For all its success this season, the San Diego State football team has had its share of ups and downs on the road.
SDSU (9-2, 5-1 Mountain West) suffered both of its losses away from home, falling 36-13 at Washington State and 38-6 at Hawaii. The Aztecs also won narrowly at Northern Illinois (6-3) and posted lopsided victories at Nevada (44-10) and Fresno State (23-0).
The regular season concludes Friday at New Mexico (8-3, 5-2 MW), which is enjoying its first winning season in a decade.
“We get the opportunity to prove that we’re a good team on the road,” SDSU coach Sean Lewis said. “Those are good opportunities, great fuel for the fire, that enhance our focus and let us know again that the job’s not finished. It narrows our purpose. It narrows our focus.
“We’re going to be judged by what this one is, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
SDSU is a win away from claiming the regular season conference title and hosting the Dec. 5 Mountain West championship game. The Aztecs opened as a 2 1/2-point favorite against New Mexico, indicating expectations are for a solid showing in Albuquerque.
What did SDSU learn from its struggles at Washington State and Hawaii?
“The very first (loss), I think there was a lack of humility on the club that has been corrected,” Lewis said. “Our guys have remained humble, they’ve remained hungry.”
SDSU was coming off a 42-0 season-opening win against Stony Brook when it went to Wazzu, which barely beat Idaho in its opener.
“I think we thought we were so much better than we were and maybe didn’t respect the process of winning and respect the opponent at the level that we needed to,” Lewis said. “Those are all things that internally we’ve controlled and now are hyperfocused on. Again, that’s just how this team has matured. I say that in a very positive light.”
As for the Hawaii loss, Lewis said, “we had a lot of really good players that for the first time weren’t playing and we needed guys to step into roles that they hadn’t been accustomed to.”
The most notable absences were on defense, where starting linebacker Tano Letuli and cornerback Chris Johnson were sidelined with injuries.
“We’ve learned from that,” Lewis said. “As much as I’d like to win every single game, I also recognize and understand that everything that has happened to this team, in my opinion, is truly working for us, allowing us to become the best version of ourselves.”
Lewis said he doesn’t look at them as losses.
“I know they show up as ‘Ls’ on the record,” he said. “I’d love for that to be a clean sheet, but I truly believe this team has embraced the idea that we win or we learn. Even in the wins, there’s still margins (of improvement) that we can chase. Obviously, when we’ve come up short we’ve responded properly (with wins over Cal and Boise State after the losses). You have to continue to take from those lessons and grow as we move forward.”
Traveling on Thanksgiving
The rare Friday kickoff means SDSU will be traveling on Thursday — Thanksgiving Day.
“It’s unique the lifestyle that we have chosen, that we’ve signed up for,” Lewis said. “We’ll do our normal travel walk-through, our normal meetings and prep here in the building. We’ll get down to Albuquerque safely and then when we get down there we’ll have Thanksgiving dinner in the hotel together.
“Obviously, we’re pretty proud of the connection that we’ve created in this culture and within this football family. So we’ll give thanks together, interweave the holiday fun with our football business. As we’ve talked about, the work is the reward.”
Turkey time?
The most controversial moment Monday during Lewis’ weekly press came when the discussion turned to the traditional Thanksgiving meal.
Lewis said he enjoys a three-bean casserole, sweet potatoes from Ruth’s Chris Steak House and a side of mac and cheese.
Then came this bombshell: “I prefer a good ham over a turkey. That’s probably a controversial take, but I’ll throw it out there. I think Thanksgiving is an overrated meal.”
To prove his point, Lewis raised the hypothetical question all of us have considered at one time or another: What would you choose for your last meal?
“I’ve never heard in any of those conversations, those hypotheticals, someone say Thanksgiving dinner,” Lewis said. “The traditions and the fellowship, I absolutely love. The meal itself, give me a good ribeye, and I’ll enjoy that.”
What about dessert?
“Pies,” he said. “Give me all the pies. I do enjoy the pies. Absolutely.”
A bust of Don Coryell, in the holiday spirit, is adjacent to the 2015 Mountain West championship trophy in the SDSU football office. (Kirk Kenney / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Channeling Coryell
The entrance to the SDSU football office includes several conference championship and bowl trophies. There also is a bust of Don Coryell, the winningest coach in SDSU history.
“As a young kid growing up in the Midwest, I knew about the Aztecs,” Lewis said. “I didn’t know much about very many West Coast teams, but you knew the legacy of the Aztecs.
“To have the opportunity and the great honor to sit in the seat like I do, to walk by Coach Coryell’s statue each morning and ask him, ‘Hey, I hope I’m making you proud, if you’ve got any wisdom for me, please let me know.’
“Sometimes he talks back. Maybe that’s just a lack of sleep, but I’d like to think he’s listening to me.”
What does he say?
“He said, ‘Just keep doing what you’re doing. I think you’re doing right. You’re giving your all.”
Did Coryell, famously suspicious of outsiders trying to steal secrets, warn Lewis about spies on the hillsides peering into practices?
“He didn’t say anything about the spies on the hill,” Lewis said. “We did have a drone at one point flying over our practice, though. As a paranoid ball coach, we paused practice and made sure that we weren’t being filmed. … We stopped, it zoomed off and on we went.”
Notable
• The Aztecs are tied for second in the nation in scoring defense with Indiana at 11.6 points a game. Top-ranked Ohio State is allowing 7.6 points a game. The Aztecs defense ranks 16th in rushing defense (103.2 ypg) and sixth in both passing defense (159.7 ypg) and total defense (262.9).
• SDSU running back Lucky Sutton remains among the top 10 in the nation in rushing yards, ranking ninth with 1127 yards. Sutton, who has rushed for nine touchdowns, is averaging 5.2 yards a carry.
• SDSU kicker Gabe Plascencia is 18-for-20 in field goals this season and 35-for-38 for his career. His 92.1% career field goal percentage is the highest in NCAA FBS history.
• SDSU cornerback Chris Johnson is tied for 10th in the nation with four interceptions this season. Louisiana Tech’s Jakari Foster leads the country with six.