The nation’s sack leader plays at San Diego State. Watching Trey White compete in person at Snapdragon Stadium should be on the to-do list of every sports fan in America’s Finest City.

Having earned Player of the Game honors nearly every week this year, White’s play tests one’s creativity. Most superlatives have been exhausted in describing him. All-American is among the unused monikers chronicling his excellence. If he continues his on-the-field dominance, that will change.

Trey White, All-American, has a nice ring to it. 

“We’ve been buzzing about him ever since we got here,” SDSU head coach Sean Lewis said postgame after SDSU’s victory over Hawai’i. “It’s a testament to the belief that our staff had in him to bring him closer to the ball. With his ability, we knew that he was going to be a great fit into what we were building. He’s the standard for what it looks like in terms of the approach and the discipline and the character and the commitment and the conviction and what’s required to show up and produce on a weekly basis.”

White has been a revelation in 2024. On Saturday, the announced crowd of 31,307 witnessed something special: the birth of a star.  

Mission Valley has been home to a distinguished list of pass-rushers, including Leslie O’Neil, Shawn Merriman, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, and Cameron Thomas. Add White to the group. 

Hawai’i’s game plan was to take away White’s speed rush by having its tackles drop outside on nearly every snap. This tactic forced White inside, where help from other offensive linemen awaited. 

SDSU defensive coordinator Eric Schmidt countered by stunting White and Dominic Oliver. Schmidt relied on the Aztecs’ “Cheetah” personnel group against Hawai’i’s spread attack. The package lined up Oliver, usually White’s backup, as a defensive tackle. 

Schmidt’s design proved effective. White added three more sacks, giving him nine on the season. He is tied with Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku for most in the nation. Ezeiruaku has competed in one more contest than White, giving the SDSU EDGE the highest sacks per game average at 1.8. 

In 2002, Terrell Suggs set the NCAA record for sacks per game with 1.71. Mike Douglass holds the Aztecs single-season sack record with 21 in 1976. 

Against the Rainbow Warriors, White harassed Brayden Schager all night. Pro Football Focus credited him with five QB hurries. As the best athletes do, White would not be denied when it mattered most. 

“I wanted to come up big for our team. I didn’t want to have that feeling of a loss again,” White said. “I hate that feeling, and I know our team does. The look on our faces after that Central Michigan game was terrible, and I never want that to happen to us again. We have to come up there every time it happens, and we have control over what happens. We have to come down and make plays.”

His first sack on the night came on UH’s second play after intermission. It kept the momentum SDSU had generated with a touchdown late in the first half. The Aztecs would score a field goal on the subsequent possession. 

The hometown hero saved his best for Hawai’i’s last serious threat of the game late in the fourth quarter. White sacked Schager for an 11-yard loss on 2nd and 7 at SDSU’s 47. Amazingly, UH converted two plays later on 4th and 18. This gave Schager and the Rainbow Warriors new life and momentum with 1st and 10 from SDSU’s 39. 

White shut the door.

He hurried Schager into an incompletion on the initial play after UH moved the chains. On second down, White recorded sack no. 3 on the night. Two plays later, the Rainbow Warriors turned the ball over on downs. 

This offseason, SDSU switched from a 3-3-5 to a 4-2-5 base defense. White played SAM linebacker in the Aztecs’ old defense. Because of the new system, his opportunity to rush the passer has increased, unleashing havoc on SDSU’s opponents. 

White is not the only athlete connected to SDSU who leads the nation in sacks. Mission Viejo EDGE Jaden Williams has 20 sacks this season. He committed to the Aztecs this summer. Williams has led Mission Viejo to a no. 10 ranking in the nation. Max Preps mentioned Williams as a National Player of the Year candidate. 

With that attention and his success on the field, other schools will undoubtedly try to make Williams change his mind about choosing the Aztecs. White’s game film is a selling point for Lewis, Schmidt, and EDGE coach Rob Aurich in their pursuit of Williams and other pass rushers. 

“We’ve been talking since we got here about what we’re going to build, what we’re going to do,” Lewis explained. “We’ve been talking about a vision and asking people to have faith, but now you’re able to point to things and say, ‘Hey, there’s real, true evidence of what this is going to be.’”

The majority of the nation’s sack leaders are seniors. White is just a sophomore. Ideally, SDSU’s team captain would have two years to mentor Williams. The duo could be a nightmare together in the Aztecs’ final year in the Mountain West and first in the Pac-12.

With NIL and unlimited transfers, projecting years down the road is impossible. For now, there’s reason to believe White’s terrific 2024 will continue. Postgame, he was focused more on the plays he missed than the ones he made.

“I left too many plays out there on the field,” White said. “…I missed a safety. I missed a sack earlier, too, so I just had to make it up (on the last drive) for my brothers, and I did that when we needed it most.”

