Aztecs Hold off Washington State, 26-20, for Halloween Victory

SAN DIEGO -- Lucky Sutton ran for 115 yards, and Javion Kinnard added 87 yards and two touchdowns, as San Diego State beat Washington State, 26-20, on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium.

The Aztecs (4-5, 3-2 Pac-12) never trailed in the contest and improved to 10-1 at home since the beginning of the 2025 season.

SDSU clung to a 20-14 lead early in the fourth quarter and faced a decision with a fourth-and-goal from the Cougar 2-yard line. After WSU (1-8, 0-5 Pac-12) called a timeout, San Diego State completed a trick play when Sutton handed it to quarterback Stone Saunders, who flipped it to wide receiver Bert Emanuel Jr. on a reverse. A former quarterback, Emanuel Jr. found tight end Jackson Ford alone in the end zone for the touchdown.

Trailing, 26-14, after the Aztecs failed the 2-point conversion, Washington State answered with a 7-play, 67-yard drive, ending with a 1-yard rushing touchdown by quarterback Owen Eschelman. The PAT by Jack Stevens, however, doinked off the left post, keeping the score at 26-20 with 6:55 left.

Despite starting in good field position at the SDSU 41, San Diego State was unable to get a first down and elected to punt on fourth-and-3 from its own 48.

Starting on their own 14 with 4:43 remaining, the Cougars converted a pair of third downs to get to the WSU 48. Eschelman was sacked by Aztec linebacker Sione Hala on first down and Washington State then took a 5-yard false start penalty. Eschelman found Kirby Vorhees with a 6-yard reception to get back to a third-and-10 situation, but consecutive incompletions allowed SDSU to kneel for the 26-20 victory.

After stopping the Cougars on a fourth-and-1 from the San Diego State 21, the Aztecs went 79 yards on eight plays, culminating in a 9-yard rushing touchdown by Kinnard. Sutton got SDSU into WSU’s side of the field with a 46-yard run and Saunders later connected on a 9-yard pass to Nathan Acevedo on a third-and-6 to sustain the drive.

Washington State tied the game at 7-7 on its ensuing drive when Eschelman ran it in from four yards, wrapping up a 9-play, 75-yard drive.

SDSU responded with a 11-play, 79-yard drive of its own, converting all three of its third-down chances, including a 10-yard run by Kinnard on a third-and-3 to put San Diego State up, 14-7, early in the second quarter.

The Cougars once again answered, going 64 yards on 12 plays and using up 6:15 of clock before Vorhees punched it in from two yards out.

Cooper DiLeva made it 17-14 Aztecs with a 36-yard field goal with 3:16 left in the first half.

WSU got into SDSU territory, by Kai Wallin picked off Eschelman, keeping the score 17-14 at the half.

Saunders was intercepted on San Diego State’s opening drive of the second half, but the Aztec defense once again stopped Washington State on a fourth-and-4 from the SDSU 40. The Cougars finished 0-for-3 on fourth down for the game.

DiLeva made another field goal for San Diego State, this time from 45 yards to extend the Aztecs’ lead to 20-14 with 8:25 left in the third quarter.

Stevens tried to cut the lead in half for WSU, but his 53-yard attempt in the rain never had a chance, setting up SDSU’s 15-play, 65-yard drive, ending with the Emanuel TD pass to Ford.

Making his first career start, true freshman safety Tainoa Lave led the Aztec with nine tackles (eight solo) and added a forced fumble.

San Diego State won its 11th consecutive game when leading after three quarters and won for the 49th time of the last 54 games (49-5) when leading heading into the fourth.

The Aztecs won their sixth straight game played on Halloween, improving to 7-1 in their Division I era (since 1969) in Halloween games and 9-4-2 in program history.