Football

San Diego State Wraps Up Non-Conference Play Saturday Afternoon at Toledo

San Diego State travels to Toledo for a noon ET (9 a.m. PT) start in its final non-conference game of the season.

Weekly Notes Media Central
San Diego State Wraps Up Non-Conference Play Saturday Afternoon at ToledoSan Diego State Wraps Up Non-Conference Play Saturday Afternoon at Toledo
Derrick Tuskan/San Diego State
  • San Diego State looks to get back to its winning ways when it wraps up non-conference play Saturday afternoon at Toledo. Kickoff is set for noon ET (9 a.m. PT) and will air nationally on CBS Sports Network, and also on San Diego Sports 760, the flagship radio station of San Diego State athletics.
  • The Aztecs (1-2) are coming off a disappointing 26-13 loss to James Madison on Saturday night, snapping a seven-game home winning streak (T-14th longest active streak in FBS).
  • Playing without three offensive starters in LG Kalan Ellis (29 career starts), WR Donovan Brown (19 career starts) and RB Lucky Sutton (15 career starts), SDSU struggled out of the gate both offensively and defensively.
  • San Diego State uncharacteristically committed two turnovers in the first half - both interceptions thrown by QB Jayden Denegal - and allowed the Dukes to score on their first three possessions.
  • The Aztecs trailed, 19-0, at the half, at the time where they were outgained, 281-163.
  • SDSU regrouped in the second half, outgaining a JMU team that came into the weekend as winners of 14 of its last 16 games, 238-136, before eventually falling, 26-13.
  • Sophomore Javion Kinnard had a breakup game in the James Madison loss. Starting for the first time at San Diego State with Lucky Sutton out with an injury, Kinnard ran for 181 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries (5.5 avg.). He came into the game with 183 career yards and no rushing touchdowns on 32 attempts (5.7 avg.).
  • Kinnard added a career-high-tying four receptions for a team-high 70 receiving yards.
  • Kinnard’s 251 all-purpose yards were the fifth most in a game this season, most by a SDSU player in Snapdragon Stadium history, second most in Snapdragon Stadium (Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty had 254 on Sept. 22, 2023) and most by an Aztec since Rashaad Penny had 283 in the 2017 Armed Forces Bowl against Army West Point.
  • Denegal overcame a slow start by going 18-for-33 for 209 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He dropped to 10-5 all-time as SDSU’s starting quarterback, the sixth-best record in its Division I history (since 1969).
  • Sutton will look to return on Saturday vs. the Rockets (2-1), who are coming off a 49-48 overtime victory over Temple on Sept. 19.
  • Sutton enters the weekend with 1,636 career yards and 15 touchdowns on 328 attempts (5.0 avg.). Sutton is 21st in rushing all-time at San Diego State, 13 yards away from passing Art Preston (1949-51) for 20th.
  • Sutton has been named to three preseason NFCAA watch lists, including the Maxwell Award (college player of the year), Walter Camp Player of the Year and the Doak Walker Award (most outstanding college running back).
  • Sutton has not fumbled the ball (fumble or lost fumble) in 333 career touches (328 rushes, five catches).
  • Aztec linebackers Tano Letuli and Sione Hala had 10 tackles apiece to pace the defense, while Djibril Rahman came up with a pair of sacks.
  • Saturday’s game pits two of the best programs over the last 11-plus seasons. Since 2015, the Rockets are 92-48 (.657) for the 18th-best winning percentage in FBS play. Over that same span, the Aztecs are 89-53 (.627) for the 26th-best winning percentage. SEE CHART ON PAGE 3
  • SDSU is in its first season as a Pac-12 Conference member, officially joining on July 1, 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. Saturday will be the final non-conference game before San Diego State starts Pac-12 play at home on Oct. 3 vs. Texas State.
  • Hala leads the new-look San Diego State defense under first-year defensive coordinator Demetrius Sumler with 29 tackles.
  • Letuli, the first three-time Aztec captain since Kevin O’Connell (current Minnesota Vikings head coach) was a four-time captain from 2004-07, is second with 25 stops, while safety Josh Hunter has 20 tackles and is the most experienced player on the roster with 37 consecutive games played (longest streak on the team) and 41 overall (No. 2 on the team).
  • The Aztecs return only one starter - DT Malachi Finau - on defense from last season’s team, which recorded an FBS-leading three shutouts. Note that Letuli started six games last season, but Owen Chambliss (13 starts) and Mister Williams (8 starts) are listed as the starters since they had the most at the linebacker position. Only six teams in the country returned fewer starters on defense according to a recent athletic communications survey, all with zero, including Colorado, Iowa State, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Toledo and Washington State.
  • Saturday will mark the second meeting on the gridiron between Toledo and San Diego State.
  • This game was originally scheduled for the 2020 season but was pushed back because of the COVID pandemic.
  • The Aztecs won the first meeting by a 17-14 score in the third game played at Snapdragon Stadium on Sept. 24, 2022.
  • SDSU is 3-13 all-time in its Division I era (since 1969) when playing in the Eastern Time Zone.
  • The Aztecs are 11-2-1 against current members of the Mid-American Conference and 12-2-1 vs. teams that were members of the MAC at the time of the game.
  • San Diego State is currently in a streak of playing a school from the MAC in six straight seasons. The streak started with a 17-14 Aztec win vs. Toledo on Sept. 4, 2022, continued with a 20-13 win over Ohio on Aug. 26, 2023, then a 22-21 loss at Central Michigan on Sept. 28, 2024, and finally a 6-3 win at Northern Illinois last season (Sept. 27). The streak continues Saturday in the third of four straight seasons of SDSU playing a road game at a MAC school, including 2024 at Central Michigan, 2025 at Northern Illinois, Saturday at Toledo and Sept. 3, 2027 at Eastern Michigan.
  • SDSU has one more home game on future schedules against MAC schools, including Sept. 21, 2030 against Central Michigan (the back half of the home-and-home agreement with CMU).
  • San Diego State head coach Sean Lewis spent five seasons as the head coach in the MAC at Kent State, where he went 0-3 vs. the Rockets from his time in Kent from 2018-22.