Three thoughts after San Diego State’s 56-49 loss to Colorado State on Saturday night at Canvas Stadium.
1. QB or not QB?
The philosophy that a player can’t lose his starting spot to injury dates back decades.
The most famous instance for San Diego State occurred in 1991, when running back T.C. Wright was injured in the first quarter against Pacific.
Wright left the game with a bruised thigh. Freshman Marshall Faulk came in and rushed for 386 yards and seven touchdowns. Afterward, SDSU coach Al Luginbill said Wright was still the starter.
Can’t lose your spot to injury? How about losing it to a future Hall of Famer?
Faulk was the starter soon enough, and the rest was history.
That brings us to Saturday’s performance by redshirt freshman quarterback Stone Saunders, who was 23-for-33 for 369 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. It was the best starting debut on the road in program history.
Granted, this was against the worst defense in the nation, but plenty still could be gleaned from the performance.
On SDSU’s first play, Saunders threw a short inside pass to Jaylon Hawkins that the wide receiver turned into a 46-yard gain. Saunders made a deep throw on the next drive that Hawkins hauled in for a 45-yard gain. In the second quarter, Saunders threw 50 yards downfield to wide receiver Bert Emanuel Jr., who had a catchable ball go just off his hands.
Saunders threw a ball from the midfield logo in the third quarter that dropped into Hawkins arms at the right front corner of the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown. The fourth quarter included a short pass to Jordan Napier that the receiver turned into a 24-yard touchdown.
Of course, there also was the throw at the line of scrimmage that Colorado State safety Tre’Shawn Moore intercepted and returned 38 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter. Injured starting quarterback Jayden Denegal was notably the first to meet Saunders coming off the field, offering a few words of encouragement and a tap on the helmet.
The point of all this is that Saunders was largely on target short, long and in between, guiding several sustained drives downfield.
SDSU came into the game ranked 135th in the nation in third-down conversions (29.4%), failing to reach 50% against any of the Aztecs’ six FBS opponents. They were 8-for-13 (61.5%) on third down against the Rams.
Lewis was asked last week about his policy on injured players retaining their starting spot when they’re healthy.
“It’s very specific in the player policy manual that your job is your job,” Lewis said. “You won’t lose it due to injury, unless you have been significantly outplayed. … The starter’s the starter for a reason. If the No. 2, whatever the position, does come in, he better play so exceedingly well that everyone in the organization goes, ‘Hey, it’s clear as day. Like, Ray Charles could see that he should be the starter.’”
It would not be surprising for Denegal to need at least another week for his injured right ankle to heal, giving Saunders another start on Saturday against Washington State. SDSU is off the following week, then returns Nov. 7 against Utah State.
Denegal could be healthy when the Aggies come to town. The question is whether his starting spot will still be there when he’s ready to return.
2. About that defense
SDSU lost nine starters from a unit that ranked sixth nationally in scoring defense and 11th nationally in total defense last year.
The departures included cornerback Chris Johnson, who was selected in the first round of the 2026 NFL draft, and four others who transferred to Power Four programs, led by edge Trey White.
So a dropoff on defense was to be expected this season. What no one expected was such a steep decline.
Holding No. 7-ranked UCLA scoreless in the first half of a Week 2 loss is a head-scratcher for an Aztecs’ defense that has been bad much of the season. Not just bad, but now historically bad after giving up 49 points and 549 total yards at Colorado State.
Rams receivers ran wild and free all over the field throughout the game. Colorado State quarterback Heuss Hejny connected with them short and long while completing 24 of 31 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns.
SDSU got little pressure on Hejny (no sacks) and failed to contain the quarterback, who rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Rams running backs often ran undisturbed (no tackles for loss), breaking some tackles while making the Aztecs miss other tackles altogether.
Through eight games, SDSU ranks 109th in rushing defense (177.9 ypg), 134th in pass defense (283.6 ypg), 135th in total defense (461.5 ypg) and 133rd in scoring defense (36.1 ppg). The Aztecs also are 129th in third-down defense (47.1%).
In its Division I history (since 1969), the Aztecs have allowed more passing yards only twice — in 1991 (303.5 ypg) and 1995 (300.5) — over the course of the season.
They have allowed more total yards only once, in 2007 (498.2 ypg).
They have allowed more points per game only once, in 2008 (37.2 ppg).
“There’s a lot of moments defensively where we’re in the spots and we need to do a good job driving and finishing and tackling at the moment of truth,” Lewis said during his postgame press conference. “We can do a better job as a staff to put them in the best position possible to be successful.”
3. Just win, baby?
SDSU averaged nine wins a year during Rocky Long’s nine-year run as head coach from 2011 to 2019, capping each season with a bowl appearance. That, after the Aztecs had averaged fewer than four wins a year — getting zero bowl bids — over the first decade of the 21st century.
Long’s recipe for winning was somewhat simple: play good, tough defense, use a ball-control offense focused on the run and limit turnovers. It worked.
Spoiled by success, SDSU fans began grumbling late in the Long run that the Aztecs were becoming boring. That bit about winning not being everything but the only thing? Not as far as fans were concerned. A sarcastic sentiment inside the SDSU football office at the time was that Aztecs fans would be happier with a 48-45 loss than a 6-3 win.
And there it was on Sunday morning before sunrise. Confirmation.
A social media post on X from @AztecCommenter: “I’ll say it, I don’t care that we lost. That was the most fun football game I’ve seen of the Aztecs since I’ve been rooting for them in the last 15 years.”