Coming off a 7-6 season, San Diego State headed into the 2015 season still looking for its 20th conference championship.

Things did not look so promising after a 1-3 non-conference schedule. 

“It was a crazy start to the season,” recalled Jeff Horton, the Associate Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator that season, on Episode 152 of The SDSU Podcast. “That was my first year as offensive coordinator after Bob Toledo had been the coordinator the previous two years. And it was my fifth year at the school, and five years within the state system gets you vested. After we started one and three, I told my wife, I didn’t know if I was going to make it through the whole year, or if I get fired after game 4 or 5.”

No worry needed for Horton and his wife. 

The Aztecs did not lose another game that season, finishing the school’s first undefeated conference season since 1974 and winning the conference championship. 

“Going one and three, it looked grim,” said QB Christian Chapman, who started the season as the backup but started the final two games of the season, on Episode 152 of The SDSU Podcast. “Some people gave up on us, but we’re a team that got together. We got united. We knew it was only about the people in the locker room and the guys on our side of the field, and we put it together for that ten-game streak we went on.” 

Chapman praised the seniors on that team, such as linebacker Jake Fely and defensive back J.J. Whittaker, for rallying the team after the rough start and ensuring the focus was on each other instead of outside noise. 

Not only did the Aztecs finish the season with ten straight wins, they pummeled opponents along the way, winning by an average margin of 25 points. 

“It takes a little bit of time for a new team to come together,” added Chapman. “Like coach said, it was his first year (as) OC. It takes time for those things to come through, and when it started, we found an identity, we were rolling, and we were getting the guys in the right place, and we were playing good Aztec football.”

Under head coach Rocky Long, the defense was as physical and talented as expected. But the high scoring margin was fueled by one of the best collegiate backfields Horton has ever seen, led by all-time NCAA rushing leader Donnel Pumphrey. Both Pumphrey and Chase Price ran for more than 1,000 yards and paved the way for the team’s 3,266 total rushing yards. Rashaad Penny, who won Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year that season and later finished as high as fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting just two years later, was the third-string back on that roster, while Juwan Washington was fourth.  

“That was four guys that could definitely get the job done,” said Horton when asked about his running backs room. Spectacular players. Each one had a little different skill set, but all were very, very productive, and the hardest part was trying to fit them all into the game plan.”

The team closed out the season rushing over 200 yards in each of the final ten wins. 

More adversity hit the team before the conference championship game. Starting QB Maxwell Smith, graduate transfer from Kentucky, tore his ACL in the second half of the final regular season game against Nevada. 

In came Chapman, a redshirt freshman, who had yet to start a game for the Aztecs and appeared in mostly mop-up duties a few times earlier in the season. 

Chapman was ready. He prepared each game week as if he was the starter because you never know when your time will come. Coming in to close out a game with a double-digit lead against Nevada, his focus was on protecting the ball as the clock ticked down. 

Back then, the conference championship game was two weeks after the end of the regular season, giving Chapman extra time to learn everything there was to know about the Falcons’ defense. 

“I wasn’t doing any homework,” Chapman said. “There was no school happening during that time, just strictly film and knowing that defense that we’re about to play because I didn’t want to be the guy to go in there and lose it for our team essentially. I was overprepared for that game. I knew Weston Steelhammer (First Team All-Mountain West DB), where he was lining up. I knew their fronts. I knew the checks.”

The preparation paid off. 

Chapman (9/14, 203yds, 1 TD, 0 INT) led the Aztecs to a 27-24 victory and earned Offensive MVP honors in his first career start. PK Donny Hageman made a 46-yard field goal to break the tie late in the fourth quarter. 

DB Na’im McGee earned Defensive MVP with a team-high ten tackles and a TFL. 

The champions headed to Hawai’i for their Bowl game and decimated Cincinnati, 42-7. Penny returned the opening kickoff of the game for his third return touchdown of the season. FB Dakota Gordon earned MVP honors by catching and rushing for a touchdown in the contest. 

“We were always going to be the toughest team on the football field,” Horton exclaimed. “There was no way anybody was going to out-hit us or be more physical.” 

Chapman echoed his coach’s sentiments when reflecting on the team that will be honored on Saturday night at the game against California. 

“We were a tough, gritty team,” Chapman explained. “We were coached well, and we didn’t make mistakes for the most part. Looking back on it, we love the kind of tradition we made, and we hope to bring Aztec football back. … Bring Aztec football back to this current generation that is so different, even from when we played ten years ago.”

Chapman and the team “Won 21” the following year, winning back-to-back Mountain West conference championships.

The current Aztecs team hopes to “Win 22” nine years later and have their own celebration at Snapdragon Stadium ten years from now.

Andre Haghverdian

Avid sports fan and historian of basketball, baseball, football and soccer. UC San Diego and San Diego State alumni living in America’s Finest City. Diverse team following across multiple sports leagues, but Aztecs come first in college athletics.