San Diego State loads up on quarterbacks in transfer portal
Heading into his second season at San Diego State, coach Sean Lewis is still looking for someone to run his “AztecFAST” offense.
That offense wasn’t so fast — or productive — during his dismal 3-9 debut season with the Aztecs. Now the Aztecs are yet again looking for a starting quarterback — a yearly ritual that preceded Lewis’ arrival on Montezuma Mesa — and two transfers are the leading contenders for the job.
Bert Emanuel Jr., the son of the former college and pro quarterback/wideout, transferred from Central Michigan and Jayden Denegal moved from Michigan back to his native Southern California. Both are juniors, as is returner Kyle Crum.
True freshman Danny O’Neil was the starter last year but transferred to Wisconsin.
Both of the transfers are intriguing, with good size and the ability to run and throw the ball.
Emanuel’s father, Bert, was a backup quarterback at UCLA for two years and then the starter at Rice for two seasons. He played wideout for five NFL teams.
The younger Emanuel, who is 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, played in just 13 games in his three seasons at Central Michigan. He passed for 439 yards and five touchdowns, with three interceptions, and ran for 844 yards (5.8-yard average) and 12 touchdowns.
The bulk of his rushing yards came in just his second career game, when he had 293 yards and three touchdowns in a comeback win against Buffalo. They were the first three TDs of his career and included a 75-yard run on CMU’s first play from scrimmage in the second half.
While Emanuel has the bloodlines, Denegal has the experience of being with a blueblood program. Denegal, who is 6-5, 235, was a backup quarterback at Michigan the last three seasons, including when it won the national championship in 2023 under Jim Harbaugh.
Denegal had extremely limited snaps playing behind J.J. McCarthy and threw just five passes in 2023, but one of them was for a touchdown against Nebraska.
Crum missed most of his freshman season with a collarbone injury, although he did return to practice. He didn’t play last season but was on the travel roster and listed third on the depth chart.
Freshman JP Mialovski from Millikan High in Long Beach enrolled early at SDSU to get a jump on his college career.
MORE SAN DIEGO STATE NEWS & ANALYSIS
feed
-bd678ba4dbad4f453246f539ee56a3b4.jpg "Bernie Wilson")
Bernie Wilson recently retired from The Associated Press after nearly 41 years, including stops in Spokane, Los Angeles and, for the final 33 years, San Diego. He grew up in Coeur d'Alene and graduated from the University of Idaho.