What San Diego State coach Sean Lewis said after stunning win against Cal

The Aztecs had a bye week to recover from blowout loss at WSU

San Diego State Aztecs head coach Sean Lewis. | James Snook-Imagn Images

Sean Lewis and the San Diego State Aztecs had been working toward a statement win, and boy did they get it. 

“How ‘bout them Aztecs?” Lewis said after San Diego State stunned California 34-0 on Saturday night behind Chris Johnson’s 97-yard pick-6 and Dwayne McDougal’s 35-yard fumble return for a touchdown. 

Besides the dominating defense and a solid offense, what stood out to Lewis was that the 12 1/2-point underdog Aztecs (2-1) had to wait two weeks for another chance to play after being routed 36-13 at future Pac-12 opponent Washington State.

“That’s a good team that played well on a good night, and we're freaking proud of them,” Lewis said. “A lot of great emotional toughness that they've shown over the past 14 days to respond to coaching, to respond to the situations and to respond to an incredible opportunity that they had tonight that they really capitalized on. I think it's a really good football team.”

Jayden Denegal had a solid night with an 80-yard completion to Jordan Napier that set up a 6-yard scoring pass to the wideout; Lucky Sutton ran for one touchdown and Gabe Plascencia kicked two field goals. 

Snapdragon Stadium was livelier than normal, which might have been the byproduct of the Aztecs handing out 4,000 free tickets through fan engagement on campus and around town. It paid off, as the loud crowd contributed to consecutive false starts on a Cal drive that stalled and then ended with a missed field goal attempt.

Here are the highlights of Lewis postgame news conference:

Lewis on celebrating with his team

“So you know, we're a good team, and it's a great start. It's early in the season, but it feels good, it's good to be in the locker room with those boys, and all the hard work they put in and sacrifice and the discipline and the selflessness that they show to have a night like that, to be able to share it with our community. So that's pretty cool.”

Lewis on learning to win and developing a winning mindset 

“I think winning is a skill, and we talked a lot about that over the past 14 days, to learn. You know, as a winner, you have to figure out how to win, and that looks a little bit different each and every single time that you go out. But there's a tremendous effort by the guys that we aren’t going to waste.

“I thought the staff did a really good job managing situations, managing the games as things went through. The situations in the game change and the kids did a great job, again, responding to each situation that was presented like the defense in the third quarter.”

Lewis on celebrating the 2015 team, which won the Mountain West title

“Celebrating the 2015 team tonight, there's a winning strand in our DNA that we're not entitled to, that this team has to learn how to win. I feel like a moment like tonight for the preparation that they have, and then within the moment, hear the guys champion and parrot the things that we believe. Hey, it's not done. Hey, refocus. We have to respond to the good and the bad.

“That's the maturation process of this team, as this team grows uniquely in their own way, to reinstate and reestablish that, that leading trait that this prideful program has.”

Lewis on the energetic atmosphere at Snapdragon Stadium

“It helps with the momentum, right? I think momentum is a very real thing, and to have the stands filled the way that they were, and to have the energy, and, you know, to have that support when our defense is out there and third down to make it difficult. I mean, there's one scare right there where, you know, we got two false starts back to back, that's the fans, that's the environment. They can have a tremendous impact on the game.”

Lewis on the stadium environment moving forward

“Everyone who showed up, this is the spot to be. Like, tell your friends, come one, come all. We’ve got a few more of these opportunities to go, and we need all of San Diego to be here, to be with us, and to create a tremendous home field environment with the greatest stadium in the whole country. This is the spot to be, and we need the whole community to show up and to support and be a part of this as we go.”