What Sean Lewis said after San Diego State's wipeout loss at Washington State

“Obviously not a great effort, right?”

Sep 6, 2025; Pullman, Washington, USA; San Diego State Aztecs head coach Sean Lewis looks on during a game against the Washington State Cougars in the first half at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium. | James Snook-Imagn Images

The San Diego State Aztecs took a big step backward when they were routed 36-13 at Washington State on Saturday night. 

This was a dress rehearsal for when the Aztecs move into the Pac-12 starting next season, and it was pretty dismal as SDSU suffered its second loss to the Cougars in as many seasons.

After the Aztecs took a 7-0 lead five minutes into the game, the Cougars responded by scoring the next 29 points.

Washington State outgained the Aztecs 396-215 and SDSU converted only 2 of 13 third-down attempts. 

“Obviously not the results that anyone is looking for,” second-year coach Sean Lewis said. “I got a lot of disappointed guys in the locker room because they know they could play better. You know, it's a good plan, but the Cougs executed better than us tonight. But I'm encouraged to see how our guys respond.”

SDSU (1-1) has its first bye and will host the California Golden Bears on Sept. 20 at Snapdragon Stadium

Here are the highlights of Lewis’ postgame news conference.

Lewis on what needs to be done better

Sep 6, 2025; Pullman, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars running back Angel Johnson (1) is tackled by San Diego State Aztecs safety Eric Butler (6) in the first half at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium. | James Snook-Imagn Images

“You do a better job coaching and leading. You do a better job with our third down plan. You do a good job with the fundamentals and putting together a great practice plan here over the next 14 days so we can learn and we can grow from this opportunity.”

Lewis on finding out what the team’s made of

Sep 6, 2025; Pullman, Washington, USA; San Diego State Aztecs run onto the field for the start of the second half against the Washington State Cougars at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium. | James Snook-Imagn Images

“We're going to test our culture here as we go. Like you guys have told me time and time again that the culture is better, the connection is better and I'm looking forward to seeing how they respond, because it's easy to be together and have a strong culture when things are running high. We get tested with a little bit of adversity here early in the season, but the group of young guys, particularly offensively, they're going to pull together from this will be better because of it.”

Lewis on having two weeks to prepare for Cal

Sep 6, 2025; Pullman, Washington, USA; San Diego State Aztecs quarterback Jayden Denegal (4) throws a pass against the Washington State Cougars in the first half at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium. | James Snook-Imagn Images

“Looking forward to a good two weeks of prep as we go to face a really, really good Cal team. … Looking forward to leading and putting together a better performance because obviously that was not the standard. That was not good enough.”