San Diego State plays Nevada on Saturday night in Reno
Jordan Napier #2 of San Diego State is tackled by Rayden Aphayvong #22 of Stony Brook during the first half at Snapdragon Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025 in San Diego, CA. Preseason prognosticators in Las Vegas placed the San Diego State football team’s over-under for victories this season at 4 1/2.
SDSU could surpass that by the season’s midpoint with a win in Saturday night’s Mountain West game at Nevada. While the Aztecs are enjoying a three-game winning streak that has breathed life into a program that has struggled the past two-plus seasons, SDSU coach Sean Lewis is intent on keeping his players grounded and focused. “Accountability, to us, is ownership,” Lewis said. “Am I doing what I’m being asked to do to the best of my ability, and am I owning the role? … You want the guys confident, but you don’t want them too confident, right? We talk a lot about being humble and being hungry. Just doing some things to remind the guys that as good as this has been, there’s so much area for growth, there’s so much area for improvement.” The Aztecs are 7 1/2-point favorites over Nevada in a game that kicks off at 7:30 p.m. from Mackay Stadium.“It is going to be a hard-fought opportunity on the road,” Lewis said. “We need to go put a full game together, which we’ve yet to do on the road.” SDSU’s offense especially struggled in a 36-13 loss to Washington State and a 6-3 win over Northern Illinois. We’ll see if SDSU quarterback Jayden Denegal’s passing game travels. Denegal is coming off his best performance, completing 13 of 16 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s 45-24 win over Colorado State. Denegal’s passing performance was balanced by an effective SDSU rushing attack. Junior Lucky Sutton and senior Byron Cardwell Jr. each rushed for more than 100 yards against the Rams, and junior Christian Washington is another running threat. Sutton is among a dozen Aztecs who played against Nevada two years ago in the Aztecs’ 6-0 loss at Snapdragon Stadium, carrying 12 times for 48 yards. He figures to get significantly more work this time as SDSU’s lead back. Nevada quarterback Chubba Purdy evades tacklers while scrambling for yardage during an NCAA football game between Western Kentucky University and the University of Nevada, Reno on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Bowling Green, Ky. WKU beat Nevada 31-16. Nevada is expected to start true freshman Carter Jones after benching senior transfer Chubba Purdy in the second half of last week’s 20-17 loss to Fresno State.“We’ve had those discussions about how we’re going to approach the quarterback position ,“ Choate said. “I don’t know that it helps us to tell you who is playing quarterback. I think that helps them, and so I’ll kind of leave it at that. We know that multiple guys are going to play, and Carter is going to be one of them.” Jones provided the Wolf Pack with a spark last week, throwing a pair of second-half touchdown passes. SDSU will attempt to limit his effectiveness the same way it did last month against Cal and true freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who struggled against the Aztecs after leading the Golden Bears to a 3-0 start.SDSU sophomore wide receiver Jordan Napier has been everything the Aztecs expected after a breakout freshman year, leading the team this season in receptions , receiving yards and touchdown catches . During SDSU’s three-game winning streak, Napier has 22 receptions for 356 yards and two touchdowns. The receiving yards are the second most in the nation during that span, while the receptions represent the fourth-highest total in the country. Napier is on pace to have the most receptions by an SDSU receiver since 2005, when Jeff Webb hauled in 92 catches, and the most receiving yards since Vincent Brown tallied 1,352 in 2010.The game could hinge on turnovers, and Nevada leads the nation with 14 giveaways.Most of the turnovers are due to Purdy’s eight interceptions, though Nevada has lost four fumbles as well.The Aztecs’ Tano Letuli celebrates after tackling Colorado State’s quarterback Jackson Brousseau in the first quarter at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on Friday, Oct. 03, 2025. The “availability report” posted on the Mountain West website Thursday night listed SDSU linebacker Tano Letuli as questionable. Letuli has started four of five games this season. The Cathedral Catholic High School graduate left the Washington State game in the second half with an apparent left shoulder injury and did not play against Cal.The forgotten man: SDSU’s Reese Dixon-Waters has new name, number and mindsetAztecs football to play home-and-home series with Hawaii in 2028, ’29 Bellon and Brown are Nevada’s leading receivers, so that doesn’t bode well for the Wolf Pack passing game if they can’t play.Carlsbad homeowner ordered to remove private gate to public beach, fined $1.4 millionSan Diego’s best, and worst, architecture in 2025 revealedPadres sign Taiwanese right-hander, add him to 2025 international amateur classAlpine sanctuary announces passing of white lion 'Louie'‘How did we get here?’ Auditors probe consulting company in SANDAG’s toll-road failures
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