For one half, the San Diego State Aztecs (1-1) held the UCLA Bruins (2-0) to a scoreless draw. 

Then the defense ran out of gas.

The offense never had it to begin with. 

The Bruins won 28-10 fueled by 214 rushing yards. Wayne Knight (13 car, 97 yds) rushed for three touchdowns for the second straight game and Jaivian Thomas (7 car, 32 yds) added another. All ten touchdowns this season for the Bruins have come on the ground. 

Nico Iamaleava (14/22, 151 yds, 1 INT, 57 rushing yds) did enough to keep the Bruins offense humming. 

Jayden Denegal, on the other hand, fared much worse. He completed 6 of 17 passes for 45 yards and his lone touchdown (19-yarder) came at the end of the game on a trick play where he did not receive the snap and took the handoff from Javion Kinnard. He also threw an interception backed up near his end zone. 

Head coach Sean Lewis blamed the inefficiencies on offense on the poor second half. 

“It starts with the playcalling on offense with myself,” he added. 

On numerous occasions, Denegal took a snap and had multiple defenders rushing free in his face. On a few occasions where he had time, he took deep shots that did not connect with his receivers. Screen passes did not generate much yardage and there was nothing attempted in the short and intermediate areas of the field. 

“A lot of it was to plan,” Lewis responded when asked about the continued deep throws. “We felt like we had good matchups on the edge. There was a lot of single high coverage. It was a lot of good, calculated shots downrange that we got balls on hands that we didn’t catch. We had guys wide open that we missed. We got to do a better job with that as we go.” 

The offense totaled 189 yards, helped only by Lucky Sutton’s 81 rushing yards (on 19 carries) and Kinnard’s 48 (on 12 carries). Jackson Ford caught the 19-yard touchdown pass from Denegal, his only target of the night. 

When asked how he, as the playcaller, can get Denegal in better rhythm in future games, Lewis noted improving the presnap presentation.

“Being able to create some more space and get him some cleaner shots so that he can see those completions and to gain confidence to go forward with it.”

Semaj Morgan’s 25-yard punt return gave the Bruins the ball at the SDSU 43 at the start of the second half. Four rushing plays later, the Bruins put the first points on the scoreboard. Iamaleava kept it and ran for 25 yards, making Jelani Whitmore whiff on an attempted tackle. Wayne Knight finished the drive with 7 and 8 yard runs. 

After the Aztecs put up three points on Cooper DiLeva’s 46-yard field goal, the Bruins put the game away with a nine-play, 75-yard drive. Knight’s second touchdown made it 14-3. 

The Bruins had the better drives in the first half but the Aztecs defense continued their “bend, but don’t break” mentality from the opening game. 

The Bruins biggest play of the half was a 45-yard reception by Brian Rowe, Jr. down to Aztecs 21. Rowe was injured on the play but returned in the second half. 

Mike Lindsay picked off his second pass of the season in the end zone on a 3rd and Goal from the 2 to end that drive. Iamaleava rolled out to his right but threw back across the field to a receiver in the back of the end zone that was open. The pass, however, was underthrown and Lindsay snuck in to snatch it out of the air. 

Late in the first half, the Bruins went for it on a 4th and 7 from the SDSU 36 in lieu of trying a long field goal. But Malachi Finau dropped Iamaleava for a sack and a turnover of downs. 

The Aztecs looked to capitalize on the field position, but penalties by Ryan Wolfer (illegal blind side block) and Joe Borjon (holding) pushed the Aztecs back too far out from field goal position. 

Four Aztecs led the defense with eight tackles (Sione Hala, Tano Letuli, Jelani McLaughlin, Josh Hunter).

In the postgame press conference, Lewis criticized himself and the team for a poor week of practice leading up to this game.

“(We) need to do a better job leading throughout the course of the week,” he stated. “(I) wasn’t really pleased with the way that we practiced. That starts with me, making sure that I got the guys motivated to go and that they are inspired and prepared to win and to play hard throughout the course of the week. We will evaluate what we are doing there as we learn this team. I think a piece that most young teams, inexperienced teams need to learn collectively as a whole is how to win and that right to win is burned throughout the course of the week and that starts with practice, the urgency to get to practice with the right mindset and to get better and to grow. It starts with my leadership as we do it, as we move forward.”

This was not the way Lewis hoped to motivate his team after his comments on Monday about UCLAs polos and khakis.

Quick Notes

• The announced attendance was 31,973
• Nathan Acevedo fumbled the first punt return of the game but a teammate recovered the ball at the SDSU 10; it was the second fumble in as many games by Acevedo on punt returns but he remained the primary returner
• Tashi Dorje booted a 77-yard punt in the second quarter, tied for the ninth longest in SDSU history; he averaged 50 yards per punt on seven attempts
• Cameron Cooper recorded his first sack as an Aztec in the third quarter to halt a UCLA drive
• An inadvertent whistle stopped a kickoff return by Jaylon Hawkins leading to a rekick
• Bert Emanuel Jr was the only SDSU receiver with more than one reception (two for 10 receiving yards) and he also ran the ball once for 14 yards

The Aztecs return home to Snapdragon next Saturday night to host the James Madison Dukes (2-0). Kickoff is at 7pm. 

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.