There’s no two ways about it for San Diego State. It was an “embarrassing scene” for the Aztec offense in the team’s 6-0 loss to woebegone Nevada almost two weeks ago.
That’s offensive lineman Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson’s description of the defeat, which brought out the boo birds at Snapdragon Stadium. But the team, at 3-5 overall, with a 1-3 record in the Mountain West, had far higher expectations coming into the season.
After a bye week to nurse their wounds, safety Cedarious Barfield said they have to shift their focus, “kind of play with an edge.”
They’ll be taking on Utah State at 4 p.m. Saturday at home. The Aggies have an identical record as the Aztecs, but a far more potent offense, led by quarterbacks McRae Hillstead and Cooper Legas, that tops the MW in total offense, while SDSU ranks 10th.
On defense, however, they are just as porous, next-to-last in the conference in points allowed.
“Offensively, they’re a good football team, and defensively, they force a lot of turnovers …” said head coach Brady Hoke. “So, from that standpoint, they’re a good football team.”
Hoke and his coaching staff have been working on improving on the dismal performance against Nevada. The teams’ six combined points were tied for the fewest in a San Diego State game in its Division I history, dating to 1969, and fewest in any Aztec game featuring two FBS teams.
It also was the first time SDSU has been shut out since a 27-0 loss to Ohio in the 2018 Frisco Bowl and just the second shutout in their last 213 games, since 2006.
For Hoke, with a team with 15 new starters, inconsistency has been the issue.
“We block a play up pretty good, and then run the same play and not block up as well. We run a route pretty good, and then just not having the consistency that you need to have,” he said. Defensively, they played a pretty good football game, and I think the one thing that we’ve got to do a better job at is creating turnovers. We have not been consistent enough.”
