San Diego State College Football Preview 2024: Key Players, Game Schedule, Season Predictions

San Diego State College Football Preview 2024

NOW what do you do if you’re San Diego State?

Totally lost in all the insanity in college sports over the last year or so was how San Diego State was almost certainly about to move.

It said it was kinda/sorta leaving the Mountain West - but not really, at least not formally - because there was no way the Pac-12 could be dumb enough to not expand after losing USC and UCLA to the Big Ten. If that didn’t work, the Big 12 was certainly on the radar.

And we all know what happened next.

The Big Ten snapped its fingers and got Oregon and Washington, the Pac-12 invented new and creative Wile E. Coyote-like ways to fail in spectacular fashion, the Big 12 caught the biggest break ever, and San Diego State got hosed.

The school is becoming the hottest thing going - helped in a big way by UCLA, USC, and other California schools being harder to get into than a Taylor Swift concert for less than the price of at least three vital organs - the shiny new stadium went up, and the basketball team took things up several notches.

And then the football team did something worse than be bad. It became super boring.

San Diego State was a Mountain West powerhouse from 2010 until 2021, rolling with a tough running game and amazing defense. That was fine because it won, and then it flipped.

The O scored the fewest points in a season - 2020 doesn’t count - since 2008, the D was meh, and 2023 was the first losing season since 2008.

Again, what do you do if you’re San Diego State and you have to fire up the program? You make a pivot to all offense, all flash, all fast, and all high-octane energy to get people into Snapdragon.

In comes new head coach Sean Lewis - famous for his warp-speed offense at Kent State, before the failed experiment as the Colorado OC under Coach Prime - out went all the good players though the portal, and …

This will be a rough first season, but it won’t be boring because …

NOTE: The previews were published early this summer. We tried to catch the changes, but if we missed anything, please let us know at @ColFootballNews and we'll fix it right away.

San Diego State Football Preview 2024: Offense

- Welcome to Aztec Fast. Sean Lewis is the offensive coordinator as well as the head coach. Caring about time of possession goes bye-bye, blocking is occasionally optional, and when it doesn’t work, the SDSU defense will be wasted fast after consistently getting about 14 seconds to rest.

When it does work, it'll score in bunches and get opposing defensive coordinators in trouble. But …

- Who’s going to run this thing? It requires a sharp, accurate decision-maker at quarterback. Florida State transfer AJ Duffy will get the first shot, and top recruit Danny O’Neil will get a look right away. And that’s one of the positives. Every offensive skill guy will want to be a part of this thing.

Mekhi Shaw is the veteran receiver on the outside - he’s about to have a very, very big year - and in comes Ja’Shaun Poke (West Virginia) and Louis Brown IV (Colorado State) along with TE Jude Wolfe from USC. They’ll all be statistical stars. Speaking of which …

- San Diego State has a great history of running backs. Marquez Cooper is about to add his name to the mix. The lightning fast veteran has three straight 1,000-yard seasons - two with Kent State under Lewis, and last year with Ball State. Be shocked if he doesn’t average five yards per carry and score at least ten times. The Aztecs are loaded with veterans behind him.

Now the O line has to fit the system. Losing OG Cade Bennett (TCU) and OTs Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson (Florida) and Drew Azzopardi (Washington) is a killer. Right guard Myles Murao is the only returning starter, there’s no depth whatsoever, and … this might take a bit.

San Diego State Football Preview 2024: Defense

- Kent State was 117th in the nation in total defense in 2018 under Sean Lewis. It was 121st in 2019, better over the four-game 2020 season finishing 60th, 134th in 2021, 113th in 2022, and …

There’s a decent amount of talent to work with on this San Diego State defense for a good starting 11, even after losing a slew of great players to the transfer portal.

- The linebacking corps could be the team’s biggest strength despite losing leading tackler Zyrus Fiaseu to Arizona State and Cooper McDonald to TCU. Cody Moon is an All-Mountain West-caliber linebacker, and Central Michigan transfer Kyle Moretti should lead the team in tackles.

These two will be all over everything behind a line that gets back Tupu Alualu as an active all around tackle on the nose. Richmond transfer Marlem Louis has the potential to be a special pass rusher at one end.

