San Diego State got off to a good start in Saturday afternoon’s game at Toledo, scoring on its opening drive for the first time in four games this season and producing first-half points for the first time in three games.
Who knew kicker Cooper DiLeva’s 25-yard field goal three minutes into the game also would be just about the Aztecs’ only highlight of the game?
SDSU’s offense was AWOL the remainder of the first half. Turnovers made it even worse in the second half of a 41-16 loss to Toledo (3-1) before an announced crowd of 22,126 at the Glass Bowl. It was the third straight loss for SDSU (1-3), which makes its Pac-12 debut next week against Texas State.
“That ain’t it, guys,” SDSU coach Sean Lewis said in a postgame interview with San Diego Sports 760. “Obviously, execution is not where it needs to be. Coaching is not where it needs to be. … Getting healthy would help. We’ve got to get healthy in some ways. I don’t know how quickly that’s going to happen. Those are things that we cannot control.
“We’ve got to continue to build the depth of our roster so that we can go compete at a higher level and give a better fight against a really good Texas State team that’s coming in.”
SDSU trailed 17-3 at halftime against Toledo and tried to surprise the Rockets with an onside kick to open the second half. DiLeva’s kick went off the leg of SDSU’s Dean Harrington and was covered by the Rockets at the SDSU 38-yard line.
Toledo scored on the next play, when quarterback John Alan Richter (16-for-22, 284 yards, 3 TDs) hit wide receiver Bryson Hammer (6 catches, 133 yards, 2 TDs) in stride for a 38-yard touchdown pass. The duo had connected in the first half for a 78-yard score on a blown coverage by the SDSU defense. That expanded the lead to 24-3. It was 34-3 before SDSU scored again.
And so it went for the Aztecs, who added injury to insult with their top two running backs both getting hurt in the game.
Lucky Sutton returned to the starting lineup after missing last week’s game against James Madison with a high ankle sprain.
Sutton was injured again two minutes into the second half, grabbing his left ankle after blocking on a second-down play.
Javion Kinnard, who had 251 all-purpose yards subbing for Sutton last week, was injured when he was stuffed at the line on a carry up the middle with six minutes left in the first quarter. Kinnard’s left knee was examined before he was helped off the field.
“We’ll get back home here and get some more tests and make the plans accordingly, based off guys’ availability,” Lewis said.
Since senior Christian Washington left the team at the start of the week, SDSU’s deep running backs room suddenly was down to redshirt freshman Jordin Thomas and true freshman Josiah Lucas.
Thomas was in the backfield for SDSU’s next offensive drive. He fumbled on his first carry, with Toledo’s Julian Fox returning the ball to the SDSU 13-yard line.
The Aztecs were fortunate the score didn’t get worse when Toledo missed a 43-yard field goal attempt.
Things got worse moments later, when SDSU quarterback Jayden Denegal (19-for-31, 206 yards, TD/INT) had a pass intercepted at the line of scrimmage by Toledo’s Isaac Zay and returned 67 yards for a touchdown.
San Diego State wide receiver Donovan Brown runs with a first-quarter catch against Toledo. (Justin Truong/ SDSU Athletics)
The score gave Toledo a 34-3 lead with 6 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
SDSU finally found the end zone with 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Denegal found tight end Ryan Wolfer on fourth-and-goal in the left corner of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion failed and it was 34-9.
Toledo responded with a 73-yard drive that ended with running back Connor Walendzak’s 1-yard touchdown run to make it 41-9 with 12 minutes to play.
Interestingly enough, SDSU opened the game with four straight pass attempts to tight end Jackson Ford, who came into the game with one reception on the season. Ford caught three of the passes from quarterback Jayden Denegal, advancing the Aztecs 25 yards for a pair of first downs.
A 38-yard pass from Denegal to wide receiver Donovan Brown moved the ball to the Toledo 12-yard line. The drive stalled at that point, and DiLeva was called on for the field goal.
SDSU stopped Toledo on its first drive, but the Aztecs offense went three-and-out on its second possession.
Tashi Dorje, the nation’s seventh-leading punter with a 47.3-yard average, had the ball go off the side of his foot on the ensuing punt and it traveled only 22 yards.
That enabled Toledo to start on the SDSU side of the field. The Rockets went 45 yards in three plays, scoring on Richter’s 19-yard pass to wide receiver Adjatay Dabbs for a 7-3 lead midway through the first quarter. Toledo added a 38-yard field goal with five minutes remaining in the first quarter, giving the Rocket a 10-3.
“He’s a really good player,” Lewis said of Richter. “They have a really good scheme. They have explosive wide receivers. The O-line was solid and gave him good protection. He made good decisions, and that’s what he’s done to everyone thus far this year.”
Notable
• SDSU wide receiver Bert Emanuel Jr. did not play and was not seen on the sideline. No explanation was given for Emanuel’s absence, although the Aztecs have been dealing with cases of the mumps on the team the past two weeks. There were three confirmed cases and two suspected cases on the team last week. Two players reportedly tested positive for mumps this week, according to sources.
• Brown and left guard Kalan Ellis returned to the lineup after missing last week’s game. No explanation for their absences was provided, though it was not believed to be injury-related. Brown had four catches for 51 yards in the game.
• Redshirt freshman quarterback Draiden Trudeau (4-for-5, 53 yards, TD) replaced Denegal midway through the fourth quarter. Trudeau threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jaylon Hawkins with 2:38 remaining in the game to make it 41-16. Trudeau moved from third string to the backup QB role after redshirt freshman transfer Stone Saunders broke his collarbone in the season opener against Portland State.
• The Aztecs managed just 10 rushing yards on 14 carries in the first half. They finished with 31 carries for 48 yards. Kinnard had three carries for four yards and Sutton eight carries for 11 yards before they were injured. Lucas led the Aztecs with nine carries for 11 yards.
Toledo rushed 48 times for 210 yards and outgained the Aztecs 494-296 in total yards.
• Ford finished with a team-high five catches for 35 yards. Wide receiver Jacob Bostick’s three catches went for a team-high 69 yards.
Up next
Texas State was 1-2 on the season coming into Saturday afternoon’s home game against UTSA. The Bobcats play SDSU on Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Snapdragon Stadium (The CW).