- Coming off a 56-49 shootout loss at Colorado State, San Diego State looks to continue its success at Snapdragon Stadium when it plays host to Washington State on Halloween this Saturday. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. PT with the game airing on CBS Sports Network and San Diego Sports 760, the flagship radio station of San Diego State athletics.
- The Aztecs (3-5) enter the weekend fourth in the Pac-12 standings with a 2-2 league record, trailing only Boise State (3-0), Oregon State (3-0) and Texas State (2-1), the latter team which SDSU beat, 31-29, on Oct. 3.
- Saturday marks the ninth consecutive week San Diego State has played in a game. The Aztecs and Cougars (1-7, 0-4 Pac-12) are two of just 10 teams in FBS play (also Bowling Green, California, Indiana, James Madison, Kent State, Old Dominion, Pittsburgh and Western Michigan) who will play this weekend and are playing for a ninth consecutive week (note that Eastern Michigan played nine straight weeks to start the season - including week zero - but is off this week).
- Out of those 10 schools, only SDSU, WSU, Bowling Green and Kent State have played eight straight Saturdays without an additional day of rest.
- This is a stretch of two home games and no road contests in a 27-day stretch for San Diego State. The Aztecs are off the week of Nov. 7 before hosting Utah State on Nov. 14 and then traveling to Boise State on Nov. 21 for the Pac-12 finale.
- SDSU is 9-1 at home over the past two seasons at Snapdragon Stadium, including a 3-1 mark this year. Only seven schools - Brigham Young, James Madison, New Mexico, Ohio State, Ohio, Ole Miss and Texas Tech - are undefeated at home since 2025 in FBS play. San Diego State is one of 20 teams with one loss at home since 2025.
- The Aztecs are coming off a breakout offensive game at CSU on Saturday night. In a matchup that featured a combined 1,114 yards and 105 points, the most in a Division I game in program history and tied for the most in a game between two FBS teams this season, SDSU came out on the short end of the result.
- San Diego State’s 49 points were its most against an FBS opponent since beating San Jose State, 52-7, on Nov. 4, 2017, while its 565 total yards of offense were its most since totaling 570 at Utah State on Oct. 31, 2020.
- Making his first collegiate start with 15 pass attempts for his career, redshirt freshman Stone Saunders threw for 369 yards and two touchdowns, completing 23 of 33 passes with a pair of interceptions
- Saunders’ 369 yards were the most by an Aztec since Ryan Lindley threw for 413 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette in the 2011 New Orleans Bowl and the most in a SDSU road game since Lindley passed for 459 at Colorado State on Oct. 24, 2009.
- Additionally, the 369 yards were the most by a SDSU quarterback making his debut on the road in SDSU’s Division I history (since 1969) and the fourth most by a SDSU freshman in program history.
- Saunders became the first Aztec to throw for 300 yards since Jalen Mayden passed for 309 vs. Middle Tennessee in the 2022 Hawai’i Bowl and first in a road game since Quinn Kaehler had a 341-yard game at North Carolina on Sept. 6, 2014.
- The bulk of the passing yards went to fellow redshirt freshman Jaylon Hawkins, who caught six passes for a career-high 164 yards and a touchdown. The 164 yards were the most by an Aztec since Jesse Matthews had 175 against UTSA in the 2021 Frisco Bowl. He scored a touchdown for the fifth straight game.
- SDSU also nearly had a pair of 100-yard rushers as Lucky Sutton ran for 98 yards and two touchdowns on 22 attempts (4.5 avg.), while former Ram Javion Kinnard rushed for 94 yards and two scores on 10 carries (9.4 avg.). It was the first time that San Diego State had a pair of players with multiple rushing touchdowns since Rashaad Penny (3) and Juwan Washington (2) combined for five scores at San Jose State on Nov. 4, 2017.
- The Aztecs couldn’t slow down the vaunted CSU offense in a game where SDSU was 8 of 13 on third down and converted its only fourth-down try, while the Rams were 9-for-12 on third down and 2-for-2 on fourth down. There were only six penalties in the game (four for San Diego State) and three punts (two for the Aztecs).
- The 1-2 punch of Kinnard (526 yards, 3 TD) and Sutton (358 yards, 5 TD) have combined for 884 yards and eight touchdowns on the season.
- Sutton entered 2026 on 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, but missed 3 ½ games because of an injury. Since returning on Oct. 17 vs. Fresno State, Sutton has 208 yards and two touchdowns on 40 attempts (5.2 avg.) over the two games.
- For his career, Sutton has rushed for 1,855 yards and 17 touchdowns on 376 attempts (4.9 avg.). Sutton is ranked 18th all-time at SDSU in rushing yards and tied for 15th in rushing touchdowns.
- 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 five different offensive lines in eight games this year for various reasons.
- Jayden Denegal is 12-7 as the team’s starting quarterback. The two-time captain is 83-for-151 (55.0 pct.) for 899 yards and seven touchdowns with five interceptions for a 113.7 pass efficiency rating but missed the Colorado State game with an injury.
- SDSU has started six different wide receivers with Nathan Acevedo leading the way with 21 catches (for 235 yards and two touchdowns), while Hawkins has 18 receptions for team highs of 322 yards and three receiving touchdowns.
- Hawkins has also been electric in the kick return game with three touchdowns and a 35.1 average. Hawkins’ three kickoff return touchdowns this year are already tied with Rashaad Penny (2025) for the most in San Diego State single-season history and are the most in a season in FBS play since Kentucky’s Barion Brown had three in 2023, and match the most in FBS play since Marcus Green (Louisiana-Monroe) and Tony Pollard (Memphis) each had four in the 2017 season.
- With the three receiving touchdowns, Hawkins has scored on six of the 36 times he has touched the ball this season, averaging 26.3 yards per touch.
- 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 country with 84 tackles, while 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 68 stops.
- SDSU’s defense has been on the field for 624 snaps, easily the most in the country (No. 2 is Tulsa with 586).
- 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 7-0 is ranked seventh in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, finished with 365 yards and 28 points vs. SDSU. In their other six games this season, the Bruins are averaging 458.8 points and 35.5 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 34 career starts), WR Donovan Brown (now 21 career starts) and RB Lucky Sutton (now 18 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 7-1 this season, receiving votes in both national polls, has won 19 of its last 22 games (19-3) 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 .662 (96-49) and only trailing Boise State (.732), Appalachian State (.691) and Memphis (.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 after the win. The Rockets are now 6-2.
- The Aztecs’ three FBS non-conference opponents have combined to go 20-3 (.870), including a 18-2 (.900) record in games not involving SDSU.
- Overall, San Diego State has had 35 different players earn starts through eight games for various reasons, including 21 on offense and 14 on defense.
- Saturday marks the fifth meeting between San Diego State and Washington State with the Cougars leading the series, 3-1.
- WSU has lost five straight games entering the Halloween clash.
Aztecs Return Home to Face Washington State for Halloween Clash
SDSU welcomes Washington State on Halloween. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. PT Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium.
