In their final season as a founding member of the Mountain West Conference, of which many Aztecs fans can’t wait to be done with, San Diego State is hoping to go out with a bang. Or at least much better than last year’s finish.
For the last two seasons, Boise State and UNLV have faced off in the Mountain West Conference championship game. Don’t expect much to change in 2025. In the MWC Football Preseason Poll, the Broncos captured 35 of the 39 first-place votes. The Rebels picked up the other four.
Rounding out the top five were #3 San Jose State, #4 Colorado State and #5 Fresno State. “Where’s San Diego State’s predicted finish, you ask?” The Red & Black slot in at #8, out of 12. Not good.
The reason for Boise State’s favored status is pretty clear – they have the most talent. The 2025 Preseason All-Mountain West Football Team featured 10 Broncos on the first team, five for the offense and five for the defense. No other team had more than three players in total earn preseason first-team selections.
Leading the way for the Smurf-turf residents is the Preseason Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year Maddux Madsen. The junior quarterback led the conference with 3,018 passing yards and 23 passing touchdowns a year ago, while finishing the season second in the league with a 142.5 passing efficiency.
Behind Madsen and recently departed Heisman finalist running back Ashton Jeanty, Boise State ended the year with a 12-2 record, a perfect 7-0 MW mark in league play, a win over UNLV in the Old Trapper Mountain West Football Championship game, and a spot in the College Football Playoff. With talent on both sides of the ball, there is little to suggest BSU won’t be back in the title tilt in December.
Waiting for another shot at the Broncos and their crown will likely be UNLV. The Rebels gave Boise a game in the MWC championship contest before falling 29-24. But familiar faces will be few and far between for the team from Southern Nevada.
After a successful 11-3 season, UNLV lost Head Coach Barry Odom to Purdue and a ton of talent to graduation and the transfer portal. Incoming head man Dan Mullen (Mississippi State and Florida previously) inherits a roster with only two returning starters.
Junior running back Jai’Den Thomas and fifth-year senior linebacker Marsel McDuffie were both named to the Preseason All-Mountain West Football squad and will look to lead a bunch of talented transfers to the top of the MWC.
An interesting quarterback battle took place leading up to the season with transfers Anthony Colandrea (Virginia) and Alex Orji (Michigan) competing for the QB1 spot. Colandrea eventually won the job and started in the Rebels’ 38-31 opening week home win over Idaho State. He went 15-21 for 195 yards and one touchdown. Showing off his rushing talents, the junior QB rushed 13 times for 124 yards.
But the real star of the game was Thomas. The lone returning starter on offense went off for 147 yards on only 10 attempts, a hefty 14.7 per rush average. The talented back tallied three touchdowns on the day.
On defense, the Rebels collected four interceptions, including senior leader McDuffie’s first career INT. The unit did give up 550 yards of total offense to the Bengals so there is certainly work to be done on that side of the ball. But the potential is there for the Rebels to duplicate their recent run of success if Coach Mullen can bring his talented newcomers into the fold and get them to play together as a solid unit.
San Jose State kept up its recent run of successful seasons under new coach Ken Niumatalolo last season. The Spartans finished 7-6 in the new leader’s first year and will look to meet increased expectations in year two.
Leading passer Walker Eget returns to run the offense as does top rusher Floyd Chalk IV. The offensive line has some experienced guys ready to protect the quarterback and open holes for the rushing game. Newcomers include four transfer wide receivers and talented defensive secondary players from Washington and USC.
The team that might surprise the contenders in the MWC this season could be Colorado State. The Rams landed no one on the MWC Preseason first team list, but they do feature likely the “next best” quarterback in the league in Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi.
The junior quarterback has thrown for more than 6,000 yards spanning the last two seasons and was named to the Davey O’Brien Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch lists for 2025. He completed more than 60% of his passes for the season and eclipsed the 300-yard-mark in each of his final three games a year ago.
The defense will be new and inexperienced, returning only one starter from last season, but Head Coach Jay Norvell has shown an ability to get his players to compete night in and night out. The Rams will be aiming to keep their bowl run going.
Jumping to the Aztecs, SDSU will be led by Preseason MW Defensive Player of the Year junior Edge Trey White. The local product (Eastlake High) dominated at times last season ending the campaign with 21.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks.
White will have help on defense with the talented duo of linebacker Tano Letuli and cornerback Chris Johnson returning behind him. The trio had a chance to leave Montezuma Mesa after last season, but decided to run it back with the Aztecs and Head Coach Sean Lewis.
On offense, San Diego looks to have entrusted the keys to Michigan transfer Jayden Denegal. The junior from Cali’s Apple Valley has the physical tools to run Coach Lewis’ offense. What he lacks is experience.
Backing up Denegal will be fellow transfer Bert Emmanuel Jr. The former Central Michigan quarterback showed his dual-threat abilities against the Aztecs last season and joins SDSU with an intriguing skill set.
Denegal will look for support from a talented group of running backs, several with local ties. Junior Lucky Sutton has been in the program for three years and has yet to be given a real chance to show the talent that made him a special back at Cathedral Catholic High. Why he sat last year behind well-traveled starting running back Marquez Cooper when the season was decided with several games to go remains a mystery only Coach Lewis can answer.
Former Helix High stud Christian Washington (Coastal Carolina) has joined the team this offseason, as has former Morse High standout Byron Cardwell Jr. Will one guy emerge as Lewis’ go-to or will it be running back by committee in 2025?
On the outside, look for sophomores Jordan Nappier and Jerry McClure to become frequent targets for Denegal. With protection coming from a large and experienced offensive line led, up front, by senior Ross Ulugalu-Maseuli (Mater Dei Catholic High), SDSU hopes this year’s offense can hit the heights Aztecs fans envisioned when Coach Lewis came in from Colorado with a catchy slogan and a hyped-up freshman quarterback.
When the offense stalls, and from seasons past we know it will at times, the team will call on Preseason MW Special Teams Player of the Year Gabe Plascencia to get them on the board from distance. The senior place kicker has a strong leg and enters his final season as an Aztec with a streak of 12 consecutive made field goals, good for sixth-best active streak in the country.
In the final season of its present configuration, the MWC football season seems to be a two-team race, again. But if UNLV matches the play of its basketball team, unable to bring together a talented group of transfers, the door could open for a new challenger to Boise State’s reign atop the league.
Predicting the Aztecs Season
In the end, I am predicting a 5-7 finish for our Aztecs. Though not the dream turn-around season many are hoping for, there will be marked signs of improvement. Will this be enough to satisfy Aztecs fans—only time will tell. Below are the rest of the predictions from all of our content creators here at Sons of Montezuma. Where do your picks stack up among ours? Let us know in the comments, and everyone enjoy hopefully a victorious Thursday night at Snapdragon Stadium. At least this opening game is the one we all had in agreement.
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
