Football

Aztecs Set to Meet No. 25/23/rv North Texas in the Isleta New Mexico Bowl

Looking for its sixth double-digit win season since 2015, 10th in its Division I history (since 1969) and 13th in program history (since 1921), San Diego State travels to Albuquerque to meet North Texas in the Isleta New Mexico Bowl on Saturday.

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Aztecs Set to Meet No. 25/23/rv North Texas in the Isleta New Mexico BowlAztecs Set to Meet No. 25/23/rv North Texas in the Isleta New Mexico Bowl
Derrick Tuskan/San Diego State
  • Looking for its sixth double-digit win season since 2015, 10th in its Division I history (since 1969) and 13th in program history (since 1921), San Diego State travels to Albuquerque to meet North Texas in the Isleta New Mexico Bowl. The game is set for a 3:45 p.m. MT (2:45 p.m. PT) kick on Saturday, Dec. 27, airing on ESPN and San Diego Sports 760, the flagship radio station of San Diego State athletics.
  • The game features two of the best teams in the nation in the Aztecs (9-3) and Mean Green (11-2).
  • The 20 combined victories for the New Mexico Bowl are tied for the most among the non-College Football Playoff bowl games, joining the Pop-Tarts Bowl, which features 11-2 Brigham Young and 9-3 Georgia Tech).
  • SDSU is receiving a lone vote in the Coaches Poll, while UNT is 25th in the final College Football Playoff rankings, 23rd in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and receiving votes in the Coaches Poll.
  • The game matches one of the best defenses in the country (San Diego State) with one of the top offenses (North Texas). The Aztecs are ranked fifth in scoring defense (12.6 PPG), third in pass efficiency defense (99.1), fifth in pass defense (157.0) and seventh in total defense (266.7). The Mean Green, meanwhile, are first in scoring offense (44.8), third in pass efficiency offense (174.3), second in pass offense (323.2) and first in total offense (504.3).
  • SDSU finished with a 6-2 mark in Mountain West play. San Diego State tied with Boise State, New Mexico and UNLV atop the league standings, but was left out of a MW Championship appearance because of computer rankings. BS, which the Aztecs beat, 17-7, in the regular season, captured the MW Championship with a 38-21 win over UNLV.
  • SDSU is looking for its first double-digit win season since winning a school-record 12 games in 2021 (12-2). San Diego State also has at least 10 wins in a season in 1951 (10-0-1), 1966 (11-0), 1967 (10-1), 1969 (11-0), 1972 (10-1), 1976 (10-1), 1977 (10-1), 2015 (11-3), 2016 (11-3), 2017 (10-3), 2019 (10-3) and the mentioned 2021 (12-2).
  • Only 21 teams have more victories than the Aztecs’ 11 (as of Dec. 16).
  • SDSU has already won six more games than last year. The six-win improvement for San Diego State in regular-season play from last year (3-9) to this season (9-3) matches the largest win increase by the Aztecs in program history (since 1921), joining a six-win improvement from 1960 (1-6-1) to 1961 (7-2-1) (note that the COVID shortened season improvement from 4-4 in 2020 to 12-2 in 2021 is not included).
  • SDSU is playing in its first bowl game since 2022, but its 13th in 15 chances since 2010 (San Diego State withdrew from consideration in a 4-4 COVID season in 2020). The Aztecs played in every bowl game from 2010-19, and then in 2021 and 2022 before going 4-8 in 2023 and 3-9 last year.
  • Only 17 teams have played in more bowl games than SDSU’s 13 since 2010, including Alabama (16), Clemson (16), Georgia (16), Oklahoma (16), Boise State (15), LSU (15), Ohio State (15), Oregon (15), Brigham Young (14), Louisville (14), Michigan (14), Mississippi State (14), Notre Dame (14), Oklahoma State (14), Texas A&M (14), Washington (14) and Wisconsin (14).
  • The Aztecs are 10-10 all-time in bowl games, including a 7-9 mark in their Division I era.
  • SDSU has played in the New Mexico Bowl once before, beating Central Michigan, 48-11, in 2019.
  • San Diego State finished with a 6-0 season at home, its first undefeated home campaign since 1996 and sixth in its Division I history. The Aztecs outscored the opposition, 187-41, at home in the regular season.
  • In SDSU’s nine wins this year, it’s outscoring the opposition, 260-54, (28.9-6.0).
  • San Diego State has wins against Boise State and Fresno State in the same season (note that San Diego State didn’t start playing BS until it joined the Mountain West in 2011) for the first time. The only other teams to beat both Boise State and Fresno State in the same season in their MW era are Air Force (2015 and 2016) and Utah State (2015).
  • Through 12 games, the San Diego State defense leads the Mountain West in passing yards allowed per attempt (5.1, 1st in FBS), rushing touchdowns allowed (5, T-2nd in FBS), pass efficiency rating (99.06, 3rd in FBS), points allowed per game (12.62, 5th in FBS), passing yards allowed per game (157.00, 5th in FBS), yards allowed per play (4.12, 5th in FBS), first downs allowed (181, 5th in FBS), total touchdowns allowed (18, T-5th in FBS), pass completion percentage (53.3, 6th in FBS), yards allowed per game (266.69, 7th in FBS), passing touchdowns allowed (11, T-10th in FBS), third down percentage (30.77, T-12th in FBS), rushing yards allowed per carry (3.22, 16th in FBS) and rushing yards allowed per game (109.67, 21st in FBS).
