{"id":477797,"date":"2026-09-27T23:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T23:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/477797\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T23:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T23:48:09","slug":"3-major-questions-facing-san-diego-state-before-historic-pac-12-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/477797\/","title":{"rendered":"3 major questions facing San Diego State before historic Pac-12 opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0San Diego State Aztecs\u00a0<\/a>and their fans have been looking forward to Saturday night for years, if not decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Aztecs will host the Texas State Bobcats in the historic Pac-12 Conference opener for both teams at 7:30 p.m. at Snapdragon Stadium.<\/p>\n

But it won\u2019t be very festive if the Aztecs (1-3) can\u2019t quickly fix some glaring problems during the next six days.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re going into Saturday night on a three-game losing streak after an ugly 41-16 rout at Toledo. To make things worse, they lost their top two running backs, 1,000-yard rusher Lucky Sutton and Javion \u201cChop\u201d Kinnard, to injuries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are the three problems the Aztecs must fix before their Pac-12 opener.<\/p>\n

1. Will Lucky Sutton or Javion Kinnard be available?<\/p>\n

The Aztecs offered no updates on the injuries to Sutton, who appeared to aggravate the high ankle sprain that kept him out of a home loss to JMU the week before, or Kinnard, who appeared to injure his left knee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both backs had to be helped off the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be a massive blow if both are lost for any stretch of games. Sutton was last year\u2019s Mountain West rushing champion with 1,297 yards, and Kinnard was coming off a huge game against JMU, when he rushed for 181 yards and had 70 yards receiving.<\/p>\n

The Aztecs are now down to redshirt freshman Jordin Thomas and freshman Josiah Lucas. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that senior running back Christian Washington left the team at the start of the week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To make things worse, Thomas fumbled in SDSU territory in the third quarter, but Toledo wasn\u2019t able to capitalize when it missed a field goal attempt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s levels to it, right?\u201d coach Sean Lewis said. \u201cThere’s a reason why Lucky is Lucky. Obviously, Chop emerged and they\u2019re our one, they\u2019re our two, now you’re down to your three and your\u00a0four.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sutton, Kinnard, Thomas and Lucas are the only running backs currently listed on SDSU\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd again, those young kids have got great futures, but there’s a reason they are our three and our four,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cThey\u2019ve got to do a great job valuing the football. We\u00a0can’t give a turnover where we have a fair-fight run and we have a positive play and then the ball comes out. So then we give momentum back to their side.\u00a0That impacts things obviously. That was felt and that was seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our fans and obviously us are accustomed to running the ball\u00a0significantly better and having your top two backs a part of that is a big piece of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Does San Diego State have a quarterback decision to make?<\/p>\n

Senior\u00a0quarterback Jayden Denegal threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ryan Wolfer, but he also threw a 67-yard pick-six. He\u2019s now thrown five touchdown passes and five interceptions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Denegal made way for redshirt freshman Draiden Trudeau with less than six minutes left. It wasn\u2019t clear whether he was benched or just taken out to keep him healthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Denegal was 19 of 31 (61%) for 206 yards.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trudeau moved the Aztecs down the field in the closing minutes and threw a 14-yard TD pass to Jaylon Hawkins.<\/p>\n

Lewis didn\u2019t offer any thoughts on what will happen at quarterback moving forward. Backup Stone Saunders broke his collarbone against Portland State on opening night. Bert Emanuel Jr., the backup QB last year, was moved to wide receiver during spring ball.<\/p>\n

3. What happened to Bert Emanuel Jr.?<\/p>\n

Speaking of Emanuel, one of the top storylines of spring was his switch to wide receiver to take advantage of his skills. It made total sense following his incredible performance in place of Denegal at the New Mexico Bowl, when he gained 170 yards and scored twice on just 11 carries before getting hurt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he caught just five passes for 60 yards and no touchdowns in the first three games. He apparently wasn\u2019t even on the sideline during the Toledo game. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the school gave no reason for his absence. It also reported that there have been some cases of mumps on the team.<\/p>\n

Up next<\/p>\n

Texas State is 2-2 going into its first meeting with SDSU. The game will air on The CW starting at 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

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