The 2024 San Diego State football season began Saturday, August 31 as the Aztecs beat their FCS opponent Texas A&M Commerce Lions, 45-14. The 25,180 crowd witnessed Sean Lewis’ first victory as Head coach of the Aztecs.
By all the odds makers and meteorologist accounts, the game figured to be a breeze.
But the excitement of starting out in the win column didn’t come without a ton of pressure to start this ‘new era’ of Aztecs football.
The game began with SDSU’s first possession and went as follows:
Two rushes for minimal yardage, two penalties on veteran lineman Ross Ulugalu-Maseuli, and two incompletions by starting true freshman QB Danny O’Neil. Punt.
The 0:57 in possession time. Not exactly the AztecFast we had in mind.
By the end of the first half, it was a lone 50-yard boot of a field goal by Gabriel Plascencia that shown any evidence that this team had shown up at Snapdragon Stadium.
And then in the 2nd half, the boys opened up the engine and left the Lions in the dust.
But i digress, consider this …
SDSU football is in dire need of a bounce back year. Coming off their first losing season in over a decade, lack of ticket sales, and a slumping economy, you knew whoever was going to be in that stadium on a holiday weekend, truly were diehard fans invested in this program’s future.
Sean Lewis and the program, have hyped up his ‘AztecFast’ brand of football and excited the team’s supporters with visions of Air Coryell in their mind.
Leading into this season opener, Lewis lived up to his aggressive ‘Be the Alpha’ mantra, when he declared true freshman quarterback Danny O’Neil his QB1—a first ever in the modern day SDSU football history.
Pretty safe to say this Aztecs program has no lack of … how do you say, cajones.
Let’s see what we can take away from the big win.
Less Lambo, More Cooper
A sign of this new attitude was seen early in the recruiting process this year when Aztec staff invited prospective players to pose in the end zone with flashy sports cars and luxurious rides. In Saturday’s opening winner, the Aztecs were powering their way to the end zone by a Mini Cooper (Don’t tell him we nicknamed him that).
Marquez Cooper that is. The 5’7″ 200 lb. senior transfer RB gashed the Lions defense on his way to an untouched 47 yard touchdown run early in the 3rd quarter. The run gave the Aztecs the lead and led to the rest of Cooper’s 224 yards and 2 TD night.
Cooper, a previous player under coach Lewis at Kent State, knows this offensive scheme very well. Him taking the lion-share of the RB carries was key in establishing the run game and getting the offense in rhythm.
Cooper really demonstrated his skillset, with a patient & instinctual running style. He brilliantly set-up his blocks and showed explosiveness reminiscent of the days of former Aztec greats.
“Just being at San Diego State every day feels amazing .. with guys to chase their greatness … Marshall Faulk, Rashaad Penny, and Donnel Pumphrey I chase those guys every day.” Cooper made known in his first post game presser.
Danny Dimes, Danny Shines
For the true freshman QB O’Neil, the first outing was as good as you could ask for. Not without his early inaccuracies, O’Neil commanded the no huddle offense well and lead the team to victory.
Behind his stat line of 22-33 completions for 214 yards and 2 TDs, the most crucial number missing is the interceptions. Because there weren’t any.
In fact, one of the things you love to see, was Danny’s four big chunk plays in this offense through the air. Those passing plays included went for 25, 29, 39, and the highlight worthy 44 yard touchdown pass to Louis Brown IV.
Danny got increasingly comfortable in the flow of the offense as the game went on, as did his offensive live giving him time. Of his 11 incompletions on the night, 10 of them came in the first half as he went 11 for 12 for 130 yards and both touchdowns all in the 2nd half.
His pass efficiency rating for that 2nd half alone spiked to 237.67.
O’Neil was sacked twice in the game and took a couple hits, but his 5 carries for 37 yards and a long of 28 in one play, also demonstrated his knack as a runner. Which was one of my big questions coming in with his size.
What else did we learn?
For starters the opponent was an FCS team that no one has ever heard about, unless you are a member of the Luis Perez fan club in Chula Vista. So even if the Aztecs string together a few victories in this early season, it’s a far cry from being invited to the College Football Playoff.
But our new era Aztecs did prove they can execute the offense against a real opponent. The moment was not too big for Danny O’Neil as QB1. The wide receiver corps, though currently banged up a bit, has some solid depth with Ja’Shaun Poke, Louis Brown IV, and Jordan Napier stepping up.
The offensive line played physical and showed some depth with Christian Jones being the next man up when Joe Borjon went down with an injury. But questions abound if another injury should take place on that unit.
The defense proved they can be ultra-opportunistic creating turnovers and scoring off them. A fumble recovery in the end zone by team captain Tano Letuli and pick six by JD Coffey III in the 2nd half were huge momentum builders.
But despite all the good we saw, the penalties (16 of them for over 150 yards, good lord) and the slow starts cannot happen with the schedule the Aztecs have this year. Especially against a true to form FBS team.
We will take some more looks at the Oregon State Beavers coming to San Diego this weekend and have more insights to the team as the days get closer. Until then, all Aztec Nation should feel electrified by the new looks we have seen so far.
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4 Responses
Great write up!
Thank you Will for reading. Big test coming up in week 2 vs Oregon State.
Nice review
Good analysis. It was good to see the team overcome some adversity, which we would not have seen without the early QB apparent jitters and the mental errors/penalties. The coach and team responded well for the expected win. That bodes well for this coming week. Go Aztecs!