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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)\n3. Emotional victory<\/p>\n
Three thoughts after San Diego State\u2019s 31-29 win over Texas State late Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium:<\/p>\n
1. Defying the numbers<\/p>\n
Some things defy a reasonable explanation.<\/p>\n
Like, if there are billions and billions of planets out there, how come we\u2019ve never come across intelligent life?<\/p>\n
Now for an even bigger question.<\/p>\n
How the heck did SDSU win its Pac-12 debut?<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 52. And the Aztecs were 1-for-10 on third-down conversions.<\/p>\n
All of this suggests a loss. Make that a lopsided loss.<\/p>\n
SDSU didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019 7-yard line.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Game over? Hardly. Texas State scored seconds later to make it 31-29 with 1:54 left.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
There was no sense spoiling the euphoria of the moment as SDSU coaches and players \u2014 and what fans remained to the end \u2014 joyously celebrated.<\/p>\n
But a day later, a sobering fact again stares the Aztecs in the face \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
The Aztecs must figure out a way to get the offense firing because the best offense can\u2019t be good special teams and defense.<\/p>\n
After all, you may win the lottery once. You don\u2019t win it once a week.<\/p>\n
2. Stepping up<\/p>\n
The Aztecs were shorthanded, with more than a dozen players out because of injury and illness.<\/p>\n
SDSU coach Sean Lewis constantly reminds players, \u201cI can\u2019t tell you when your moment\u2019s going to come, but when it does, when the light shines on you, it\u2019s going to reveal the hard work that you\u2019ve done, because you\u2019ve been working while you\u2019re waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The light shone on several players who, under better circumstances, would have been eased into the lineup.<\/p>\n
Like Cooper and Lucas.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
SDSU linebackers coach Scott White instructs the players to be prepared to meet the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoach White tells us to visualize making a play,\u201d said Cooper, who explained that it goes beyond that. \u201c(It\u2019s) everyone making plays for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I had to come step up big time,\u201d said Lucas, a 5-foot-9, 190-pounder who fought some butterflies early on. \u201cFirst drive, I was kind of nervous. I\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucas was SDSU\u2019s first true freshman running back to put up 100 yards in a game since DJ Pumphrey did it in 2013.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been a quiet confidence about him,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of those kids that you hardly know he\u2019s in the building because he doesn\u2019t say a whole lot. He just works.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew he was going to get his first start this week, and he racked up the work even more. \u2026 There\u2019s a humility and a hunger that he\u2019s had.\u201d<\/p>\n
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)
\n3. Emotional victory<\/p>\n
How much did the victory in its Pac-12 opener mean, given SDSU\u2019s circumstances with injury and illness, a three-game losing streak and a fourth loss looming the way it looked at halftime?<\/p>\n
\u201cI cried out there, so it\u2019s pretty important,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In the postgame press conference, Lewis sat with his daughter on his lap with his son in a chair by his side.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot that you carry when you\u2019re in the leadership position that you know that you signed up for,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cThe crown can be shiny, but man, it can be heavy at times.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I see the sacrifices they\u2019re making and knowing that they are always going to have my back, and that they\u2019re there to love and support me in that moment, I\u2019m human, too. There\u2019s a lot that was lifted in that moment. Real men cry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three thoughts after San Diego State\u2019s 31-29 win over Texas State late Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium: 1.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1327,181,74,76,75,305,127],"class_list":["post-485320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-college-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-sdsu-aztecs","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}