Aztecs score on offense, defense and special teams in rout of Nevada.
San Diego State peaking at mid-season. Take a 5-1 record into a bye week as they prepare for Fresno State.
Once again the Aztecs showed
they are not the same team as last season. Expected to win against woeful Nevada, the Aztecs started fast and consistent as they brought the hammer in every phase of the game Saturday night at Mackey Stadium in front of an announced crowd of 19,473 fans. Jayden Denegal, Lucky Sutton and Jordan Napier all continued to show they are the new Aztecs three headed monster. Each had key plays as their leadership helped propel the Aztecs to a 5-1 record, 2-0 in the Mountain West. Nevada meanwhile fell to 1-5 and 0-2 in conference play.
It didn’t take long for the scoring to begin for the Aztecs. After winning the coin toss and choosing to play defense first, they held the Wolfpack to a three-and-out. Nevada punter Bailey Ettridge ripped off a 52 yard punt which took Jordan Napier back to the Aztec 25 yardline. A paused burst up the middle and a breakout to the left sidelines left Napier among other Aztecs as they escorted him all the way to the endzone for a score less than a minute into the contest.
Napier was asked how the play developed. He said, “As I punctured the line of defense, it was just green grass, then one man came down, I made one cut and it was just over from there.”
Johnson had a 97-yard interception return three weeks ago against Cal and is making it a habit of scoring off his interceptions. The defense wasn’t yet finished with their efforts. On the next series, Jones was intercepted again, this time by Dwayne McDougle. The Wolfpack have now had turnovers in sixteen consecutive games, a national leading worst. The Aztecs took over and the offense was methodical with runs by Sutton and running and passing by Denegal. On the first play of the second quarter, Senegal hit running back Christian Washington with a 2-yard swing pass for the score. Gabriel Plascencia added his third extra point of the evening and the Aztecs were comfortably ahead 21-0. Six minutes later, Senegal found wide receiver Jacob Bostick on a roll out play. Bostick got open on a busted coverage and caught the ball at the five and strolled in for the score and a 28-0 lead. At this time, many of the fans in the stands began to tell their hometown Wolfpack what they thought of their efforts. After stopping Nevada on downs, the Aztecs started their final first half possession at their seven yardline. Senegal ran for 29 yards and between Sutton and passes to Napier brought the Aztecs to the Wolfpack three yard line where Sutton pushed through for a 35-0 yard score just after the two minute warning.
The second half saw the Aztecs be more conservative as their only real offense were three field goals by Gabriel Plascencia. He added scores of 21, 45 and 49 yards, extending his school record to 22 straight field goals, which is also a new Mountain West record. The Aztecs were pushing for another shutout, but yielded a 34-yard field goal to Wolfpack kicker Joe McFadden. Jones threw a 16 yard touchdown pass to Marshaun Brown to make the score a final of 44-10. Denegal was an effective 14/17 passing for 205 yards and two scoring tosses. Lucky Sutton ran 16 times for 76 yards and a score while Jordan Napier added 110 yards on 5 receptions, Jones paced the Wolfpack with 16/32 passing for 177 yards, one score and two interceptions. Caleb Ramseur ran 8 times for 35 yards and Jeff Carpenter had three catches for 72 yards from his tight end position. Previous starting quarterback Chubba Purdy, who was demoted due to excessive turnovers, saw action as a receiver and he caught a 13 yard pass.
The Aztecs once again are clicking on all cylinders and kudos need to be given to coach Sean Lewis. “Obviously, anytime that you can put points on the board in those non-traditional ways it’s really, really beneficial. The fast start was really advantageous, I was pleased with the way we were able to be balanced on offense yet again, distributing the football to a lot of different guys. I was pleased with the defensive effort, the way that they swarmed and made (Nevada’s) new quarterback uncomfortable with the looks that we were giving them.”
AZTEC TAKEAWAYS
The Aztecs had both a punt and interception TD return for the first time since 2013 against Boise State. The Aztecs have consecutive 40 point games for the first time since 2017. Linebacker Tano Letuli missed the game and was replaced by Mister Williams who made his presence known with several hard hits. Denegal has passed for 1,097 yards and 7 touchdowns. Lucky Sutton has 526 yards and six scores and Jordan Napier has 553 yards receiving on 37 receptions and 2 scores. The Aztecs running and passing game have blossomed. They have also stretched the field as they have several passing plays over 25 yards. The break is happening at the most opportune time as they prepare for Fresno State.
