Between wide receiver Jordan Napier’s touchdown with 7:01 left in the opener and Napier’s score on Saturday with 11:16 remaining against Cal, SDSU’s offense went nearly two full games without scoring a touchdown. 

What makes the Aztecs’ offensive struggles puzzling is they have done a good job taking care of the football. Aside from Danny O’Neil’s fumble against Oregon State, the turnovers have not been consequential.

This season, head coach Sean Lewis’ Aztec Fast attack has been stuck in neutral. SDSU ranks no. 114 in the nation in scoring at 18.3 points per game. Including a 31-point barrage against 0-3, FCS Texas A&M Commerce, the Aztecs offense has only scored 41 points. Its 307.7 yards per game average ranks no.116. 

“(Scoring 10 points in the last two games) is not the goal, so that shows we’re not very close,” Lewis said postgame when asked if the offense is nearing a breakthrough. “I look forward to the work we get to do each and every single day to get it where we want to be.”

SDSU’s 1-2 start was not unexpected. Heading into the season, most believed losses to Oregon State and Cal were in the future. What is surprising is the way these contests have gone. 

Lewis is among the top offensive minds in college football. Shootouts were expected. Instead, SDSU’s defense has kept the team in both losses. But, without help from the other side of the ball, they wilted late against OSU and Cal.

Postgame, team captain Trey White took ownership of the end-game success of the Aztecs’ opponents, saying that the defense needs more consistent focus, without taking plays off. Be that as it may, Aztec Fast is not holding up its end of the bargain. 

Expecting any defense to basically shutout an opponent while the offense struggles to put points on the board is unrealistic in today’s game. SDSU selected Lewis after a national coaching search because that formula had grown stale under Brady Hoke.  

Progress is challenging to see, but after appearing listless against the Beavers, Lewis’ offense was more competitive against the Bears. SDSU improved in nearly every offensive category from week 2 to week 3. Auburn mustered 286 yards against Cal’s no. 37-ranked defense. The Aztecs managed 276.

“There’s growth that’s being seen,” Lewis said. “I know it’s not showing up on the stat sheet or on the scoreboard, in the win-loss column, and I know that’s what matters. There’s the work that we’re putting in each and every single day, and there’s only 12 of these days that count. We’ve come up short on two of the three that we’ve played.” 

Penalties are the easiest scapegoat to explain the offensive ineptitude. A pair of ineligible man downfield calls erased promising opportunities early in Saturday’s contest. Two holds by Nate Williams and one by Jude Wolfe did the same in the second half. Postgame, Lewis downplayed the significance of these infractions a little.

“The ones that are completely controllable, the ones happening before or after the whistle, those cannot happen,” Lewis said. “There’s certain ones that’s happening between the whistle that we look at in great detail. And we’re very diligent in terms of the art of coaching, how we go about it.” 

“Because there’s some things where you have to toe the line and you don’t want to take away the aggressiveness that this game requires and have your guys play timid or be a step behind because of the way you rectify those situations. So, I don’t think we’re an undisciplined team, but I know that discipline is the solution that we need to emphasize going forward so that pre-snap and post-snap penalties don’t show themselves.”   

Among its 15 penalties, SDSU had five pre or post-whistle infractions. Braden Bryant and Myles Murao had two false starts each. Team captain Marquez Cooper had an unsportsmanlike penalty called after he gestured with his hand what is said scores of times each possession. These five accounted for 35 of the 120 penalty yards against the Aztecs on Saturday.

Lewis’ offense, with its emphasis on spreading the field horizontally, makes holds more likely. The variety of screens and RRO’s tests the limits of illegal man downfield penalties. If the scheme excels and the offense earns more snaps that also increases the number of infractions. 

Lewis-led teams at Kent State averaged 7.7 penalties per game over five seasons. The Golden Eagles were called for fewer infractions in only one season (2019). 

Eliminating penalties under SDSU’s ground-and-pound system was a must. They might be an acceptable risk once Lewis gets his offense humming. An evaluative factor that tests the potency of Lewis’ system in a particular year is the offense’s ability to overcome penalties. Against Cal, they recovered from them better than they had previously.

“(SDSU’s) locker room is unified,” Lewis explained. “That locker room’s connected, and we’re looking forward to doing the work this week during the bye so we can have a great plan for a quality opponent in Central Michigan. But, (I was) pleased with the effort, pleased with the growth. Obviously not satisfied by any means as we continue to go forward with this. The guys are working incredibly hard and that’s going to give us a chance to have success in the future.”

What the loss means

Each week SDSU’s future schedule takes shape. Washington State’s win over Washington and UNLV’s road victory over Kansas makes those games for the Aztecs appear tougher than they were a week ago. Since SDSU could not score an upset against OSU or CAL, it enters a stretch of must-win games if a bowl is in its future. 

