San Diego State football loses another quarterback, drops wild New Mexico Bowl to North Texas

Bert Emanuel Jr. injures shoulder in second quarter

San Diego State football. | Photo courtesy of San Diego State University Athletics.

Another quarterback injury and the inability to stop the nation’s No. 1 offense were too much for the San Diego State Aztecs, who lost 49-47 to No. 23 North Texas in a wild Isleta New Mexico Bowl on Saturday in Albuquerque.

The Aztecs (9-4) knew it was going to be tough to beat the Mean Green (12-2) without star cornerback Chris Johnson, who sat out with a foot injury, and quarterback Jayden Denegal, who had surgery on his non-throwing left shoulder on Dec. 17.

And just when backup quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr. was making things interesting with a big performance in his first start with the Aztecs, he injured his non-throwing left shoulder diving for the pylon in the second quarter and was knocked out of the game. 

Third-stringer Kyle Crum came on and threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Ford to pull the Aztecs to 28-20 with 4:36 before halftime. Crum hadn’t thrown a pass since 2022 and appeared in only one game this season.

The Aztecs twice made it a one-score game but were rebuffed in their attempt to win at least 10 games for the first time since going 12-2 in 2021.

North Texas, led by gunslinger Drew Mestemaker, came in leading the nation in both scoring offense and total offense, and piled up 618 yards to SDSU’s 532.

SDSU trailed the entire game. The Aztecs made it close with Crum’s 1-yard touchdown run with one second left.

The big picture

Despite the loss, the Aztecs still had a huge turnaround in coach Sean Lewis’ second season. They improved by six wins over Lewis’ first team, which lost its last six games to finish 3-9 overall and 2-5 in the Mountain West. 

This version of the Aztecs were in contention to host the MW championship game up until the final regular-season game, when they lost 23-17 in double overtime to New Mexico. That loss, plus the computer rankings used to break a four-way tie at 6-2 atop the league standings, knocked the Aztecs completely out of the championship picture and consigned them to the New Mexico Bowl, played on the same field where they lost to the Lobos on Nov. 28.

But it appears that Lewis has established the culture needed to make the Aztecs consistent winners and bowl participants. This was their first bowl in three seasons but its 13th in 15 chances since 2010 (the Aztecs withdrew from consideration after the pandemic-shortened 2020 season).

The Aztecs were representing the MW for the final time. They officially move into the new-look Pac-12 on July 1.

What happened 

Johnson, named to six All-America teams, didn’t play because of a foot injury and the other starting cornerback, Bryce Phillips, opted out to prepare for the NFL draft.

North Texas running back Caleb Hawkins scored the first of his two rushing touchdowns on the game’s first drive. He finished with three touchdowns overall and 184 yards rushing. 

Denegal put a charge into SDSU’s offense with touchdown runs of 8 and 72 yards, and piled up 170 yards on 11 carries before getting hurt.

Crum added an 11-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter and Nathan Acevedo had a 63-yard punt return to pull to 42-34.

Mestemaker threw his third TD pass before the Aztecs closed to 49-40 on Christian Washington’s 11-yard TD run with 4 ½ minutes left. The conversion attempt failed. 

What’s next

The 15-day January transfer portal that opens on Jan. 2 and runs through Jan. 16. It’s not immediately known which Aztecs might transfer, but a number of players have already committed to return for 2026, including star running back Lucky Sutton.