- San Diego State begins its first season of play in the Pac-12 Conference with a home game against Texas State Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PT and will air nationally on the CW, and also on San Diego Sports 760, the flagship radio station of San Diego State athletics.
- SDSU will honor its 2016 Mountain West Championship team during the game.
- The Aztecs are in their 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.
- All eight Pac-12 football teams begin conference play on Saturday.
- SDSU enters league play with a 1-3 record after playing a difficult non-conference schedule. After beating Portland State, 53-20, with the most points in Snapdragon Stadium history in the opener on Sept. 5, San Diego State fell to UCLA, 28-10, at the Rose Bowl on Sept. 12. The Aztecs held the Bruins scoreless in the first half, the first non-conference opponent to do that at the Rose Bowl since Tennessee on Sept. 9, 1989. UCLA, which at 4-0 is ranked 23rd in both the Associated Press Top 25 poll and the AFCA Coaches Poll, finished with 365 yards and 28 points vs. SDSU. In their other three games this season, the Bruins are averaging 527.0 points and 50.3 points per game.
- San Diego State then returned to Snapdragon Stadium on Sept. 19 and saw its seven-game home winning streak snapped in a 26-13 loss to James Madison. Playing without three offensive starters in LG Kalan Ellis (now 30 career starts), WR Donovan Brown (now 20 career starts) and RB Lucky Sutton (now 16 career starts), the Aztecs struggled out of the gate with two turnovers in the first half and allowing the Dukes to score on their first three possessions. After trailing, 19-0, at the half where it was outgained, 281-163, SDSU regrouped in the second half, outgaining JMU, 238-136, before eventually falling, 26-13. James Madison is 4-0 this season, receiving votes in both national polls (10 for the 36th most in the AP poll and 17 for the 38th most in the coaches poll), and has won 16 of its last 18 games (16-2) and made the College Football Playoff in 2025.
- San Diego State then made the trip to the Eastern Time Zone to Toledo, Ohio, falling to the Rockets, 41-16. Toledo, which has the 18th-best overall winning percentage in FBS play since 2015 at .660 (93-48) and only trailing Boise State (.726), Appalachian State (.692) and Memphis (.685) among the non-Power 4 schools, extended its home winning streak to nine games (average winning margin of 34.2 points), tied for the eighth-longest active home winning streak in the country. The Rockets enter MAC play with a 3-1 record.
- The Aztecs’ three FBS opponents have combined to go 11-1, including an 8-1 record in games not involving SDSU. If you add Portland State, San Diego State’s opponents are still 12-5 overall (9-4 when you throw out the results involving the Aztecs).
- Defensively, despite returning only one starter from last year’s team that had the most shutouts (3) in the country, SDSU has held its own against some of the best offenses in the country. This year, San Diego State has allowed 28.8 points per game. In the Aztecs’ opponents other games, they are averaging 40.5 points per game.
- The one starter returning - DT Malachi Finau (note that Tano 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 in the 5-2-3 defense - is tied for the seventh-fewest in the country on defense with only Colorado, Iowa State, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Toledo and Washington State returning zero defensive starters.
- Linebackers Sione Hala and three-time captain Tano Letuli lead the Aztec defense with 39 and 32 tackles, respectively. Hala leads the Pac-12 in total tackles (39) and solo stops (20).
- The SDSU defense will be challenged once again this weekend, facing a Texas State offense that is averaging 523.3 yards per game (No. 7 in the country) and 36.3 points (No. 37 in the country), including back-to-back games of 49 and 63 points, respectively.
- Offensively, San Diego State has struggled to find consistency. A year after being just one of eight schools to start the same starting five on the offensive line in every regular season game (also Duke, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Old Dominion and Texas Tech), the Aztecs have already started three different offensive lines in four games this year.
- SDSU running backs Lucky Sutton and Javion Kinnard have shown their resilience in the backfield. Last year, Sutton rushed for 1,297 yards and 10 touchdowns en route to being named a Doak Walker Award semifinalist for the most outstanding college running back. 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. He enters the weekend with 1,647 yards and 15 touchdowns on 336 attempts (4.9 avg.). Sutton is ranked 21st all-time at San Diego State in rushing yards and just outside the top 20 in rushing touchdowns. Sutton missed the James Madison game, snapping a streak of 16 consecutive starts, and then exited early at Toledo after earning the start.
- Kinnard, meanwhile, had a breakup game against James Madison on Sept. 19, running for 181 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries (5.5 avg.). The 181 rushing yards are the 15th most in a game this season and the most by an Aztec since Marquez Cooper had 223 vs. Texas A&M-Commerce in the 2024 opener. His 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. He also left the Toledo game early.
- Jayden Denegal is 10-6 as the team’s starting quarterback, just outside the top 7 for the highest winning percentages in program history (min. 15 starts). The two-time captain is 55-for-98 (56.1 pct.) for 597 yards and five touchdowns with five interceptions for a 113.9 pass efficiency rating.
- SDSU has started five different wide receivers with Nathan Acevedo leading the way with 12 catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
- During Saturday’s game, San Diego State will honor the 2016 Mountain West Championship team. The Aztecs finished the 2016 season ranked 25th in both the Associated Press Top 25 poll and the Amway Coaches Poll with an 11-3 record. It was just the second time that SDSU was ranked in the final AP poll (also 1977 (San Diego State has since been ranked in the final AP poll in 2021)). The Aztecs captured their second straight Mountain West title and third before leaving the league in 2025 with a 27-24 win over Wyoming in Laramie and then beating Houston, 34-10, in the Las Vegas Bowl. SDSU tied a school record with 11 victories (that record is now 12 set in 2021), giving San Diego State back-to-back 11-win seasons for the first time in program history. Donnel Pumphrey (offensive player of the year), Damontae Kazee (defensive player of the year) and Rashaad Penny (special teams player of the year) swept the all-conference postseason awards for a second consecutive year.
- Saturday will mark the first meeting between San Diego State and Texas State.
- The Aztecs spent the previous 27 years as founding members of the Mountain West Conference, while Texas State has spent the previous 13 years in the Sun Belt Conference.
- The Bobcats are 2-2 on the season, winning the last two games by a combined score of 112-45.
- SDSU is 30-15 all-time against teams from the state of Texas.
San Diego State Begins First Season of Pac-12 Play with Home Game Against Texas State
The Aztecs host Texas State at 7:30 p.m. PT Saturday.