NEXT OPPONENT IS IN TWO WEEKS ON THE ROAD AGAINST THE FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS ON WOLFPACK ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 25.
The Aztecs get ready to take on rival Fresno State in the Valley in two weeks. The Bulldogs, one of the favorites to contend for the conference title, ran into a hot Colorado State team, losing 49-21 on Friday night. The Bulldogs will also have the week off to prepare for the Aztecs. They need to figure out what went wrong as they dropped to 2-1 in conference play and 5-2 overall. Both the Aztecs and Bulldogs are one win away from being bowl eligible. After their opening loss at Kansas, the Bulldogs ran off five straight wins to put them in conference contention with UNLV. Last week they struggled against Nevada, which could have been a precursor of things to come against Colorado State. Coach Matt Entz was able to replace 70% of their offensive production. They are led by Rice transfer E.J. Warner at quarterback. He has thrown for nearly 1500 yards and 10 scores, but also nine interceptions. The Rams picked him three times and he fumbled once. At running back, they feature Bryson Donelson who has 405 yards on the year and Arizona transfer Rayshon Luke who has added 384 yards and five scores. Through the air, Josiah Freeman leads the way with 300 yards and four touchdowns and tight end Richie Anderson III with 220 yards and two more scores. This game is going to feature momentum. Who has it and who can keep it. Fresno is trending down while the Aztecs continue to accelerate their climb. They are like the Nvidia of the stock world. When momentum is riding high, stick with the winners. Expect to see a highly entertaining game, but with the Aztecs playing as they are, I anticipate San Diego State to continue their momentum and win, 31-20. Expect a full, packed and noisy stadium when these two teams meet for the 63rd time. San Diego State leads the all-time series, 31-27-4. They both are headed to the new Pac-12 Conference where their rivalry will continue. The longest rivalry for Fresno State is with San Jose State. The two schools have met 87 times with Fresno holding a 45-39-3 advantage. Both teams recently signed a six-game scheduling agreement to continue playing the series, despite it not counting in conference play. There should always be a way to keep these rivalries going as they are good for the schools and the fans.
AROUND THE MOUNTAIN WEST
This writer picked the Rams as an upset winner over Fresno, but failed to predict the Cowboys defeating the Spartans. The Cowboys came from 14 down and scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to surprise the Spartans in Laramie. Spartans receiver Danny Scudero, the nation’s leading receiver, showed why he is an early Bilitnikoff Award nominee with 10 catches, 180 yards and four touchdowns. He leads the nation with 50 receptions and 845 yards with 8 scores. Quarterback Walker Eget leads the conference with 1,816 passing yards and 13 touchdowns. The Spartans will need to do a serious evaluation as they have shown they can lose close games UNLV continued their winning ways, holding off a pesky Air Force team 51-48. Showing off the best offense but the worst defense, the Rebels continue to lead the conference being bowl eligible at 6-0 on the season. Boise State took care of New Mexico in a packed house Saturday. New Mexico continues to impress despite their losses. Finally, in the late game, Hawaii took care of Utah State 44-26. Quarterback Micah Alejado has thrown for 1,456 yards for the Warriors and has solidified his spot as Hawaii’s quarterback of the future. The Aztecs will take on Wyoming, Hawaii, Boise, San Jose and New Mexico in games to round out the season. Don’t be surprised to see Denegal, Sutton and Napier at the top of the conference players of the year consideration, especially if the Aztecs win the conference. The conference has seen its share of surprises. The Aztecs are in that category. Not many people gave the Aztecs much hope of even being bowl eligible. Much like Tacos El Gordo or the Taco Stand, the Aztecs are quickly becoming a crowd favorite. Keep winning and you’ll get a hungry and happy Aztec crowd.
Score one for the special teams. A short time later, the defense got into the action. Nevada quarterback Carter Jones threw a pass that Chris Johnson high pointed and came down with plenty of open space ahead of him. He took off for 40 yards and the next Aztec score. 14-0 and the offense hadn’t even contributed yet.
Johnson said, “I saw the ball come off the quarterback’s hand and I made a play on the ball. Mister (Williams) had a lead block right in front of me and then I was just gone.”
