There’s Still Some Fight Left on the Mesa

I’ve been pretty damn critical of San Diego State football this season. The offense, the play calling, the coaching, the direction of the program — all of it.

And I don’t take any of it back.

But if we’re going to be loud when this team looks like shit, we better be just as loud when they show up.

Saturday night, they showed up.

SDSU beat Texas State 31-29 to open Pac-12 play, and somehow the final score doesn’t even tell you how ridiculous this game was. At halftime, this thing looked dead. Texas State led 17-3 and had outgained SDSU 240-65. The Bobcats had 14 first downs to SDSU’s four, were averaging more than seven yards per play and had already put together touchdown drives of 96 and 86 yards. SDSU was 0-for-4 on third down. There wasn’t much to feel good about, and after everything we had watched through the first four games, it felt like we knew exactly where this was headed.

Then halftime happened.

Whatever was said or adjusted in that locker room worked, because the team that came out for the second half looked nothing like the one that went in. Jaylon Hawkins took the opening kickoff 96 yards to the house, Snapdragon woke up, the sideline woke up and suddenly there was some life. Then freshman running back Josiah Lucas went to work. With SDSU already thin at running back, Lucas was asked to carry a huge load and responded with 111 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. SDSU went from trailing 17-3 to leading 24-17 in less than seven minutes. Twenty-one unanswered points, and a game that looked completely dead was suddenly flipped on its head.

Give Cameron Cooper His Damn Flowers

And while we’re handing out credit, Cameron Cooper deserves his damn flowers. His pick-six was one of the biggest plays of the night and, in a game ultimately decided by two points, you can make a pretty easy argument that SDSU doesn’t win without it. Texas State quarterback Brad Jackson threw for 372 yards, and Beau Sparks finished with 153 receiving yards, so I’m not going to pretend the Aztecs completely shut down the Bobcats’ passing attack. They didn’t. But Cooper made them pay when SDSU desperately needed somebody to make a play.

That’s what playmakers do.

A defensive touchdown in a 31-29 game isn’t some cool stat we mention at the bottom of the recap. It’s quite literally part of the difference between celebrating the program’s first Pac-12 win and spending another week wondering what the hell happened to SDSU football. Cooper stepped up in the biggest moment, and he deserves every bit of credit for it.

Let’s Not Pretend Everything Is Fixed

Now, before we start planning the parade down Montezuma Road, there are still some very real problems here. Jayden Denegal finished with only 109 passing yards, while Texas State threw for 372. And while SDSU scored 31 points, you can’t look at that number and suddenly declare the offense fixed. Hawkins’ kickoff return gave SDSU seven points. Cooper’s pick-six gave them another seven.

That’s 14 of the 31 points coming from outside the offense.

There are still questions about the passing game, the play calling and whether this offense can consistently sustain drives without needing the defense or special teams to manufacture something. None of that disappeared because SDSU won a football game. But something happened Saturday night that shouldn’t be ignored either: this team fought. At 1-3, down 17-3, dealing with injuries and a mumps outbreak that reportedly sidelined 13 players, there were about a million excuses available for this team to fold. They didn’t.

A Little Hope Before Kickoff

Before the game, I had the chance to talk briefly with GM Caleb Davis on the Warrior Walk. In my opinion, he’s one of the most authentic people in sports, and the energy and belief he had in this team stuck with me. With everything surrounding the program lately, that quick conversation gave me a little hope going into the game.

A few hours later, his players backed that belief up.

Now Do It Again

That’s ultimately where I’m at with this team. Saturday earned them credit. Sean Lewis and his staff deserve credit for the halftime adjustments. Jaylon Hawkins deserves credit for completely changing the energy of the game. Josiah Lucas deserves credit for stepping into a massive role and delivering. Cameron Cooper deserves every damn flower we can find. And the entire roster deserves credit for responding when it would’ve been very easy not to.

But now comes the hard part: do it again. One emotional comeback can change a night. Stack a few of them together and maybe it changes a season. After everything we’ve seen through the first month, I’m not ready to declare that SDSU football is back or that all the problems have magically been solved.

But for the first time in a while, they gave us a reason to want to see what happens next.