What the win means

The Aztecs are 2-0 in games they were favored to win and 0-3 as underdogs. Defeating Hawai’i keeps SDSU in contention for a bowl. 

“I’m proud of the team and their effort,” Lewis said. “All the improvements that they’ve made through the course of all these weeks and the hard lessons that we’ve learned have come to fruition tonight. We found the right way in a four-quarter game for all three phases to step up in different ways and to come out on the right side of this game.”

The Aztecs opened as 1.5-point favorites over Wyoming on the road. A two-game winning streak and a .500 record heading into the team’s second bye could set the team up well for the final six games of the year.

More than just giving the Aztecs their first FBS victory of the year, the fourth-quarter comeback over the Rainbow Warriors should infuse confidence in the team. In particular, true freshman QB Danny O’Neil should benefit from leading a game-winning drive.

“The same way any win would,” O’Neil replied when asked how the victory over Hawai’i could help him moving forward. “There’s a lot of things we need to clean up, especially offensively. I need to do a better job of … getting the ball into playmakers’ hands. I need to be better, but definitely proud of the guys and the way we responded from last week.”

While O’Neil’s words postgame displayed his belief in his team, seeing the fruit of his labor has to do more for him than successful practices. O’Neil has only been on the sidelines for five contests; every experience is vital. 

Player of the Game, Danny O’Neil 

During the three-game losing streak that preceded Saturday’s contest, long second-half drives proved consequential. Oregon State had a 13-play, 98-yard TD drive, Cal a 13-play, 90-yard TD drive, and Central Michigan scored on a 15-play, 77-yard march down the field.

Saturday, history repeated itself twice. Hawai’i’s two second-half touchdowns came on 12 and 14-play drives. The difference between this weekend and the previous contests was that SDSU’s offense responded.

Down for the first time in the game, O’Neil and company took possession of the ball, trailing 24-20. The momentum was firmly in Hawai’i’s favor after they erased the Aztecs’ ten-point advantage. 

O’Neil outdueled UH’s senior signal caller, Brayden Schager, the rest of the way. 

Reflecting their experience difference, Schager has 99 more rushing attempts than O’Neil has passing attempts in their careers. The distance from SDSU Mission Valley to the main campus is about the same as Schager’s passing yardage in his four seasons at Hawai’i. Schager and O’Neil have the same number of Snapdragon Stadium starts against FBS opponents. UH’s signal caller has 12 fewer attempts at SDSU’s home than O’Neil.

When true freshmen force their way onto the field, it suggests a bright future in the game. O’Neil, in his fifth game on a college sideline, proving more clutch than a seasoned veteran in his 34th contest, is special. 

“All of us have spent countless hours together on the field and in the film room,” O’Neil explained on where his confidence comes from. “It’s been a long journey from when everyone got here in January all the way up until fall camp. All the hours that we put in together, all the sacrifice, the blood, sweat, and tears. It’s easy at the end of the day to trust in the one next to you when you’ve done something like that.”

On the game-winning drive, Lewis called O’Neil’s number on five of the eight plays. The biggest of the sequence was a 48-yard bomb to Nate Bennett. 

Backed up on his own thirteen, Lewis dialed up a double-move deep shot. O’Neil executed it perfectly. He kept his eyes to the right, pump-faked to keep the safety away from Bennett, and threw a pass from the right of the field over the hash mark and numbers on the left. It is a pass that will force the opposition to play the entire field against him.

The Aztecs’ signal caller started 10-10 for the game on his way to completing 73% of his attempts on the night. O’Neil has now gone 113 passes without an interception.

“In practice, day in and day out, he knows and understands when I’m going against Eric Butler, Dalesean Staley, Deshawn McCuin, and Chris Johnson,” Lewis said. “He gets to compete against those guys on a daily basis, and when he plays against another opponent he has a good feel for where he can fit a football.”

Unsung Heroes: Jelani Whitmore, Ryan Wintermeyer, and Gabriel Plascencia

Winning close contests is always a collective effort. Three Aztecs deserve mention as unsung heroes.

Cornerback Jelani Whitmore caused the game’s only turnover. Schager, showing his seasoned status, targeted Whitmore as soon as he entered the contest. SDSU’s senior made him pay. 

“(Playing on an island is) something our corners, in particular, but all DBs need to embrace,” Lewis said. “With our aggressive style of play, we’re going to put them in those situations. … Jelani has done a great job stepping up in that role. … I don’t see him as CB3. (Chris Johnson, Bryce Phillips, and Whitmore) are CB1a , CB1b, CB1c.”

