Preseason prognosticators in Las Vegas placed the San Diego State football team\u2019s over-under for victories this season at 4 1\/2.<\/p>\n
SDSU could surpass that by the season\u2019s midpoint with a win in Saturday night\u2019s Mountain West game at Nevada.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccountability, to us, is ownership,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cAm I doing what I\u2019m being asked to do to the best of my ability, and am I owning the role? \u2026 You want the guys confident, but you don\u2019t 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\u2019s so much area for growth, there\u2019s so much area for improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Aztecs (4-1, 1-0 MW) are 7 1\/2-point favorites over Nevada (1-4, 0-1 MW) in a game that kicks off at 7:30 p.m. from Mackay Stadium.<\/p>\n
Here are five things to watch in the game, which will air on\u00a0CBS Sports Network:<\/p>\n
1. Prove-it game<\/p>\n
The Aztecs have not been the same team away from home as at Snapdragon Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is going to be a hard-fought opportunity on the road,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cWe need to go put a full game together, which we\u2019ve yet to do on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
SDSU\u2019s offense especially struggled in a 36-13 loss to Washington State and a 6-3 win over Northern Illinois.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll see if SDSU quarterback Jayden\u00a0 Denegal\u2019s passing game travels. Denegal is coming off his best performance, completing 13 of 16 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns in last week\u2019s 45-24 win over Colorado State.<\/p>\n
Denegal\u2019s passing performance was balanced by an effective SDSU rushing attack.\u00a0 Junior Lucky Sutton (88 carries, 450 yards, 2 TDs) and senior Byron Cardwell Jr. (23-162, TD) each rushed for more than 100 yards against the Rams, and junior Christian Washington (40-150, 2 TDs) is another running threat.<\/p>\n
Sutton is among a dozen Aztecs who played against Nevada two years ago in the Aztecs\u2019 6-0 loss at Snapdragon Stadium, carrying 12 times for 48 yards. He figures to get significantly more work this time as SDSU\u2019s lead back.<\/p>\n
![\"Nevada](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760138891_235_SUT-L-azfoot-1008-03.jpg\")
Nevada quarterback Chubba Purdy (13) 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. (AP Photo\/James Kenney)
\n2.Nevada QB(s)<\/p>\n
Nevada is expected to start true freshman Carter Jones (11-for-16, 121 yards, 2 TD\/INT) after benching senior transfer Chubba Purdy (40-for-77 for 494 yards, TD\/8 INTS) in the second half of last week\u2019s 20-17 loss to Fresno State.<\/p>\n
Not that Nevada coach Jeff Choate will show his hand coming into the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had those discussions about how we\u2019re going to approach the quarterback position (this week),\u201c Choate said. \u201cI don\u2019t know that it helps us to tell you who is playing quarterback. I think that helps them, and so I\u2019ll kind of leave it at that. We know that multiple guys are going to play, and Carter is going to be one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
3. Napier rising<\/p>\n
SDSU sophomore wide receiver Jordan Napier has been everything the Aztecs expected after a breakout freshman year, leading the team this season in receptions (32), receiving yards (443) and touchdown catches (4).<\/p>\n
During SDSU\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
4.Giveth or taketh away?<\/p>\n
The game could hinge on turnovers, and Nevada leads the nation with 14 giveaways.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly, that\u2019s the thing that\u2019s holding us back,\u201d Choate said.<\/p>\n
Most of the turnovers are due to Purdy\u2019s eight interceptions, though Nevada has lost four fumbles as well.<\/p>\n
SDSU\u2019s only turnovers this season came on a pair of Denegal interceptions against Northern Illinois.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SUT-L-azfoot-100410.jpg\")
The Aztecs\u2019 Tano Letuli celebrates after tackling Colorado State\u2019s quarterback Jackson Brousseau in the first quarter at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on Friday, Oct. 03, 2025. (Hayne Palmour IV \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\n5. Best ability is availability<\/p>\n
The \u201cavailability report\u201d posted on the Mountain West website Thursday night listed SDSU linebacker Tano Letuli as questionable.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
It is not clear whether that injury continues to be troublesome or Letuli has another issue.<\/p>\n
More will be known three hours before kickoff, when the final availability report is posted.<\/p>\n
Nevada listed wide receivers Marcus Bellon and Jordan Brown and linebacker EJ Smith as questionable.<\/p>\n
Bellon (15 receptions, 193 yards, TD) and Brown (13-164) are Nevada\u2019s leading receivers, so that doesn\u2019t bode well for the Wolf Pack passing game if they can\u2019t play.<\/p>\n
Smith leads the team with two interceptions, so his absence would also be noticeable.<\/p>\n
San Diego State (4-1, 1-0) vs. Nevada (1-4, 0-1)<\/p>\n
When:\u00a07:30 p.m. Saturday<\/p>\n
Where:\u00a0Mackay Stadium, Reno, Nev.<\/p>\n
TV:\u00a0CBSSN<\/p>\n
Radio:\u00a0760-AM<\/p>\n
Originally Published: October 10, 2025 at 4:24 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Preseason prognosticators in Las Vegas placed the San Diego State football team\u2019s over-under for victories this season at…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":293174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1369,1370,3549,7264,18257,62,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-293173","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-college-sports","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-sdsu-aztecs","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-top-stories-sdut","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115352470510316667","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}