San Diego State Set to Take on The Team Up North in the Battle of the Old Oil Can

The kickoff between the Aztecs (2-4, 1-1 Pac-12) and Bulldogs (4-2, 1-1 Pac-12) is set for 7:30 p.m. PT Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium.

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San Diego State Set to Take on The Team Up North in the Battle of the Old Oil CanSan Diego State Set to Take on The Team Up North in the Battle of the Old Oil Can
  • Coming off a loss at Oregon State on Saturday, San Diego State looks to get back on the winning track when it welcomes The Team Up North for the Battle of the Oil Can. The game with TTUN (Fresno State) is set to start at 7:30 p.m. PT Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium, airing on CBS Sports Network and San Diego Sports 760, the flagship radio station of San Diego State athletics.
  • The Aztecs (2-4, 1-1 Pac-12) and the Bulldogs (4-2, 1-1 Pac-12) are both coming off losses last Saturday. SDSU fell at Oregon State, 66-14, while TTUN lost a 38-31 decision to Boise State. OSU and BSU are the only two undefeated teams in Pac-12 play, each at 2-0.
  • San Diego State ran into a buzzsaw in Corvallis as the Beavers (4-2, 2-0 Pac-12) scored a touchdown on each of its first five drives and decisively won almost every statistical category for their fourth consecutive victory. OSU, which began its season with losses at Houston (currently No. 20 in the AP poll) and home against Texas Tech (currently No. 10 in the AP poll), have now outscored the opposition, 207-64, over its four-game winning streak.
  • Jaylon Hawkins continues to impress in the return game for the Aztecs. Hawkins returned a kickoff 97 yards for his third kick return touchdown of the season. He’s the first SDSU player since at least the 1996 season with a kick return score in consecutive games and the first FBS player to accomplish the feat since 2023. A redshirt freshman, Hawkins is already tied with Rashaad Penny (2015) for the most kick return TDs in SDSU single-season history.
  • Saturday’s game marks the 64th meeting between San Diego State and TTUN, with the Aztecs owning a 32-27-4 series lead.
  • The Aztecs have faced the Bulldogs more than any other opponent, while the 32 victories in the series are their most against any opponent.
  • Saturday’s game between SDSU and TTUN also marks the 13th 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.
  • In last year’s meeting in Fresno, San Diego State came away with a 23-0 victory as it handed the Bulldogs their first shutout at home since Oct. 25, 1980, and first in any game since Nov. 5, 2016, at Colorado State.
  • San Diego State recorded its seventh shutout in the series, first since 1998 and first at TTUN since 1975.
  • The 23-point margin of victory was the Aztecs’ largest since a 48-24 win in 1995 and largest in Fresno since a 29-0 victory in 1975.
  • SDSU has had the Old Oil Can trophy in its possession for the third consecutive season (the two teams did not play in 2024). Since the Old Oil Can series started in 2011, this matches the longest a team has had the trophy in its possession (TTUN had it from 2012-14).
  • San Diego State went 1-3 in its non-conference play, facing a difficult 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 5-0 is ranked 12th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and the AFCA Coaches Poll, finished with 365 yards and 28 points vs. SDSU. In their other four games this season, the Bruins are averaging 481.5 points and 42.0 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 32 career starts), WR Donovan Brown (now 21 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 6-0 this season, receiving votes in both national polls, has won 18 of its last 20 games (18-2) 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 .657 (94-49) and only trailing Boise State (.730), Memphis (.689) and Appalachian State (.687) among the non-Power 4 schools, extended its home winning streak to nine games (average winning margin of 34.2 points). It was tied for the 10th-longest active home winning streak in the country before a loss to Buffalo on Saturday. The Rockets are now 4-2.
  • The Aztecs’ three FBS non-conference opponents have combined to go 15-2, including a 12-2 record in games not involving SDSU.
  • SDSU only returned one starter from a defense that posted an FBS-leading three shutouts a year ago in 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). The one returning starter 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.
  • Linebacker Sione Hala leads the Pac-12 with 61 tackles, while linebacker Tano Letuli, the first three-time Aztec captain since current Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was a four-time captain from 2004-07, is second with 49 stops.
  • 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 four different offensive lines in six 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 before not suiting up against Texas State on Oct. 3 or at Oregon State last week.
  • Kinnard, meanwhile, had a breakout 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 most by an Aztec since Marquez Cooper had 223 vs. Texas A&M-Commerce in the 2024 opener. His 251 all-purpose yards are the sixth 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 and did not play vs. Texas State, before coming off the bench to carry 11 times for 43 yards at OSU.
  • Against Texas State on Oct. 3, Josiah Lucas, who entered the season fifth on the depth chart, became the first San Diego State true freshman running back to start (and get at least one carry) since Donnel Pumphrey in 2013. He ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the first Aztec true freshman with a 100-yard game since Pumphrey did it three times in 2013.
  • Jayden Denegal is 11-7 as the team’s starting quarterback. The two-time captain is 76-for-141 (53.9 pct.) for 787 yards and six touchdowns with five interceptions for a 107.7 pass efficiency rating.
  • SDSU has started six different wide receivers with Nathan Acevedo leading the way with 16 catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
  • Overall, San Diego State has had 34 different players earn starts through six games for various reasons, including 20 on offense and 14 on defense.