  • The Aztecs have allowed just 151 points (12.6 avg.), including 38 of those at Hawai’i on Nov. 8 and 36 at Washington State. In the other 10 games, SDSU has allowed just 77 points total (7.7 avg.).
  • CB Chris Johnson was recently named to six All-America teams, including first-team nods by Pro Football Focus (Dec. 10), Bleacher Report (Dec. 11) and Sports Info Solutions (11), and second-team picks by Pro Football & Sports Network (Dec. 10), Associated Press (Dec. 15) and The Sporting News (Dec. 17). Johnson completed one of the best regular seasons defensively in program history, registering 49 tackles (36 solo), four interceptions for 146 yards and two touchdowns, nine pass breakups, three tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and two quarterback hurries. A semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award for the best defensive back in the country and the Mountain West Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Johnson is tied for the top-graded cornerback in the country with a 92.0 defensive grade per Pro Football Focus and has the second-highest pass coverage grade (92.4), both with a minimum of just 10 defensive snaps. According to PFF, when targeted against Johnson this year, receivers are 18-for-45 (44.2 pct.) for 185 yards, four interceptions and no touchdowns, for a defensive pass efficiency rating of 56.76.
  • LB Owen Chambliss leads the Aztecs in tackles (106, No. 2 is 67), solo tackles (61, No. 2 is 38) and assisted tackles (45, No. 2 is 31). He’s also added 9 ½ tackles for 63 yards of loss, four sacks for 44 yards, five pass breakups, an interception and seven quarterback hurries.
  • EDGE Trey White (49 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 7 sacks) joined Johnson and Chambliss on the all-Mountain West first team from the defensive side of the ball.
  • RB Lucky Sutton leads the Mountain West with 1,237 yards and 103.1 rushing yards per game, to go along with 10 touchdowns on 239 carries (5.2 avg.). Sutton is the 20th different Aztec with a 1,000-yard rushing season (28th time overall). He has six 100-yard games, including two 150-yard games, in his first career 12 starts this year.
  • Sutton was joined on the all-MW first team offense by C Ross Ulugalu-Maseuli
  • QB Jayden Denegal has thrown for 1,807 yards and nine touchdowns, completing 143 of 243 passes with eight interceptions for a 126.9 pass efficiency rating. He’s added four rushing touchdowns.
  • Three starters are out for the season because of injury, including all-MW second-team WR and all-MW first-team PR Jordan Napier (48 rec., 629 yds., 2 TD | 22 PR, 193 yds., 1 TD), WR Jacob Bostick (11 rec., 157 yds., 3 TD) and LB Tano Letuli (30 tackles, 1 INT for a TD).
  • K Gabe Plascencia, who is 19 for 22 on field goal attempts this season for a .864 field goal percentage and was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, currently has the highest field goal percentage (.900) in NCAA FBS history (NCAA’s minimum of 1.2 field goals per game and 30 made field goals). He made the all-MW second team along with P Hunter Green (46.8 avg., FBS-leading 8 60-plus-yard punts).
  • 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 68-36 (.654) 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 (89-20, .815), Fresno State (third, .585), Utah State (fourth, .583) and Colorado State (sixth, .470) each will join San Diego State in the new Pac-12 next season.
  • The Dec. 27 game will be the third latest in the calendar the Aztecs have ever played, only behind Dec. 30 games vs. Iowa (1986 Holiday Bowl) and Tulsa (1991 Freedom Bowl).
  • The 29 days between games for SDSU (Nov. 28 to Dec. 27) matches the third-longest stretch in between games for San Diego State inside a same season, only trailing a 31-day stretch in 1986 (Nov. 29 to Dec. 30) and a 30-day stretch in 1991 (Nov. 30 to Dec. 30) (bowl games listed above).
  • This is the first time in school history that the Aztecs will play consecutive games at the same venue in a road or neutral setting. SDSU lost to New Mexico, 23-17, in double-overtime in the last game of the regular season on Nov. 28.
  • San Diego State and North Texas are meeting for the eighth time with the Aztecs owning a 6-1 series lead.
  • SDSU started playing Division I football in 1969 and played the Mean Green the first seven seasons of its DI era, but haven’t played one another over the last 50 seasons.
  • On game day on Dec. 28, it will be 18,361 days since the two teams last met on Sept. 20, 1975.
  • This marks just the third time in school history that San Diego State has faced a team that has been a member of the American Athletic Conference at game time. The Aztecs won both of the previous meetings, beating Cincinnati, 42-7, in the 2015 Hawai‘i Bowl and downing Houston, 34-10, in the 2016 Las Vegas Bowl. Both Cincinnati and Houston now play in the Big 12.
  • SDSU is 15-5 all-time against the current configuration of the AAC.
  • San Diego State is 1-1 vs. current members of the American Athletic in bowl games, falling to Army West Point, 42-35, in the 2017 Armed Forces Bowl and beating No. 25 UTSA, 38-24, in the 2021 Frisco Bowl.

North Texas is coming off a 34-21 loss to Tulane in the AAC Championship game on Dec. 5, snapping a six-game winning streak.