Football

San Diego State Hits the Road for Pac-12 Play with Saturday Game at Oregon State

The Aztecs (2-3, 1-0 Pac-12) meet the Beavers (3-2, 1-0 Pac-12) in Corvallis, Oregon.

Weekly Notes Media Central
San Diego State Hits the Road for Pac-12 Play with Saturday Game at Oregon StateSan Diego State Hits the Road for Pac-12 Play with Saturday Game at Oregon State
Justin Truong
  • Fresh off one of the most unfathomable wins in program history, San Diego State heads to the Pacific Northwest for its first Pac-12 Conference road game of the season Saturday when it takes on Oregon State in Corvallis. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. PT and will air nationally on USA Network and San Diego Sports 760, the flagship radio station of San Diego State athletics.
  • Playing without a handful of starters on the offensive side of the ball and against the seventh-ranked offensive team in the country, the Aztecs (2-3, 1-0 Pac-12) opened their first year of Pac-12 play with a 31-29 come-from-behind victory over Texas State on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium.
  • SDSU was outgained by 326 yards to the Bobcats, 565-239, and outpossessed by more than 20 minutes (40:33-19:27), but was plus-two in turnover margin and plus-19 in average field position. San Diego State also scored a pair of non-offensive touchdowns to rally for the win.
  • The Aztecs overcame a 14-point deficit at the half, tied for the fourth-largest second-half comeback to win in SDSU’s Division I history (since 1969).
  • Trailing, 17-3, through two quarters, redshirt freshman Jaylon Hawkins turned the momentum in favor of San Diego State when he took the opening kickoff of the third quarter 96 yards for a touchdown. Hawkins became just the fourth Aztec in program history with multiple kickoff return touchdowns in the same season.
  • It was the first of three touchdowns in the decisive third quarter for SDSU, which took advantage of two short fields as true freshman Josiah Lucas scored on touchdown runs of 2 and 7 yards, respectively.
  • After a TXST field goal and a safety that brought the visitors to within two points at 24-22 late in the fourth quarter, San Diego State linebacker Cameron Cooper picked off Brad Jackson and returned it 32 yards for the touchdown.
  • Texas State scored a touchdown to get within two once again at 31-29, but Jackson’s Hail Mary as time expired sailed into the back of the end zone, giving the Aztecs the win.
  • SDSU became just the sixth team in the last 30 years to be outgained by at least 300 yards and still win the game (SEE FULL CHART ON THE BOTTOM-RIGHT COLUMN).
  • The Bobcats had 21 more first downs than San Diego State (34-13) and ran 102 plays, the second most in a regulation game against SDSU in its DI history, but the Aztecs had a kick return touchdown and an interception return touchdown in the same game for the first time since Sept. 30, 2017, vs. Northern Illinois.
  • SDSU played its first turnover-free game of the season, and improved to 25-4 since 2020 when winning the turnover battle and 58-6 since 2015, picking Jackson off twice in the contest.
  • 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.
  • SDSU was playing with its third-string center and starting its fourth different lineup in five games this season.
  • San Diego State was 1-for-10 on third down, but scored 14 points off the two TXST interceptions.
  • The defense recorded season highs of nine tackles for loss and three sacks against a team that was yielding just four TFLs and one sack per game through the month of September.
  • Gavriel Lightfoot had a career-high 12 tackles, while Josiah Cox, Sione Hala and Jelani McLaughlin had nine tackles apiece.
  • Cooper also blocked a field goal in the second quarter, one of many plays needed for the Aztecs to squeak out a two-point win.
  • Djibril Rahman had 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack, while true freshman Alijah Lash added two sacks.
  • SDSU won its 12th conference home opener over its last 14 and improved to 8-1 at home since 2025.
  • 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 4-0 is ranked 21st in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and 22nd in 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 yards 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 31 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 5-0 this season, receiving votes in both national polls (12 for the 34th most in the AP poll and 42 for the 32nd most in the coaches poll), has won 17 of its last 19 games (17-2) 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 .662 (94-48) and only trailing Boise State (.728), Appalachian State (.692) and Memphis (.687) among the non-Power 4 schools, extended its home winning streak to nine games (average winning margin of 34.2 points), tied for the 10th-longest active home winning streak in the country. The Rockets are now 4-1.
  • The Aztecs’ three FBS non-conference opponents have combined to go 13-1, including a 10-1 record in games not involving SDSU.
  • 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 38.8 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.
  • Linebacker Sione Hala leads the Pac-12 with 48 tackles.
  • The SDSU defense will be challenged once again this weekend, facing an Oregon State squad that has the best passing offense in the country at 377.60 yards per game and the ninth-best total offense at 497.20. After opening their season with consecutive losses to current top-25 teams Houston and Texas State, the Beavers (3-2, 1-0 Pac-12) have won three straight games by a combined score of 141-50.
  • 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 five 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 on Saturday against Texas State.
  • 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 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 and did not play vs. Texas State, paving the way for Lucas’ 111-yard effort.
  • Jayden Denegal is 11-6 as the team’s starting quarterback, which is the sixth-highest winning percentage in SDSU’s DI history (since 1969) (min. 15 starts). The two-time captain is 71-for-122 (58.2 pct.) for 709 yards and five touchdowns with five interceptions for a 112.3 pass efficiency rating.
  • SDSU has started five different wide receivers with Nathan Acevedo leading the way with 16 catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
  • The Aztecs won the first two games of the series in 1972 (17-8 in San Diego) and 1975 (25-0 in Corvallis), but have lost the last five meetings since 2000 by a combined score of 110-19.