- The secondary took a massive hit losing CB Dez Malone to Oklahoma and S Marcus Ratcliffe to Texas A&M. Josh Hunter should be one of the team’s all-around defensive playmakers at one safety spot, Northern Iowa transfer Dalesean Staley will settle in right away at another safety gig, and Tennessee State transfer Bryce Phillips should be one of the team’s top corners.

Key To The San Diego State Football Season

Get the offense working.
San Diego State brought in Sean Lewis for the offense, so it would be nice to have a lot of offense.

Don’t get into a twist if this looks nothing like what San Diego State has been over the last few decades, and enjoy the style shock. As mentioned throughout this thing, be a bit patient, but the goal this season is to turn into the type of team with the O no one wants to deal with.

San Diego State Key Player

AJ Duffy, QB Soph.
Florida State was desperate for solid quarterback play when injuries hit last year, but Duffy barely got a sniff. The California native from just outside of LA was a great recruit for the Seminoles, but now he’s closer to home with a chance to put up lots and lots of yards in this offense. He needs to be great right away.

San Diego State Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Marquez Cooper, RB Sr.
He ran for almost 3,000 yards with 18 touchdowns in two seasons - throw in five more as a freshman - at Kent State. Last year he ran for over 1,000 yards with four scores at Ball State. He’s only 5-6, but the three-time All-MAC performer is tough, ultra-quick, and he’ll be devastating in this attack.

Top Transfer Out: Drew Azzopardi, OT Soph.
The stars gone from last year’s defense won’t exactly be easily be replaced, but that side of the ball will be okay. The losses on the offensive front could be potentially disastrous, and it starts with losing a young rising tackle with NFL tools to Washington.

San Diego State Key Game

Oregon State, Sept. 7
The Aztecs get a scrimmage against Texas A&M-Commerce to get this O going, but there has to be a true proof-of-concept early on. Last year’s attack didn’t do a thing in the 26-9 loss to Oregon State. This time, getting an early home win - especially against another rebuilding program - would be a big deal with three of the next four games on the road.

10 Best San Diego State Football Players

1. Cody Moon, LB Sr.
2. Marquez Cooper, RB Sr.
3. Kyle Moretti, LB Jr.
4. Mekhi Shaw, WR Sr.
5. AJ Duffy, QB Soph.
6. Tupu Alualu, DT Sr.
7. Nate Williams, OT Sr.
8. Myles Murao, OG Jr.
9. Josh Hunter, S Soph.
10. Dalesean Staley, S Jr.

San Diego State 2023 Fun Stats

- Time of Possession: San Diego State 32:40, Opponents 27:13

- 2 Point Conversions: Opponents 3-of-4, San Diego State 0-of-2

- Opponent 1st Quarter Scoring: 31, Opponent 2nd Quarter Scoring: 124

San Diego State Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

It’ll be a rough and rocky run until this all comes together.

Give it a year or so before the system kicks in, but there are enough good defensive parts to still be good, and that offense will have a few days when it messes teams up.

And there will be a few days when it doesn’t work in any way.

The problem is a run of all six road dates in nine games, but there’s no Fresno State or Colorado State to deal with and home games against Hawaii and New Mexico are winnable. At the very least the Aztecs should be able at least match the four wins of last season and have a shot in November of getting to six.

That might feel like a disappointment for a base and program used to winning, but this is a true rebuild.

Set The San Diego State Win Total At … 4.5

Likely Wins: Hawaii, New Mexico, Texas A&M-Commerce

50/50 Games: Air Force, at Central Michigan, Hawaii, Oregon State, at UNLV, at Utah State, Washington State, at Wyoming,

Likely Losses: at Boise State, at Cal

2024 San Diego State Football Schedule

Aug 31 Texas A&M-Commerce
Sept 7 Oregon State
Sept 14 at Cal
Sept 21 OPEN DATE
Sept 28 at Central Michigan
Oct 5 Hawaii
Oct 12 at Wyoming
Oct 19 OPEN DATE
Oct 26 Washington State
Nov 2 at Boise State
Nov 9 New Mexico
Nov 16 at UNLV
Nov 23 at Utah State
Nov 30 Air Force

Missing: Colorado State, Fresno State, Nevada, San Jose State