What Sean Lewis said after San Diego State’s humbling loss at Hawaii

Aztecs’ lose six-game winning streak and sole possession of Mountain West lead

Nov 8, 2025; Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; San Diego State Aztecs defensive lineman Trey White (2) reaches for Hawaii Rainbow Warriors running back Landon Sims (30) in the first quarter at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. | Marco Garcia-Imagn Images

San Diego State coach Sean Lewis took the blame after his Aztecs were embarrassed 38-6 at Hawaii on a rainy Saturday night, ending their winning streak at six and costing them sole possession of the Mountain West lead. 

The Aztecs (7-2, 4-1) were outplayed in all three phases and must now regroup to face co-MW leader Boise State (6-3, 4-1) on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium.

“Obviously a disappointing night. We still have a great team that didn't perform great tonight. Did a poor job leading them. It's all on me,” Lewis said. “Obviously we're prepared in all three phases. Coach Timmy Chang did a great job preparing his team for the moment for the opportunity. They seized it. They're a really good team. They executed well and we’ve got to do a better job, you know, with our preparation, with our practice, with our execution, most importantly with my leadership as we go.

“So we need to do a great job here getting back home safely. Got a short week with a great opponent coming in off of a bye week for them. So they're going to be prepared. We need to match the energy. We need to match the effort. We need to match the execution. And we got to do a great job responding the way that we've done before. I know we will again.

Here are the highlights of Lewis’ news conference:

Lewis on preparing for the Broncos

“Yeah. I mean, you know, as a competitor when you step into the arena, this is part of what it is. It's part of what you sign up for, right? And if you truly take enjoyment in competing and not just tie your happiness to results, right, that you're going to learn from this, you're going to grow from it, right? You see this as an opportunity to flourish. This is how you chase your best. And we got punched in the mouth and we got to respond. And part of that response is how we learn, how we grow, how we learn, lean into the tape, and then how we lead and and we lead our kids through this so that they can know the lessons so that we can correct them and then we can go forward and play a really good team.

Lewis on the Aztecs still controlling their path to the MW championship game

“We control our own destiny, right? We have everything still ahead of us. Obviously, this is one that you want to get and we did not, right? So now it's in the rearview mirror. We got to learn from it. We got to go forward and we got to attack the next thing the right way to our standard.

Lewis on playing in the rain 

Nov 8, 2025; Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; San Diego State Aztecs quarterback Jayden Denegal (4) attempts a pass over Hawaii Rainbow Warriors linebacker Jamih Otis (11) in the first quarter at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. | Marco Garcia-Imagn Images

“Weather's weather, you know. I mean, they handled it well. We didn't handle it well enough. And we got to do a good job. Obviously, knowing that we're going to play in some very, very meaningful games. You can't control the weather. You’ve got to be able to respond to it properly and put your time and your effort and your energy in the things that do matter. 

Lewis on facing Hawaii’s pass-happy offense

“Yeah, I mean, we knew what it was, right? Obviously, they spread you out from sideline to sideline. They have great speed that can operate in space. And then we let the quarterback get out of the pocket too much to extend off script, which again we knew was one of his superpowers, right? So, we’ve got to play within the call. We’ve got to do a good job, you know, making sure that we're putting our kids in the best position to be successful. But we knew that was a dangerous playmaker when he got out of the pocket. We let him out of the pocket too many times and he made us pay.”