Anytime our Aztecs get a rivalry game victory over that team from the Valley, it’s a great game. The Aztecs pulled off the 26-23 win in front of their homecoming alumni and fans at Snapdragon Stadium Saturday night and in doing so they may have saved the season.
There’s a lot of season left and the Aztecs improved to 3-4 (2-1) on the year. Only time will tell just how important this victory will prove to be in the end, but for now there was a ton to take away from the back & forth game between two of the Pac-12’s California teams.
Here are 5 things that helped SDSU come up clutch over the Bulldogs
1. Defensive Pressure
Credit the SDSU defense yet again for putting together a victory earning performance. After getting absolutely flamed last week vs Oregon State, Coach Demetrius Sumler’s side of the ball came out with a point to prove.
From the start Tano Letuli knifed through the middle of the line to earn a sack and stop the Bulldogs opening drive on 3rd down. He also had himself a night totaling 11 tackles overall. From there on it was a solid outing of pressuring the Fresno QB Jayden Mandal.
SDSU Edge Kai Wallin had his best game as an Aztec recording 3 sacks on the day. His energy and pursuit came at some crucial spots as well. The rest of the reliable crew also recorded sacks including Malachi Finau and Djibril Rahman.
Not only were the sacks fantastic payoffs, but credit the secondary for putting up blanket like coverage most of the evening. Often times the put together great efforts keeping everything in front of them and forced Mandal to go through his reads with nothing he felt comfortable passing into.
That game-planning led to Fresno’s top receiver, Josiah Freeman to be held in check at just 3 catches for 49 yards.
2. Special Teams
The game winner was decided by the leg of Cooper DiLeva, when he nailed a 54 yard game winner with just under a minute left to play. DiLeva on the night made field goals of 30 and 40 yards each. And though he did have a miss early in the 3rd quarter, (before that miss, DiLeva had been perfect in his attempts this season} it didn’t affect him negatively one bit.
Also credit should be given to Tashi Dorje for his overall outstanding night in punting. His 3 attempts were low for the Aztecs on the season, and he made each one count. His long hit for 60 yards and he had two of those kicks land inside the 20 yard line.
Not to be left out is the spectacular kick and punt returners this season. In this game, it was Javion Kinnard’s punt return 24 yards that helped set up a scoring opportunity. The fielding of the punt was in a very tight space as a defender was quickly approaching his space. Kinnard showed his elite level of making the first man miss and then his speed came into play.
Credit to Associate Head Coach and Special Teams coordinator Zac Barton for always having his unit prepared and in positions to succeed. So far they have exceeded their expectations on this team.
3. Getting Healthy
No doubt this season has brought on so many challenges both on and off the field. The injuries to RBs Lucky Sutton, Javion Kinnard, and Josiah Lucas have been devastating at times. Backup QB Stone Saunders injury eliminated Coach Sean Lewis’ offensive safety valve. The offensive line had dealt with their depth coming into play and then there is the mumps.
All of these injuries and the illnesses came at the absolute worst timing possible. The strain no doubt added to the quality of teams SDSU has had to try and overcome. Now that the worst of it all seems to have passed on, the team is feeling much better in their body and their mind.
Despite the players missing games, practices and meetings, SDSU had already shown they have big heart when they held on to beat Texas State. After the embarrassment vs Oregon State, that heart got questioned—rightfully so.
On Saturday though the game was close vs the Bulldogs and at times felt unsure, the boys pulled it together enough to never give up. In fact they went out and grabbed the victory by the tail and swung it around their heads.
4. Improved Quarterback Play
Jayden Denegal on the evening was 7 of 10 passing for 112 yards, 1 TD and 0 INTs. Not the exact stat sheet to set the game on fire. But from what we’ve seen this season it was a drastic improvement for this years offense.
Denegal was active rushing the ball in RPO situations and though he didn’t rack up a ton of yards, perhaps that element settled his mind to be even better in passing attempts. His beautiful pump and go TD pass to WR Jaylon Hawkins for 52 yards put the Aztecs up 10-0 at the end of the 1st quarter.
Denegal showed exactly why his passing talent is so tough to completely walk away from. He has the motion that can be nonchalant at times, and so it flirts with your imagination on what could be if he could focus and keep his fundamentals locked on.
Unfortunately Denegal suffered a lower ankle/foot injury when a defender put pressure on his legs in a hard hit and errant pass. The injury sidelined him the rest of the game and gave the offense a chance to bring in Stone Saunders to lead the rest of the game.
From there Saunders was 6 of 11 passing for 61 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.
In his first snap, the hike from center hit off Tight End Kime Fumango who was in motion. Rather than let that completely de-rail the offense, Saunders led the crew to regroup, settle in and move forward together.
The game got away from the Aztecs because of this change in quarterback. But Lewis with no choice had to adjust in both his play calling and limits on how much he could gamble. His calculations proved to be spot on despite my urge to yellout from the conservative choices.
Rather than put his young QB at risk of throwing INTs in crucial situations, he allowed him to get out there and be a part of leading this team. The Bulldog defense stuffed the running game knowing this and it stifled the Aztecs from getting in any rhythm.
The highlight of Saunders night however came on the game winning drive in the final minutes. On a 3rd down and 10, after a few mishaps getting the run game to gain yards, he connected with Jordan Napier on a short pass and catch. Then Napier took it the rest of the way to put SDSU in field goal range.
5. Pound the Rock
When Bert Emanuel Jr. also came in as part of the QB play options, it really validated that all things were on deck for Lewis to make sure they get the job done. Even though Emanuel Jr.’s lone touchdown pass was really a toss to WR Jordan Napier in the backfield, it really stressed how much the run game needs to be the forefront.
Lucky Sutton’s big 67 yard gain set up that score and reminded us all that the offense needs to fow through the ground game. With special talents like Sutton, Kinnard, Emanuel Jr. and Napier that can all operate out of the backfield, these options are all getting healthy. That alone brings back the potential for this offense to be physical and explosive.
Depending on the status of Jayden Denegal, this week of preparation should be very interesting for Lewis to navigate. Saunders has some facets of his game that translate very nicely in Lewis’ offense, but if the learning curve doesn’t improve over the week of prep, having a rushing attack that is capable of doing so much will need to be heavily relied on.
The scoring play from Emanuel to Napier was a good one that paid off. But that drive inside the five yard line was extremely chaotic. Multiple formations with interesting spots having Stone Saunders lined up at WR, all of it highlights Lewis’ tendency to get creative around the goal line.
Will be interesting to see if this approach continues to work moving forward against the likes of Colorado State, Washington State and Utah State.
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