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By Josh Frojelin
San Diego State University’s football team has high expectations in its first Pac-12 season. ESPN’s “Football Power Index” and the Denver Gazette’s media poll both rank the Aztecs second in the conference behind Boise State University.
Last season, SDSU finished in a four-way tie for first place in the Mountain West Conference with Boise State, University of Nevada-Las Vegas and University of New Mexico. The conference used a variety of metrics to determine Boise State and UNLV would compete in the MWC championship game.
Before conference play started, SDSU went 3-1. They had an impressive 34-0 shutout win over Cal, but lost in Week 2 to new Pac-12 foe Washington State University. SDSU then capped off its 9-4 season with a 49-47 loss to the University of North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl.
Third-year head coach Sean Lewis is returning seven starters on offense and three on defense. He remains optimistic about what could transpire.
“I won’t know until we turn the lights on and the real bullets start flying, but I feel really good about where we are,” he said. “I feel pretty confident relative to teams that I’ve led in the past. There’s been some good characteristics that have shined through with the guys taking ownership. There’s not a whole lot of finger pointing. There are a lot of guys that, when they come up short, they admit that they could have done things better, and that’s with both players and staff. The standards that we keep within the program are for everyone, and I think the guys have done a really nice job of embracing that.”
Offensively, the Aztecs run through Lucky Sutton (Cathedral Catholic). He finished last season as a Doak Walker Award semifinalist for the nation’s top running back and was named First-Team All-Mountain West. He had the 13th-most rushing yards last season in the nation. Sutton is on this year’s Maxwell Award (top collegiate player) watch list, Doak Walker Award watch list,and Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list.
Quarterback Jayden Denegal returns as the starter. He threw for 1,807 yards with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions and a 58.8 percent completion-percentage in 2025. The Aztecs return the majority of their receivers, including top wideout Jordan Napier, who finished with 629 yards last season. On the offensive line, the Aztecs had to replace three starters.
Center, right guard and right tackle will be replaced by transfer Isaac Lucas, senior Michael Leville Watkins and transfer Dennis Jones. Notably, sophomore Indiana-transfer guard Evan Lawrence will begin the season as a backup.
Defensively, the Aztecs return none of their starting secondary and their two most impactful defensive linemen transferred to power conference schools. On the line, edge rusher Brady Nassar and defensive tackle Malachi Finau return as starters, although neither registered a sack last season. Transfers Gavriel Lightfoot, Kai Wallin and Djibril Rahman will all play significant snaps on the defensive line. SDSU registered 32 sacks last season — and lost 31 of them in the offseason.
The majority of the secondary is comprised of recent transfers as well. Sophomore transfers Mike Lindsay and Jamison Starks will start at cornerback. Redshirt junior Jelani McLaughlin will start at strong safety after having a reserve role last season.
The Aztecs’ linebacker room should remain a position of strength. Returning senior — and South County San Diego-native— Tano Letuli missed half of last season with injury. In six games, Letuli had 30 total tackles and an interception and earned All-Mountain West honorable mention status. At weakside linebacker, Weber State-transfer Siona Hala should build on his impressive 63-tackle 2025 season.
Behind the Broncos and Aztecs, ESPN’s model has the new-look Pac-12 ranked from third-to-eighth: Fresno State University, Washington State, Texas State University, Utah State University, Oregon State University and Colorado State University.
SDSU kicks off its 2026 campaign against FCS opponent Portland State University on Saturday, Sept. 5 (6:30 p.m. kickoff).
After facing UCLA (Sept. 12), James Madison University (Sept. 19) and the University of Toledo (Sept. 26) in non-conference play, the Aztecs host Texas State on Oct. 3 in their first Pac-12 game.
Conference games follow against Oregon State (Oct. 10 ), Fresno State (Oct. 17 ), Colorado State (Oct. 24), Washington State (Oct. 31), Utah State (Nov. 14) and Boise State (Nov. 21).
As of now, SDSU is not slated to face a ranked opponent in 2026.
The Aztecs will have their “flex game” on Nov. 28. The Pac-12 opted for the last game of its conference schedule to be a “flex game” where the conference can manipulate the schedule to create one-or-two high profile games before the Dec. 4 conference championship. These games should boost the top teams in the conference’s stock, and are designed to hopefully earn the conference champion a bid to the College Football Playoff.
