{"id":499954,"date":"2026-10-18T07:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T07:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/499954\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T07:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T07:18:09","slug":"aztecs-beat-fresno-state-with-last-minute-field-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/499954\/","title":{"rendered":"Aztecs beat Fresno State with last-minute field goal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Smarting from last week\u2019s smackdown, San Diego State made a case for the defense, showed signs of life on offense and added a flair for the dramatic Saturday night against Fresno State.<\/p>\n

SDSU stopped the Bulldogs early and often while assuming a first-half lead, fell behind early in the second half, then put together a pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives for a 26-23 victory before an announced crowd of 21,847 (14,181 turnstile) at Snapdragon Stadium.<\/p>\n

Fresno State missed an extra point after a touchdown with 4:45 remaining, leaving the score tied 23-23. SDSU kicker Cooper DiLeva\u2019s fourth field goal of the game, a career-long 53-yarder with 57 seconds left, made the difference.<\/p>\n

After the SDSU defense made one more stop, SDSU ran out the clock and SDSU players ran and got The Old Oil Can Trophy to hoist and hug late into the night.<\/p>\n

SDSU (3-4, 2-1 Pac-12) came into the game ranked 135th in the nation out of 138 teams in total defense (477.8 ypg) \u2014 plummeting after allowing 651 yards in a 66-14 loss at Oregon State. Against Fresno State (4-3, 1-2), the SDSU defense forced three punts and recovered a fumble the first four times the Bulldogs had the ball. It limited Fresno State to 276 yards in total offense and sacked Bulldogs quarterback Jayden Mandal six times, including three by edge Kai Wallin.<\/p>\n

DiLeva made three first-half field goals, and quarterback Jayden Denegal threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jaylon Hawkins to give the Aztecs a 16-10 halftime lead.<\/p>\n

\"JacobJacob Bostick #17 and Jaylon Hawkins #12 of San Diego State celebrate after a touchdown against Fresno State during their game at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

The beleaguered Denegal was 7-for-10 for 112 yards and a touchdown before suffering a knee injury with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half. Denegal was hit by a defender while attempting a long throw that fell incomplete. He was gimpy when he got up, tried to walk it off, then took a knee and called for a trainer. After some examination, Denegal limped off and the Aztecs turned to Stone.<\/p>\n

Redshirt freshman transfer Stone Saunders replaced Denegal, taking the field for the first time since breaking his collarbone in the season opener against Portland State. It was not an auspicious beginning.<\/p>\n

When Saunders (6-for-11, 61 yards) clapped for the snap, the ball hit motioning tight end KIme Fangupo before Saunders could get his hands on it and Fresno State\u2019s Dylan Hampsten recovered the loose ball.<\/p>\n

Fresno State, which had managed only a field goal to that point, had the ball at the SDSU 38. Four plays later, the Bulldogs had a touchdown that trimmed SDSU\u2019s lead to 13-10 with four minutes remaining in the second quarter.<\/p>\n

DiLeva kicked a 40-yard field goal with 1 second left in the first half to make it 16-10 at intermission. That made him 7-for-7 on field goals on the season. DiLeva suffered his first miss five minutes into the third quarter when he was wide right on a 43-yard attempt.<\/p>\n

That put the pressure back on the SDSU defense to preserve the lead. This time, the Aztecs couldn\u2019t make a stop.<\/p>\n

Mandal (13-for-25, 141 yards) guided Fresno State on a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped by Julius Gillick\u2019s 7-yard touchdown run. That gave the Bulldogs their first lead, 17-16, with 5:16 remaining in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

\"JavionJavion Kinnard of San Diego State holds The Old Oil Can trophy after the Aztecs\u2019 defeated Fresno State during their game at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

SDSU responded early in the fourth quarter with a 92-yard drive that ended with some razzle dazzle. Wide receiver Bert Emanuel Jr. took a handoff from Saunders, then shoveled a pass to wide receiver Jordan Napier, who navigated his way to the left corner of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown and a 23-17 lead.<\/p>\n

Most of the heavy lifting, or hard running, was done by Sutton (18 carries, 110 yards). His career-long 67-yard run on the first play of the drive was SDSU\u2019s longest play from scrimmage this season.<\/p>\n

Fresno State got a 2-yard touchdown by Gillick with 4:45 remaining, but kicker Manaki Watanabe missed the extra point and it was 23-23.<\/p>\n

That left time for a game-winning drive and a bit of redemption for the Aztecs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Smarting from last week\u2019s smackdown, San Diego State made a case for the defense, showed signs of life…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499955,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1327,181,74,76,75,305,127,1696],"class_list":["post-499954","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","tag-top-stories-sdut"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499954","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=499954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}