San Diego State Beat Writer Answers 5 Questions About Cal's Next Opponent

Cal (3-0) faces San Diego State (1-1) in a road game Saturday night, so we asked Bernie Wilson of San Diego Aztecs on SI to answer five questions about the Aztecs.

We provide excerpts from each of Wilson’s answers, but you might want to listen to the entire video to get the complete response:

---1. How will joining the Pac-12 next year affect San Diego State football and basketball? (Video atop this story.)

“In a big-picture sense, [it's] still to be determined, although I hate to be negative Nellie, it’s great that they’re moving into the Pac-12, but it’s not the Pac-12 that we grew up with. There’s no getting around that.”

“San Diego State fans for decades have wanted to play in the Pac-12. They always wanted to play UCLA, USC.”

“It is a step up, but it certainly does not have the prestige of the old Pac-12, although in hoops it’s a benefit for San Diego State . . . They don’t have to play at altitude [at Wyoming and New Mexico]. And Gonzaga has joined in the Pac-12 in basketball and that is a huge deal, I think, for the basketball team."

---2. It wasn’t long ago that San Diego State had a strong football program, going to bowl games 12 straight seasons (excluding the Covid season) between 2010 and 2022. What Happened in recent years (losing records the past two seasons, picked to finish eighth in the preseason Mountain West preseason poll this year). And what happened in the Aztecs’ most recent game against Washington State?

“San Diego State football is this massive mystery. . . Steve Fisher and Brian Dutcher turned this into a basketball school.”

“I think that one of the problems was they had more than a decade of defensive-minded [head] coaches.”

“The product became stale and uncompetitive, and the last couple of years, unwatchable. I know a ton of people who have gone to State; it’s got a huge alumni base here, but they don’t come close to filling the stadium. . . .It certainly hasn’t captured the hearts and minds of the San Diego State alumni base.”

“They opened a nice, new stadium in 2022, Snapdragon, and have overpriced tickets . . . and if you’re going to over-price, you better have a product to match that price, and they just haven’t had it.”

Wilson mentioned that there are too many other things to do in San Diego other than go to a college football game unless you have an appealing product. It sounds like what Cal faces in the Bay Area.

Regarding the Aztecs 36-13 loss at Washington State on September 6, Wilson said this:

“Well, San Diego State led 7-0 after the first five minutes, then Washington State scored the next 29 points. . . . Then Washington State turned around and got absolutely obliterated the next week by North Texas (59-10).”

Wilson noted that Washington State is primarily made up players and coaches who were at South Dakota State, an FCS school, last year.

---3. What are the Aztecs’ strengths and weaknesses?

“Theoretically the strength should be the defense. . . I think they returned almost all their defensive starters, so on paper coming in that was a strength, then they turn around and allow 29 straight points to Washington State. . . . They moved the ball at will against San Diego State’s defense.”

“Offensively they were supposed to be better with these two transfer quarterbacks, Jayden Denegal and Bert Emanuel Jr., and they got three running backs who were all stud San Diego high school stars. . . . They’ve got this Lucky Sutton kid who rushed for 100 yards against Stony Brook, so again, on paper, coming in it looked like they were going to be a better team, but here they are going into game three and they’re not playing Stony Brook anymore.”

---4. How would you describe quarterback Jayden Denegal, a transfer from Michigan, and will he continue to be the starter?

“Well, he should be. Denegal won the job [in competition with Bert Emanuel Jr.] because the coach said he liked his competitiveness, et cetera. They’re both big guys, theoretically dual threats."

“Denegal, he was a backup to J.J. McCarthy during Michigan’s national championship year in 2023, but he played very little, and he didn’t take a snap last year. So they were big on the fact that he was in the room, as they say now, with the national championship team. But he didn’t play much the last two years and now he’s at San Diego State, which is struggling for an identity, and theoretically it should be his team. But again you have one real game to go off, the Washington State game . . . . and Denegal led them on one scoring drive early and then they just disappeared. Manuel came in for a few plays and didn’t do anything. So they like these quarterbacks, but again there’s no body of work there other than the Wazoo game.”

“I know I keep going back to this great mystery, but that’s what they are right now.

---5. Who are San Diego State’s best players, including kicker Gabe Plascencia, and has Cal transfer Byron Cardwell Jr. made an impact?

Wilson mentioned Trey White, who had 12.5 sacks last year, but has none this year, and linebacker Tano Letuli, who leads the team in tackles. Wilson also mentioned defensive back Chris Johnson, “who is a stud.”

The kicker, Gabe Plascencia, was named the preseason Mountain West place-kicker of the year. “He’s very accurate, very consistent,” said Wilson.

“The running backs are supposed to be solid. Lucky Sutton had 100 yards on the nose against Stony Brook.”

Cardwell, the Cal transfer, has carried only seven times for 28 yards this season.

Wilson said head coach Sean Lewis, now in his second season with the Aztecs, is taking some heat.

“The fans are on edge already because they’re not sure Sean Lewis is the guy . . . already questioning Sean Lewis’ play-calling. It’s, I wouldn’t say a mess yet, but it’s starting to be a repeat of what Aztec fans have seen in recent seasons."

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