Three thoughts after San Diego State’s 31-29 win over Texas State late Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium:
1. Defying the numbers
Some things defy a reasonable explanation.
Like, if there are billions and billions of planets out there, how come we’ve never come across intelligent life?
Now for an even bigger question.
How the heck did SDSU win its Pac-12 debut?
Texas State outgained SDSU in total offense, 565 yards to 239. The Bobcats controlled possession 40 minutes, 33 seconds of the 60-minute game. They ran 102 plays to SDSU’s 52. And the Aztecs were 1-for-10 on third-down conversions.
All of this suggests a loss. Make that a lopsided loss.
SDSU didn’t go down in defeat because its special teams and defense made play after play after play. Among the biggest was a 96-yard return for a touchdown by Jaylon Hawkins on the second-half kickoff.
That trimmed a 17-3 halftime deficit to a touchdown. SDSU got even on a 2-yard touchdown run by Josiah Lucas after an interception by linebacker Kai Wallin. The Aztecs took a 24-17 lead on a 2-yard TD run by Lucas after a bobbled punt snap by Texas State gave them the ball at the Bobcats’ 7-yard line.
SDSU seemingly put the game on ice when linebacker Cameron Cooper returned an interception 32 yards for a touchdown with 2:47 remaining. That made it 31-22.
Game over? Hardly. Texas State scored seconds later to make it 31-29 with 1:54 left.
SDSU somehow recovered an onside kick that seemingly half the players on the field had a hand on. At that point, one first down would have ended it. SDSU went three-and-out. The Aztecs sweated out not one but two Hail Mary passes before they could finally exhale and enjoy a most improbable victory.
There was no sense spoiling the euphoria of the moment as SDSU coaches and players — and what fans remained to the end — joyously celebrated.
But a day later, a sobering fact again stares the Aztecs in the face — their offense is not good. SDSU ranks 129th in the nation in passing offense, 127th in total offense and 137th in time of possession. There are 138 FBS teams.
The Aztecs must figure out a way to get the offense firing because the best offense can’t be good special teams and defense.
After all, you may win the lottery once. You don’t win it once a week.
2. Stepping up
The Aztecs were shorthanded, with more than a dozen players out because of injury and illness.
SDSU coach Sean Lewis constantly reminds players, “I can’t tell you when your moment’s going to come, but when it does, when the light shines on you, it’s going to reveal the hard work that you’ve done, because you’ve been working while you’re waiting.”
The light shone on several players who, under better circumstances, would have been eased into the lineup.
Like Cooper and Lucas.
Cooper had already made his presence felt earlier in the game on special teams when he got a hand on a 35-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter, causing the ball to flutter harmlessly to the ground a few yards past the line of scrimmage.
The touchdown return loomed even larger. He might not have been in the game had linebacker Tano Letuli not been dinged up during the game.
SDSU linebackers coach Scott White instructs the players to be prepared to meet the moment.
“Coach White tells us to visualize making a play,” said Cooper, who explained that it goes beyond that. “(It’s) everyone making plays for each other.”
Lucas, a true freshman from Arlington, Texas, was in line to redshirt as the youngest member of a loaded running backs room. That was before starter Lucky Sutton and backup Javion Kinnard were injured and senior Christian Washington left the team. When redshirt freshman Jordin Thomas fumbled the first time he carried the ball against James Madison, opportunity knocked for Lucas.
He responded with 21 carries for 111 yards against Texas State. It included four explosive bursts of more than 10 yards that helped him average 5.3 yards a carry.
“I knew I had to come step up big time,” said Lucas, a 5-foot-9, 190-pounder who fought some butterflies early on. “First drive, I was kind of nervous. I’m not going to lie. As I eased into the game, it got easy. Well, not easy, but I just tried to play with the game.”
Lucas was SDSU’s first true freshman running back to put up 100 yards in a game since DJ Pumphrey did it in 2013.
“There’s been a quiet confidence about him,” Lewis said. “He’s one of those kids that you hardly know he’s in the building because he doesn’t say a whole lot. He just works.
“He knew he was going to get his first start this week, and he racked up the work even more. … There’s a humility and a hunger that he’s had.”
San Diego State Aztecs head coach Sean Lewis looks on during the first half of a college football game against the Texas State Bobcats Oct. 3, 2026 in San Diego, Calif. (Photo by Denis Poroy)
3. Emotional victory
How much did the victory in its Pac-12 opener mean, given SDSU’s circumstances with injury and illness, a three-game losing streak and a fourth loss looming the way it looked at halftime?
“I cried out there, so it’s pretty important,” Lewis said.
Lewis joined the players in celebration at the north end zone after the game. They sang the fight song in front of the SDSU band and what few students stuck around for the finish.
The coach slapped a few hands, then started back across the field, where he bumped into John David Wicker. Lewis picked the SDSU AD up off the ground in a big bear hug.
Lewis continued a few more steps and came across his family near midfield. He hugged his 10-year-old son, then his wife, then his 6-year-old daughter. Then they hugged it out some more as a family. Lewis wiped a tear from each eye as he left the field.
In the postgame press conference, Lewis sat with his daughter on his lap with his son in a chair by his side.
“There’s a lot that you carry when you’re in the leadership position that you know that you signed up for,” Lewis said. “The crown can be shiny, but man, it can be heavy at times.
“There’s a lot of sacrifices that my family makes, that all the families of leadership, the family of our staff, and to have them here with me, and, hopefully, for them to be proud of how they see their dad show up for them.
“When I see the sacrifices they’re making and knowing that they are always going to have my back, and that they’re there to love and support me in that moment, I’m human, too. There’s a lot that was lifted in that moment. Real men cry.”