As the sun peaked out behind the clouds above Mission Valley, Snapdragon Stadium welcomed its supporters for the beginning of the San Diego State football season. When kickoff rolled around, the Aztecs’ student section left zero seats empty and roared as the team took the field.
The fans were ready — and so were the Scarlet and Black.
SDSU (1-0) took down Stony Brook (0-1) in dominating fashion on Thursday in their home opener at Snapdragon Stadium, 42-0.
The Aztecs began their 2025 season with the ball in their hands on their own 25-yard line. The first drive was led by junior running back Lucky Sutton, who started with two rushes for a combined 10 yards and a first down.
Junior quarterback Jayden Denegal completed his first pass as a collegiate starter to sophomore wide receiver Jordan Napier, resulting in a 7-yard reception. Sutton added on an explosive 20-yard rush, putting the Aztecs in striking distance.
Denegal took advantage of the Seawolves’ lacking defense to find redshirt freshman tight end Jackson Ford wide open for a 16-yard reception. With the ball on the 1-yard line, Sutton finished off an opening 75-yard drive by walking untouched into the end zone. He contributed 51 rushing yards in the first drive, putting the Aztecs on the board, 7-0.
“That really set the tone for the offense as a whole,” Sutton said in a postgame interview. “We drove down, ran the ball and that was our whole game plan.”
After a near-flawless drive by the offense, the defense was eager to take care of business. After just one first down by the Seawolves, the Aztecs forced a punt on fourth-and-sixth, putting the ball back in the hands of the offense.
Denegal completed a pass on third down that was brought back, due to an illegal man downfield. However, on third-and-14, Denegal displayed his poise and delivered a perfect ball to junior wide receiver Jacob Bostick, splitting two safeties for a 25-yard touchdown pass and extending the lead to 14 points to end the first quarter.
“All in all, he made the majority of the right decisions,” head coach Sean Lewis said. “He executed, making a majority of the throws … I feel good about where we are at and him leading us going forward.”
With a near interception by senior safety Deshawn McCuin and a pass breakup by senior cornerback Chris Johnson, the defensive unit set the tone early in the second quarter with three consecutive forced punts thus far.
“The offense gives us amazing confidence,” sophomore linebacker Owen Chambliss said. “We feed off the offense. If they’re rolling, we’re rolling … We knew that they were going to be accurate.”
On the Aztecs’ fourth drive, Denegal found junior wide receiver Mikey Welsh down the sideline for an electric 44-yard completion. Despite the exciting play, a pass intended for Napier was a little out in front of him, causing the Aztecs to settle for three. Senior kicker Gabriel Plascencia drilled the 42-yard field goal attempt, putting SDSU up 17-0.
Another defensive hold leads to Denegal finding redshirt freshman tight end Ryan Wolfer in between the hash marks for an 18-yard reception. The Aztecs moved the chains further into scoring distance, but had to settle for another field goal, this time from 35 yards.
With less than two minutes to go in the first half, junior defensive lineman August Salvati got through his blocker to finish the second quarter with a sack. SDSU went into halftime with a 20-0 lead, while combining for 270 total yards and holding Stony Brook to just 49 yards.
“It was a total team effort,” Lewis said. “It was good to see. There was a great competitive balance that happened all throughout camp and all throughout spring ball.”
As the end of the third quarter closed in, Denegal aired out a 44-yard pass to junior wide receiver Donovan Brown, followed by a completion to Napier on the 2-yard line.
With 1:40 left in the third, Sutton found his way back into the end zone for his second touchdown, as well as his 100th yard. This marks his first career 100-yard game, yet he only needed three quarters to make it happen.
“I was definitely excited about my first 100-yard game,” Sutton said. “I’m proud of the team and happy for the offensive line. Without them playing extremely well, I would not have had the game I did. I’m grateful for them and very blessed.”
The Aztecs converted a 2-point conversion to enter the fourth quarter with a 28-point advantage.
At this point in the contest, the offensive starters were done for the night, allowing the backups to get some true game reps. Junior running back Christian Washington took advantage of the opportunity, finding a gap between blockers for a 27-yard sprint. This was followed by a trick play that ended up in the hands of junior wide receiver Nathan Acevado for a 17-yard reception down near the goal line.
After being stuffed twice, Washington lunged past the markers on fourth-and-goal to run the score up to 35. SDSU came up with one more stop, giving the offense one final drive.
With 1:54 left in the game, junior quarterback Bert Emmanuel Jr. dialed up a designed jetsweep to redshirt freshman wide receiver Park Threatt for a 5-yard rushing touchdown. This score would finally put the Seawolves out of their misery as the clock hit zero, resulting in a 42-0 shutout.
Denegal ended his college debut 13-of-25 for 208 yards and a passing touchdown. Sutton led the way on the ground with 100 rushing yards and two trips to the end zone, while Bostick reeled in three receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown.
The last time SDSU forced a shutout was against Weber State on Aug. 31, 2019; however, that result was just 6-0.
Despite tonight’s blowout showing a similar result to last season’s opener against Texas A&M Commerce at 45-14, players said the confidence within the locker room seems to be on an elevated level.
“We are locked into each other, and we have a real brotherhood,” Sutton said. “We really focused on our relationships this year off the field. We’re playing right next to our brothers, and everyone has each other’s back this year.”
The Aztecs will travel to Washington State to take on the Cougars on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 7:15 p.m.
