Before San Diego State looked ahead to Saturday’s Mountain West game against Utah State, the Aztecs spent an off week reviewing what went wrong in their 6-0 loss to Nevada.
And what was the biggest takeaway from the team’s first shutout loss in five years?
“Just consistency,” SDSU coach Brady Hoke said during Tuesday’s weekly press conference. “We’d block a play up pretty good. Run the same play, and it’s not blocked up as well. Run a route. Pretty good. Then just not having, to me, the consistency that you need to have.”
Changes posted Monday to the team’s two-deep were minimal.
At left guard, junior Dean Abdullah is listed ahead of junior transfer Myles Murao, who has missed the past three games with an injury.
At one of the safety spots, senior transfer Deshawn McCuin, who missed the Nevada game while in concussion protocol, has replaced Davaughn Celestine as the starter. Redshirt freshman Josh Hunter is listed as the backup.
“There’s a few positions that we will continue to evaluate,” Hoke said.
What positions in particular?
“We’ll talk about that, at some point,” he said.
Is Jalen Mayden still the starter at quarterback?
“He’s had a good week so far,” Hoke responded.
So we could anticipate that he will be the stater Saturday?
“We’ll see,” Hoke said.
Mayden has started 16 straight games for the Aztecs. His backup is walk-on redshirt freshman Tobin O’Dell, who has thrown two collegiate passes.
This could be some gamesmanship with Utah State. On Monday, Aggies coach Blake Anderson did not say whether senior Cooper Legas or true freshman McCae Hillstead would start against the Aztecs.
SDSU (3-5, 1-3 MW) would be bowl eligible with three more victories, but Hoke was asked if there also is an eye on next season and developing younger players.
“No,” he said. “That’s not fair to the seniors. That’s not fair to those guys.”
In his opening remarks, Hoke said. “We’ve got to continue to be resilient in everything that we do and stay together as a group and as a team.”
Browning for Bullsworth
As expected, SDSU punter/kicker Jack Browning is among the 73 nominees for the Burlsworth Trophy, which recognizes the most outstanding player who started his career as a walk-on.
This is the second straight year the senior, who is a West Hills High School graduate, has been a Burlsworth nominee.
Browning ranks second in the Mountain West and 11th in the nation with a 42.14 net punting average.
He also is among the national leaders in punts inside the 20-yard line (14).
Browning is third in the MW and 41st in the nation in field goals made (10), which includes a school- and conference-record 61-yarder at Air Force.
Notable
• The Aztecs have slipped to 24th in the nation in interceptions with nine. They were tied for the national lead after collecting six picks in the season’s first two games.
SDSU also has five fumble recoveries, giving the Aztecs 14 takeaways against 13 giveaways.
“We’ve got to do a better job of creating turnovers,” Hoke said.
• SDSU ranks second in the Mountain West and 20th in the nation in time of possession with 32:01.
It hasn’t translated to more success because, for one reason, the Aztecs rank 119th in the country in red zone offense, scoring on just 71 percent of their trips inside the 20-yard line.
• The six total points against Nevada was tied for the fewest points scored during SDSU Division I history, matching the Aztecs’ 6-0 win over Weber State in 2019.
• SDSU dropped to last in the MW and 118th in the nation on third-down conversions after going 0-for-10 on third down against Nevada.
• SDSU is 116th in the nation in scoring offense (19.6 ppg) and 85th in scoring defense (28.1 ppg).
