Sean Lewis takes over as San Diego State University’s new head football coach. He has stated he wants the Aztecs to play fast. They may just have to do that if they want to climb up the Mountain West standings this season.
SDSU has been picked to finish in eighth place in the 2024 Mountain West preseason poll. There are 12 teams in the conference.
The Aztecs finished 4-8 overall last season, but just 2-6 in conference play to tie with New Mexico and Nevada for last place in the standings.
At 2-10 overall, Nevada finished with the worst overall record among MW teams in 2023.
Early season media jockeys place SDSU somewhere in the middle of the pack this season.
Defending MW champion Boise State topped this season’s preseason poll with 543 points, garnering 38 of the 46 first-place votes, while UNLV (471 points) and Fresno State (460 points) followed. Air Force Academy placed fourth with 384 points, while Colorado State (337 points), Wyoming (296 points) and Utah State (285 points) placed all ahead of SDSU (251 points).
Bringing up the rear are Hawaii (214 points), San Jose State (185 points), New Mexico (85 points) and Nevada (77 points).
SDSU’s first season under Lewis starts Aug. 31 when the Aztecs host Texas A&M-Commerce at Snapdragon Stadium (5 p.m. kickoff).
SDSU will play six of its 12 games in 2024 at Snapdragon Stadium. Seven of SDSU’s 11 FBS opponents qualified for a bowl game last season.
The upcoming season doesn’t rate as a pushover; anything the Aztecs carve out for themselves will have to be earned.
Fans got a sneak preview of just what the 2024 SDSU football team might have to offer at Saturday’s annual FanFest scrimmage.
The intrasquad scrimmage fea¬tured a defensive first half with two interceptions and two sacks while the offense stepped up in the second half with three touchdowns
“We’re excited to get the guys back to campus … to get refreshed and recharged … and get this team unified and connected so that we can get ready to rock and roll here with the season,” Lewis said. “It’s a fun time of year, excited about where we’re at, excited about the work that the guys have done during the summertime, and really eager to get going, see where we’re at, what we got, and how close knit we can get this team, and trained up.”
Lewis said the players have a better understanding of what the coaching staff is looking for. For Lewis, he’s approaching his first SDSU camp with about half of the roster virtually new.
So, it’s been a learning process for Lewis as well.
He said the focus of camp has been on establishing physicality and identity.
“Obviously, a ton of conversa¬tion about the quarterback play, but it doesn’t matter who’s back there if we can’t protect them,” Lewis said. “So, establishing our identity up front and still being a physical unit that can control the line of scrimmage and be able to run the football, be balanced and push the ball vertically down the field as well. So, that physicality and identity up front is a big piece of who we’re going to be.”
Lewis said he’s already discovered that one of the things the Aztecs excel at is working hard.
“That’s a great foundation to have,” the SDSU head coach said. “As we refine where all these new pieces fit in, and the growth and development of the guys that were here in the spring and the progress that they’ve made, we will get some stakes in the ground and know this guy’s going to be in this place and what complements what he does. Then we’ll be able to build out holistically what it looks like in all three phases from a schematic standpoint, so that we can consistently again be successful in all three phases with it.”
Red and Black
SDSU rolled up an impressive 560 yards in total offense during the FanFest scrimmage. Five Aztec quarterbacks combined for 337 yards on 25-of-43 passing (58.1 percent completions) with one touchdown and two interceptions. The run game featured 223 yards on 58 carries and two touchdowns.
However, points were scarce to start off the warm afternoon.
Junior kicker Gabe Plascencia (Oakland) opened scoring with a 20-yard field goal and senior kicker Nick Lopez (Huntington Beach) followed by splitting the uprights from 29 yards out.
There were some big plays in the opening half, but defense stole the show. Plascencia was forced to go for three points after an eight-play, 94-yard field march stalled. Sophomore signal-caller A.J. Duffy (Inland Empire) connected with sophomore receiver Baylin Brooks (Pasadena) on a 58-yard gain to the two-yard line before the SDSU defense pushed back by stuffing the short run game.
True freshman Danny O’Neill (Indianapolis) guided the Aztecs on an 11-play, 63-yard march that led to another field goal. Clutch plays include a 31-yard pass to freshman receiver Jordan Napier (Fontana) on fourth-and-six, followed by a seven-yard run by junior running back Cam Davis (Dallas, Tex.).
Junior cornerback Chris Johnson (Eastvale) intercepted sophomore Kyle Crum (Norco) to kill SDSU’s opening possession while junior cornerback Jelani Whitmore (Rialto) picked off a pass from Duffy late in the second quarter.
The scoring was quick to start the second half. Senior running back Jaylon Armstead (Los An¬geles) scored on a 49-yard breakaway run up the middle and freshman receiver Jerry McClure (Mater Dei Catholic) hauled in a 26-yard offering from freshman Javance Tupou’ata Johnson to cap a six-play, 53-yard series.
Sophomore running back Lucky Sutton (Cathedral Catho¬lic) scored SDSU’s third TD of the half on a seven-yard burst.
Lopez concluded scoring on a 38-yard field goal.
Duffey led with 144 passing yards while Tupouata Johnson logged 82 yards. O’Neill had 79 yards while Crum had 32 yards.
Sutton (15 carries, 79 yards) and Armstead (eight carries, 45 yards) paced Aztec ball-carriers while Brooks (six catches, 92 yards) and McClure (five catches, 100 yards) keyed the receivers.
Sophomore edge Ezekiel Larry (Palmdale) and sophomore edge Trey White (Eastlake) each collected two sacks while Larry, senior safety William Nimmo Jr. (Corona) and sophomore safety Dalesean Staley (Kansas City) each had six tackles. Johnson had five solo stops.
SDSU 2024 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
August
31: Texas A&M-Commerce at SDSU, 5 p.m.
September
7: Oregon State at SDSU, 7:30 p.m.
14: SDSU at Cal-Berkeley, 7:30 p.m.
28: SDSU at Central Michigan, TBA
October
5: Hawaii at SDSU, 5 p.m.
12: SDSU at Wyoming, 1:30 p.m. MT
26: Washington State at SDSU, 7:30 p.m.
November
1: SDSU at Boise State, 6 p.m. MT
8: New Mexico at SDSU, 7:30 p.m.
16: SDSU at UNLV, 7 p.m.
23: SDSU at Utah State, 1:30 p.m. MT
30: Air Force at SDSU, TBA
