started 5-1, finished 11-3), 2017 (started 6-0, finished 10-3), 2019 (started 5-1, finished 10-3) and 2021 (started 6-0, finished 12-2). In all five previous instances, San Diego State made a bowl game that year, and both the 2016 and 2021 teams finished ranked 25th in the final AP Top 25 poll.
- At 5-1, SDSU has already surpassed its win total from the first season under head coach Sean Lewis in 2024, where it went 3-9 with a six-game losing steak to close the season.
- The Aztecs are coming off a 44-10 victory at Nevada on Oct. 11 where they scored on a 75-yard punt return by Jordan Napier and a 45-yard interception return by Chris Johnson in the first quarter, had two touchdown passes by Jordan Denegal in the second quarter and opened up a 44-0 lead after three quarters before resting the majority of their starters in the fourth for a second consecutive game.
- QB Jayden Denegal was 14-for-17 for 205 yards and the two touchdowns. His 239.2 pass efficiency rating in October is the highest in the country (min. 30 attempts). On the season, he is 83-for-126 for 1,097 yards and seven touchdowns, against just two interceptions.
- Napier caught five passes for 110 yards and had a punt return touchdown, SDSU’s first since Sept. 10, 2022 and longest since Dec. 5, 2020. He has 37 catches for 553 yards and two touchdowns on the season, ranking ninth in the country in receiving yards per game (92.17) and tied for 17th in receptions per game (6.17). Napier was named to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List for the most outstanding receiver in FBS on Oct. 15, the first Aztec to make the list since Ezell Ruffin in 2014.
- RB Lucky Sutton ran for 81 yards and a touchdown. On the season, Sutton has 531 yards and six touchdowns on 105 attempts (5.1 avg.) in his first career six starts. He’s second in the Mountain West in rushing attempts per game (17.50, 13th in FBS), third in rushing yards per game (88.50, 23rd in FBS) and tied for fourth in rushing touchdowns (6, T-40th in FBS).
- After scoring just 19 points in their first two road games this season, the Aztecs scored 44 at Nevada.
- SDSU has consecutive 40-point games for the first time since 2017 (52 at San Jose State on Nov. 4 and 42 vs. Nevada on Nov. 18).
- K Gabe Plascencia tied a career high with three field goals to stretch his San Diego State record to 22 consecutive makes. The 22 straight field goals is the longest active streak in the country and tied for the longest in MW history. Plascencia hasn’t missed a field goal since Aug. 31, 2024. On Saturday at Fresno State, that will be 420 days since his last missed field goal.
- Plascencia is 27-for-28 on field goal attempts for his career. The 96.4 percentage is a program record and is first among active FBS kickers.
- Through six games, the San Diego State defense leads the Mountain West in scoring defense (12.17, 5th in FBS), first down defense (89, 6th in FBS), total defense (259.67, 9th in FBS), rushing defense (95.67, 16th in FBS), passing defense (164.00, 16th in FBS) and red zone defense (71.43, 16th in FBS).
- The Aztecs have allowed just 73 points, including 36 of those at Washington State on Sept. 6 and 24 on Oct. 3 vs. Colorado State.
- LB Owen Chambliss leads the San Diego State defense with 52 tackles, including five tackles for loss and two sacks. CB Chris Johnson has 32 tackles, three interceptions and six pass breakups, while LB Tano Letuli has 28 tackles in four games and Trey White has 27 tackles with six tackles for loss, four sacks and nine quarterback hurries.
- On July 1, 2026, the Aztecs officially become a member of the new Pac-12 along with league stalwarts Oregon State and Washington State, as well as Boise State, Colorado State, Gonzaga (for men’s basketball only), Fresno State, Texas State and Utah State.
- SDSU is 64-34 (.653) in league play since the current 12-team Mountain West conference began play in 2013 (includes championship and bowl games), which ranks as the second-best mark in the league behind Boise State (85-18, .825). Utah State (third, .592), Fresno State (fourth, .584) and Colorado State (sixth, .495) each will join San Diego State in the new Pac-12 next season.
- Saturday’s game marks the 63rd meeting between the Aztecs and Bulldogs, with SDSU owning a 31-27-4 series lead.
- San Diego State has faced the Bulldogs more than any other opponent, while the 31 victories in the series are its most against any opponent.
- FS had won five straight games before falling at Colorado State, 49-21, on its last outing on Oct. 10. Saturday will be 15 days since Fresno State’s last game.
San Diego State Set to Take on TTUN in the Battle of the Old Oil Can
Aztecs off to best start since 2021 season.
