The Sean Lewis blueprint was on full display in San Diego State’s 42-0 opener: control the ball, choke off the run, win special teams, and play complementary football that keeps a defense fresh and ferocious.
“It was a great program effort,” Lewis said to the media midday Monday. “The O-line did a tremendous job, and run game did a tremendous job. As you’re really able to control the ball, there’s a real good complementary football.” He noted the defense “was out on the field for 26 snaps in the first half” and “played a total of 55 in the game.”
That balance produced SDSU’s first shutout since 2019 and a statistical avalanche: a 464-95 yardage edge, 24-6 first downs, and 37:25 time of possession. It also reset the tone for a program that closed 2024 with six straight losses. The Aztecs (1-0) now head to Washington State (1-0) for a Saturday night test in Pullman, a year after letting a 12-point fourth-quarter lead slip away to the Cougars at Snapdragon Stadium.
Lewis didn’t spend much time on last year’s collapse.
“Our team’s not that team, and their team’s not that team,” he said. “We’ve invested over 19 million, 800 thousand seconds of our lives into this team and pouring into them to do things at an elite level.”
A plan to win, reiterated
Lewis framed the week around the same simple, stubborn doctrine he has preached since arriving.
“Our plan to win is to control the controllables, to be able to run the ball, to be able to kill the run, and then be the more physical special teams,” he said.
That ethos will be tested by Washington State, which managed just three rushing yards in a 13-10 win over Idaho but, as Lewis emphasized, “found a way to win.”
“They do a really good job formationally,” he said. “They trade, shift, motion quite a bit. They force you to communicate. Defensively, they have six South Dakota State players who came over that are starters for ’em. So they have intimacy and knowledge of the scheme, and they own it, and then they do a really good job with it.”
Lewis expects the Cougars’ run game response after head coach Jimmy Rogers labeled it a disappointment.
“I know that we’re going to get a true fastball probably here with their run game,” Lewis said. “We’re going to be locked in and dialed into our keys and do a great job and play at a great high level and get multiple hats to the ball carriers.”
Denegal’s demeanor, Sutton’s surge
Michigan transfer Jayden Denegal was steady in his first college start: 13-of-25 for 207 yards and a touchdown, while orchestrating long drives and managing tempo.
“He was even keel for it all,” Lewis said. “You don’t want a guy who’s too high or too low. You want a guy who’s really steady as he goes, and I thought he was that.”
Behind him, junior running back Lucky Sutton gave SDSU the hard-nosed type of runs Lewis covets, logging his first 100-yard game with two scores.
“He’s really tough,” Lewis said. “He showed a good burst, and when we needed hard yards for him to score, he found a way to get it done.”
Quarterback contingencies and early-season smoke
Washington State used two quarterbacks in the Idaho win and could have multiple plans in play.
“We are prepared for both,” Lewis said. “We’ve done quite a bit of offseason prep on this one and feel good about whoever is out there.”
Depth-chart “ORs” and early-season ambiguity won’t blur SDSU’s focus.
“You can list and you can do the smoke and mirrors in your depth,” he said, “but what the tape shows is your résumé and it is who you are.”
A measured ramp into a hostile night
The calendar helped SDSU reset its legs and its plan: a Thursday game followed by a long runway to Saturday in Pullman and a bye on the other side.
“We’ve been smart, we’ve been measured,” Lewis said. “The biggest thing is that come game day, our guys are feeling good. We build up a good plan. Now we gotta go make that right come Saturday night.”
The next test is both familiar and new: a first-ever trip to Washington State’s Martin Stadium, against a program that, like SDSU, is shaping a new-era identity. For Lewis, the marching orders aren’t changing.
“Give them the respect that they’ve earned,” he said. “Know who they are, and go up there and play our best ball.”
San Diego State hits the road next weekend at Washington State on Saturday, Sept. 6. Kickoff from Gesa Field in Pullman, Washington, is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. PT.
