San Diego State football opens its season Saturday night as a 40 1/2-point favorite over Portland State, and the Aztecs are using the game to show how much of their deeper offense they can trust right away. Sean Lewis has a team coming off a 9-4 season after the 3-9 collapse of 2024, but he said he will not really know how this group looks until the lights come on and the real bullets start flying.
That is why the first search around this game is not just about the spread. It is about who gets the ball. Lewis kept coming back to the same word while preparing for Portland State: the ball. Jayden Denegal and Lucky Sutton sit at the center of it after Denegal threw for 1,807 yards and nine touchdowns a year ago and Sutton piled up 254 carries, 1,297 yards and 10 touchdowns. Lewis also said he feels confident relative to teams he has led before, a sign that the offense is expected to do more than lean on one or two names.
The depth is wider than that. Javion Kinnard gives San Diego State a sophomore back who can catch it out of the backfield, while Christian Washington is slated to get carries as a senior. Jordan Napier, Jacob Bostick and Donovan Brown all return at wide receiver, though Napier and Bostick are still being eased back after season-ending knee injuries and surgery. Bert Emanuel Jr. and Nathan Acevedo are listed first on the depth chart at two receiver spots after strong camps, and Lewis pointed to Justius Lowe, Will Cianfrini, Jaylon Hawkins and Carson Diehl as players who flashed enough to matter.
That is also where the game could get revealing. San Diego State is expected to use more than the listed starters, but the question is how much more, and how quickly. Jackson Ford and Ryan Wolfer are tight ends who could be used for more than blocking, which suggests the Aztecs may spread snaps across a larger pool of skill players rather than forcing the same small group into every early-down and third-down role. For a team trying to set its identity in the new Pac-12 era, that matters as much as the score margin.
Portland State brings a different test, even as an FCS opponent and even after opening with a 31-24 loss to UC Davis. Tyrese Smith handled most of that offense. He completed 23 of 36 passes for 268 yards with one interception, rushed 13 times for 33 yards and scored both of Portland State’s offensive touchdowns on 1-yard runs. He played in all 12 games last season, was the Vikings’ second-leading rusher and finished with 98 carries, 405 yards and six touchdowns, which is why Lewis called him a true dual-threat talent and said Portland State does a really nice job with its quarterback run game and Smith operating off script.
That is the clash underneath the lopsided line. San Diego State should have the advantage, but Lewis is still asking his players to prove they can keep the same standards when the game changes from practice speed to live speed. If the Aztecs manage the ball the way he wants and the newcomers handle their assignments cleanly, Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium can be less about the spread and more about how much of the offense they are ready to unlock.
