Touch football: Key takeaways from San Diego State’s public scrimmage

Injuries meant no tackling for Aztecs two weeks before opener

San Diego State Aztecs quarterback Kyle Crum. | Soobum Im-Imagn Images

After losing two players to season-ending injuries earlier in fall camp, the San Diego State Aztecs decided to basically play touch football during their public scrimmage on Thursday night. 

It’s not like they’ll have to learn how to tackle again before hosting Stony Brook in the season opener on Aug. 28 at Snapdragon Stadium. 

“I think we’ve established ourselves in terms of being able to tackle and being able to be physical,” safety Deshawn McCuin said. “I think that competitive maturity, just staying within the game. Being on defense, I would love to tackle, but we’re getting close to game one, so I’m not mad at it.”

There’s a lot at stake this season, so getting to the opener as healthy as possible is important. The Aztecs are eager to move past last year’s 3-9 finish in Lewis’ first season and put on a good show in their final year in the Mountain West before moving into the new-look Pac-12. 

Here are some key takeaways from the scrimmage:

The quarterbacks

Lewis had already named Jayden Denegal as the starter and Bert Emanuel Jr. as the backup. They each completed 6 of 13 passes, with Denegal throwing for 55 yards and Emanuel for 134, including an 87-yard touchdown to wideout Myles Kitt-Denton. 

Junior Kyle Crum, who hasn’t played in a real game since 2022, threw a 12-yard scoring pass to tight end Jack Lua. 

Even without tackling, it’s still football

Lewis liked what he saw from the position players even though plays were quickly whistled dead. 

“With all our ball carriers, Lucky [Sutton], Byron [Cardwell Jr.] and Christian [Washington], and then the athleticism of the quarterbacks as well and the run after catchability of the wide receivers, we saw a little bit more of that tonight,” Lewis said. 

“Those guys all do a really nice job of evading first contact and then aggressively pursuing the goal line, so I feel really good about where we are in that regard. Again, the physicality that we have along both lines, I feel good with where we’re at. All of that kind of factored into why we did what we did tonight.”

Arizona Wildcats tight end Tanner McLachlan (84) is tackled by San Diego State Aztecs running back Lucky Sutton (7) during the first half at Snapdragon Stadium. | Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

The wide receivers

There’s been a lot of focus on the competition between Denegal and Emanuel, and rightly so. 

Kitt-Denton thinks there should be a lof of focus on the wideouts, as well.

Fans “should know it's a great group of wide receivers,” he said. “We have one of the best groups in the nation in the wide receiver room. I know it's a bold statement, but we can back up that claim. We’re a bonded group, we're just ready to go out and give it our all every play.”

Kitt-Denton is among the newcomers added via the transfer portal. He proved to be a big-play receiver in his second season at Northwestern State, where he transferred after two seasons at Central Arkansas. He had 26 catches for 453 yards — an average of 17.4 yards — and five touchdowns. Also new is Jacob Bostick from Texas A&M.

The only returning receiver who had notable production last year was sophomore Jordan Napier, whose breakout 2024 season included 43 catches for 440 yards — an average of 10.2 yards — and four touchdowns. 

San Diego State Aztecs wide receiver Jordan Napier (19) runs after a catch against California Golden Bears defensive back Cam Sidney (20) during the fourth quarter at California Memorial Stadium. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Scholly time

One of the highlights of the night was when Lewis gathered the team together after the scrimmage ended, called walk-on wide receiver Mikey Welsh to the front and told him to look at the video board, which showed his picture and the message, “Scholarship Earned.”