It was only one game, and it was against an FCS opponent. But there was a lot to unpack from San Diego State’s 53-20 win against Portland State on Saturday night.

Here are several takeaways.

Did the offense impress?

The Aztecs’ final output was 53 points, the most they have scored in Snapdragon Stadium history. Take away the kickoff return for a touchdown by Jaylon Hawkins, and the offense still put up 46 points. Six touchdowns and one field goal. That is nothing to sneeze at.

Digging into the numbers tells a different story, though.

The Aztecs only racked up 394 total yards, unable to crack 400 against an FCS opponent. One of the six touchdowns came on a one-yard drive after a blocked punt. Another came on a 30-yard drive due to another blocked punt.

The team rushed for 237 yards (5.6 ypc) and improved their record to 60-1 in their last 61 regular-season games when rushing over 200 yards. Lucky Sutton rushed for three scores, but only tallied 58 yards on 18 carries, a low 3.2 ypc. He was consistently met with Vikings’ defenders at or near the line of scrimmage.

Javion Kinnard ignited the offense with a 55-yard scamper on the third drive of the game. Removing Kinnard’s big run, the team only averaged 4.4 ypc. That average was boosted by fourth and fifth-string backs, Jordin Thomas and Josiah Lucas, rushing for 68 yards on nine carries late in the game as the Aztecs looked to run out the clock.

How about the passing game? The expectations heading into the season were that the return of a healthy Jayden Denegal and a deep, talented wide receiver corps would propel that part of the offense to match the prowess of the running game. For one game, that did not ring true.

Denegal’s numbers were good on paper (12/17, 137 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT), but the highlights were essentially limited to back-to-back plays in the second quarter. He found Nathan Acevedo down the left side of the field to convert a 3rd and 12 and then found Justius Lowe deep down the left sideline for a 40-yd touchdown. The throw was reminiscent of numerous deep balls Denegal threw for scores last season and showed the strength of his passing abilities.

Outside of those two plays (69 yards), Denegal totaled 68 passing yards the remainder of the game and struggled to make quick, decisive throws. This aspect of the offense will need to be better.

Averaging 6.3 yards per play, scoring in six of seven red zone opportunities, and converting 50% on third down conversions are great blocks for the offense to build off heading into Pasadena on Saturday. Will they take the next step as the competition gets better?

Tight ends in the passing game

Jackson Ford and Ryan Wolfer returned to the Mesa amid hopes that the passing game would include the tight ends more in 2026. For one play, it looked like it might.

Denegal dropped back on the opening play of the season and looked for Ford running a route down the middle of the field. Unfortunately, Ford was double-covered, and Denegal spiked it into the ground adjacent to the three athletes for an incomplete pass.

It was a sign that perhaps emphasizing the position through the air was a focus for Sean Lewis and the staff to call it on the team’s first play.

Or maybe not.

Ford did not receive another target the rest of the game. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), he ran routes on 10 of his 28 snaps in the game.

Wolfer was not targeted in the three snaps he was asked to run a route.

Jack Lua was the only other tight end with a target in the game when a pass in his direction from Stone Saunders dropped incomplete.

There are a lot of mouths to feed in this offense, so this trend is not surprising. But will it change at some point this season?

The defensive rotation

With Portland State holding the ball for over 33 minutes and 84 plays, the new-look Aztecs’ defense was on full display on Saturday night. 18 players saw at least 34 snaps.

Looking at snap counts paints a good picture of the competition for playing time moving forward.

DT: Starters Malachi Finau (35) and Gavriel Lightfoot (38) rotated heavily with Krishna Clay (39) and Amari Comier (40), respectively, to keep the big bodies fresh.

EDGE: Brady Nassar (54), Djibril Rahman (52), and Kai Wallin (36) took up the majority of the snaps at the two positions. Nate Henrich (12) was next up and recorded the only sack of the game for the Aztecs despite limited snaps.

LB: Starters Sione Hala (67) and Tano Letuli (60) led the defense in snaps, and Cameron Cooper (37) was the main backup at both.

CB: Mike Lindsay (46), Caleb Ricks (45), and Jelani Whitmore (39) were the three main guys at corner. Whitmore started opposite Lindsay, but Ricks could be pushing for a starting spot soon. Carsten Maramil (34) also played snaps at corner in addition to nickel.

S: Josiah Cox (47), Jelani McLaughlin (45), and Josh Hunter (38) started the game, but Isaiah Green (44) played almost as many snaps as the starters. True freshman Tainoa Lave (26) and transfer Jalen Thomeson (24) rounded out the second string.

Special teams

San Diego State has long been lauded for its stellar special teams play. This year seems no different.

Jaylon Hawkins’ kickoff return for a touchdown was the Aztecs’ 15th since 2015, the most in FBS over that span. It was also the sixth 100-yard kick return for a touchdown in that same period, tied with Western Michigan.

The punt coverage team also made a big splash, blocking two punts (Jelani McLaughlin and Oberhiri Eyafe) that led to 1-yard and 30-yard touchdown scoring drives by the offense.

It was not all perfect for the unit. Nathan Acevedo dropped a punt inside his own ten-yard line, which led to a Vikings’ touchdown. A running into the kicker penalty also gave the Vikings another set of downs instead of a punt back to the Aztecs.

Looking Ahead

The Aztecs embark on a three-game non-conference schedule against FBS teams over the next three weeks, two of which are on the road.

UCLA (1-0): Under new head coach Bob Chesney, the Bruins traveled to Berkeley and beat Cal, 45-24. They rushed for 277 yards and scored the final 21 points of the game in the fourth quarter to break a tie at 24.

James Madison (1-0): The team formerly coached by Chesney began its new era under Billy Napier with a 20-13 win over Liberty at home. They will host Wagner (FCS) this Saturday before they travel to San Diego to play the Aztecs.

Toledo: (0-1): The Rockets played Michigan State tough in East Lansing but fell short, 30-20. They held a 20-19 lead early in the fourth quarter before the Spartans scored the final 11 points of the game. They will host Central Connecticut (FCS) and Temple over the next two Saturdays before hosting the Aztecs in late September.

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.