Like all successful long snappers, Ryan Wintermeyer’s play goes unnoticed. Saturday, though, he made a series of plays that impacted the outcome. Hawai’i brought ten on the night’s final punt. Wintermeyer communicated a shift to the formation, delivered a strike in a crucial situation, and was the only defender downfield to cover the kick, forcing Hawai’i’s returner into a fair catch.

“It talks to the relentless focus of him to be able to do his job,” Lewis said. “The most important thing first of getting a great snap, but then, playing with relentless effort because of us needing to secure the kick and bringing the gunners in, (Wintermeyer) gets the free release. It’s a great effort play by him to run full speed down there and induce that fair catch.”

The final unsung hero was Gabriel Plascencia. A week after field goal kicking cost the Aztecs a win, Plascencia delivered the margin of victory. He calmly drilled a pair of kicks, including one from 43 yards.

“Every point in this contest was critically important,” Lewis exclaimed. “Everything Gabe did, every single time he went out, he was able to rise to that occasion. With all of his training, his preparation, and the adversity that he’s gone through this year, he clearly separated himself this week, and he’ll be our guy going forward. It’s been a big step tonight in doing his part and helping us win in a big-time fashion.”

Quick Takes

• The Coast Guard provided a helicopter flyover on Saturday. A pair of officers coordinated with the flight crew from the field at Snapdragon. One wore a No. 12  jersey of future Pac-12 rival, Washington State.
• A nice pregame feature highlighted the accomplishments of key players on the video boards. Danny O’Neil, Trey White, JD Coffey, and Marquez Cooper were among the athletes listed.
• During warmups, the Aztecs’ reserves stood at midfield, blocking the view of the Hawai’i players as SDSU walked through some formations. This strategy would work better, except the visiting locker room is on the side SDSU warms up on.
• The poor start to the season did not sour the student section on the team. The players’ colleagues arrived late on family night, but the overflow section was needed to contain all the young scholars.
• Tyler Pastula had his best game as an Aztec. Unlike previous weeks, the punting was simplified scheme-wise, and Pastula delivered NFL-type kicks. He averaged 47.6 yards on five punts, including a long of 65 and a pair that landed inside the twenty. Only one punt was returned for 11 yards.
• The running game still garners all the attention of opposing defenses. SDSU wisely used screens and the quick passing game to soften up the defense. There were moments when giving the ball to Marquez Cooper surprised Hawai’i because the passing game was effective.
• Deshawn McCuin went out early in the contest. Josh Hunter filled in nicely. He lacks McCuin’s suddenness and physicality, but his instincts and tackling played well in the space created by Hawai’i’s offense.
• DJ Herman started in place of Tano Letuli. His energy and enthusiasm were infectious. His gratitude to compete is what’s best about sports.
• Trey White did more than rush the passer. He frequently dropped into coverage, and Schmidt utilized him well in this role, too.
• Many spectators watched the Padres game on their phones. Significant moments of the game traveled from fan to fan at the differing speeds of their phones.
• The offense is still too dependent on big plays. In the coming weeks, SDSU will be big underdogs. They will need a couple of sustained scoring drives in those contests to have a chance at an upset.
• Twice during the game, Lewis called draws on 3rd and medium. The first was a short gain that led to a fourth-down conversion. The second went for a nine-yard touchdown. On a third, O’Neil gave a slow play action and threw for a first down to Louis Brown IV. It was a textbook example of offensive play-calling building throughout a contest.
• The state of California recently legalized cannabis cafes like the ones Amsterdam is famous for. Judging by the smell around the concourse at halftime, a Snapdragon location would be popular.
• Hawai’i’s band traveled to San Diego and greatly added to the atmosphere. Encouraging the new Pac-12 to bring their ensembles would be a nice touch.
• SDSU’s depth shined Saturday. Two offensive linemen, three linebackers, a handful of defensive linemen, multiple safeties, and a corner made important contributions. Max Garrison and Jatavious Magee made loud special teams tackles.
• With all the runs Hawai’i’s signal caller made, it was odd that SDSU did not have a QB spy on him. SDSU apparently felt having more players deeper in coverage was more effective. 
• Aztec Fast has put SDSU on the wrong end of time of possession throughout the season. On Saturday, playing quickly directly impacted the outcome. Hawai’i only had two timeouts at the end of the game because they used one earlier when SDSU got to the line, and the Rainbow Warriors were not ready. 
• The sound of victory roaring from the home locker room contrasted greatly with the silence of the Aztecs gathered postgame on the Central Michigan practice field last week.

Paul Garrison

My earliest sport’s memory involve tailgating at the Murph, running down the circular exit ramps, and seeing the Padres, Chargers and Aztecs play. As a second generation Aztec, I am passionate about all things SDSU. Other interests include raising my four children, being a great husband and teaching high school.