What Sean Lewis said after San Diego State's shutout win over Stony Brook

“Anytime that you can get a shutout, you’re doing something really good.”

San Diego State Aztecs head coach Sean Lewis. | Troy Babbitt-Imagn Images

The San Diego State Aztecs opened their season with a 42-0 win over Stony Brook on Thursday night, a solid performance for a team looking to bounce back from last year’s 3-9 finish.

Head coach Sean Lewis was quick to praise the effort of the defense and coordinator Rob Aurich. 

“I’m really proud of the leadership from Coach Aurich,” Lewis said. “The boys rallied around him, and he got a shutout as a defensive coordinator in his first opportunity here with the Aztecs.”

New starting quarterback Jayden Denegal shook off an injury scare and threw for 208 yards and one touchdown, while running back Lucky Sutton had a career-high 100 yards and two touchdowns. 

Here are the highlights of Lewis’ postgame news conference:

Lewis on the offense

“I’m pleased with how the offense started the game overall. In the third quarter, there were some things, obviously, that we need to clean up that were not to our standard. We gathered the team up there at one point in time to remind them of how we do it and why we do it. The scoreboard is a direct reflection of how we go about our business. We didn't do that the right way in the third quarter."

“However, I’m grateful that we were able to take the first step and get our first win against a really good team. Stony Brook is a good team that’s going to have a great year. I’m excited about how much better we can get as we go forward, which will be really cool to see.” 

Lewis on Denegal’s first start and overall performance

“Jayden won. That's the ultimate goal, right? Score one more point than them. He missed a couple of throws, missed a couple of reads, but all in all, he made the majority of the right decisions. He executed, making a majority of the throws. There will be a lot that we'll learn from as he continues to have this volume of plays with this collection of talent. I feel good about where we are at and him leading us going forward.” 

In case you missed it, here is @jdtothemax22 first passing TD as an Aztec!#AztecFAST x #BeTheA1pha x #TheClimb

📺: @MountainWest pic.twitter.com/mUrzvATfin

— San Diego State Football (@AztecFB) August 29, 2025

Lewis on the entire team’s effort

“It was a total team effort. It was good to see. There was a great competitive balance that happened all throughout camp and all throughout spring ball. We alluded to it, we talked on Monday, and as we moved through camp, that if either side of the ball through camp wasn't bringing it, the other side would dominate. That led to great back and forth all the way through camp."

“Now we finally had the opportunity to stop having the sibling rivalry, and we got to do it to someone else. It was really good, complimentary, football. We look forward to all three phases being tied together as we go throughout the year.” 

Lewis on the play of the offensive and defensive lines

“Our lines controlled the game. We knew going into tonight that Stony Brook had a really good rushing attack. We knew that if the transfer quarterback were to get the start, he was mobile as well, and there were going to be run threats from the quarterback. We did a good job holding them to 49 net yards rushing. At the line of scrimmage, defensively, the guys did a really nice job."

🏈 Highlights from San Diego State's 42-0 shutout win over Stony Brook#MWFB | #MWPathToThePlayoff pic.twitter.com/OSnxyN3Blh

— Mountain West (@MountainWest) August 29, 2025

“Conversely, anytime that you can turn around and run it efficiently – 53 attempts for 226 yards – and win the line of scrimmage, it’s a testament to our staff. It’s a testament to the recruiting department and anyone who works diligently to fortify and rebuild both areas on those lines in the off-season. It’s also all the hard work that the kids did with our training staff, coming together to get game reps and doing it at a high level. It was good to see this. It was a good start.”