Central Michigan, the Red and Black’s next opponent, is 1-3. It lost to Illinois on Saturday 30-9 in a game similar to the Aztecs. The Chippewas were close at half, but its defense cracked in the third quarter after its offense could not get much going. Heading halfway across the country will be a challenge, but coming off a bye week, SDSU needs to find a way. 

Following CMU, SDSU welcomes Hawaii into town. On Saturday, the Rainbow Warriors proved their traditional disparity between playing on and away from the islands continues to exist. They could have beaten UCLA in Week 1 at home. Sam Houston State drubbed Hawaii 31-13 last weekend on the road.

Wyoming is on the schedule after CMU and UH. They are winless in 2024. SDSU will have a puncher’s chance at a bowl if it goes 2-1 over the next three. With WSU, Boise State, and UNLV in the second half of the season, 3-0 might be necessary.

Player of the Game: Trey White

For the second time this year, the local product from Eastlake High School was SDSU’s player of the Game. White spearheaded the most promising aspect of the game for the Aztecs. 

SDSU entered the game with five sacks on the season. They topped that total by one against Berkeley. The effort shot the Aztecs up the NCAA rankings in the category. They are tied for no. 6 nationally with Michigan State, Oklahoma, and Toledo. Rice leads the country with 14. 

White led this charge. He set career highs with 2.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, and six tackles. His stops were tied for the team lead on the evening. 

Auburn had numerous quarterback pressures against Cal. That SDSU was able to match that while finishing more plays than the SEC school speaks volumes.

“I’ve got a lot of hope for this team,” White said. “I feel like the past two weeks we just beat ourselves for sure. I know that 100%. I feel that once we get that right and we come together as a team and pour into each other, we’ll be good.”

Unsung Hero: Jordan Napier

Napier saw action in the second half after Ja’Shaun Poke went down with an injury. He provided the only touchdown of the night with a terrific highlight.

The Aztecs found success against Cal on middle screens on at least three occasions. Wolfe and Michael Harrison impacted the game using the tactic early in the contest. Napier scored his touchdown on it in the fourth quarter.

The SDSU wideout caught the pass at the line of scrimmage, Cal’s 40-yard line. He followed his blocks well before shoving aside one defender and side-stepping another on his way to paydirt. 

“(Napier) maximized the opportunity that he had on that screen pass,” Lewis said. “We talk to our guys all the time, every single one of our ball carriers, about aggressively pursuing the goal line. That’s going to be right now the gold standard that we’ve seen. All of that and his ability to finish that from distance was great to see. He’s been working really hard, and he’s carved out a role.”

Napier’s explosiveness was teased this offseason, but Saturday was the first time he saw consequential action in his career. Against an ACC school, his athleticism shined. 

The Aztecs have succeeded in getting their skill position athletes the ball in space this year. Aside from Napier, the rest of the team has yet to take advantage of it. 

Could more playing time be in Napier’s future as a result? He also had a pair of drops on Saturday, the second of which resulted in an interception. 

Quick Takes

• There were tarp coverings over Cal’s bench. Not only do they protect from weather, but they prevent prying eyes from the coaches’ box. These didn’t exist on SDSU’s sideline. When Cal’s student section, located at midfield, started throwing things at SDSU’s bench, there was no place to hide. About 10 CPH officers stood watching the student section, trying to make them stop.
• QB Kyle Crum deserves mention. Even as he sat third on the depth chart for Saturday’s game, he found ways to contribute. More than an hour before the game, he was throwing extra passes to Louis Brown IV and Nate Bennett.
• K Gabriel Plascencia did not travel with the team. No reason was given, but he is still part of the team.
• Plascencia was the first name the PA announcer said on the night. He assumed he would kick the opening kickoff.
• In warmups, SDSU had 13 defensive linemen on the travel squad. Jared Badie and Wyatt Draegar were absent. 
• During the National Anthem, a few members of Cal’s band took a knee while playing the song. 
• Cal’s returned a kickoff for a touchdown against UC Davis. The Aztecs stopped that with pooch kicks. 
• On spectacular plays, crowds groan. The largest came early when Marquez Cooper leaped over a defender. 
• SDSU huddled some. They did it mostly on third down. 
• Like OSU, Cal stopped Cooper with six in the box.
• Playing like he has all year with a giant club on his hand, Eric Butler used the soft cast to signal fourth down instead of a fist.
• The moment Chris Johnson exited the game, Cal attacked his replacement, Jaleni Whitmore. It resulted in one completion. Whitmore proved comp,etitive and the Bears moved away from him.
• Punter Tyler Pastula’s opening punt of the second half flipped the field after a three-and-out by the offense. It did not matter in the end but it was a winning play. 
• Linebacker Owen Chambliss was injured. He did not start the second half. Cody Moon did. Chambliss came in later but was visibly bothered with what looked like a leg injury.
• Cooper runs better when he starts toward the line instead of heading east and west. 
• Cal’s student section did the “I Believe” chant at the start of the fourth quarter. 

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.