San Diego State’s New-Look Offense is a Familiar One For Wyoming
LAS VEGAS, Nev., -- It's still admittedly hard for Sean Lewis to review the film from the 2021 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise.
There's a couple of reasons for that.
"It was probably the worst visually appealing game I've ever been a part of, between the color of the turf, us wearing all gold -- our banana suits and all yellow -- and then the combination of brown and everything else that was there," the former Kent State head coach said jokingly Thursday at Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas. "So, it's always laughable when that game pops up, like in our cut ups and everything."
San Diego State's new bench boss isn't a fan of the final result, either.
"I would've liked to be on the right side of the ledger when it was all said and done," Lewis quipped.
He wasn't.
Wyoming outraced the Golden Flashes that afternoon inside Albertsons Stadium -- literally -- rolling to a 52-38 victory.
Quarterback Levi Williams rushed for a bowl record 200 yards and four touchdowns and the combination of Xazavian Valladay (86), Trey Smith (73), Titus Swen (48), and even wide receiver Isaiah Neyor (8), added 211 more on the ground. The latter also snagged a touchdown catch and amassed 87 more yards via the pass.
What does Lewis remember most about the Cowboys that day?
"Obviously the discipline, the physicality, and the relentless nature that Wyoming played with," he said. "Honestly, I don't see any of that going away with obviously the (coaching) change they made there."
Lewis said he ran a 3-3-5 defense at Kent State. It didn't work that day.
He said that will switch to four down linemen, two linebackers and five more roaming the secondary during his first year on Montezuma Mesa.
Defense hasn't been the issue for the Aztecs since Rocky Long strolled onto campus back in 2009. Balance and consistency on offense -- particularly in the passing game -- has.
San Diego State ranked 11th in passing last season in this 12-team league, averaging just 171.8 yards through the air. Led by Jalen Mayden under center, the Aztecs scored just over 20 points per game. A 36-and-41-point outburst in wins over Idaho State and Hawaii skewed those numbers. In the other 10 games, Ryan Lindley's offense managed just 16 points an outing.
That was the second-worst mark in the league only ahead of lowly Nevada, a team that came into Snapdragon Stadium last October and blanked SDSU, 6-0.
Enter Lewis and his up-tempo, no-huddle attack.
During his five seasons in Ohio, Kent State lit up the scoreboard, averaging 36 points a night. His quarterbacks threw 90 touchdowns passes compared to just 28 interceptions over that stretch. His signal callers also torched defenses to the tune of nearly 250 yards per game.
While Lindley is still on the offensive staff, Lewis runs the show.
In that postseason meeting with Wyoming, Dustin Crum completed 17-of-27 throws for 316 yards and four touchdowns. He connected on throws of 80, 73 and 51 yards in the loss. Two wideouts -- Dante Cephas and Nykeim Johnson -- eclipsed the century mark through the air. Kent State added 319 more yards on the ground thanks to 100-yard performances from Marquez Cooper, who now plays at SDSU, and Bryan Bradford.
All of those 656 yards came against Jay Sawvel's defense.
"There'll be a lot of similarities to what we were offensively that day," Lewis said. "... That was a connected team. That was a really explosive team. So, ultimately, yeah, as we build this thing out and make our own mark on it at San Diego State, yeah, there'll be a lot of similarities that will carry through from that 2021 team that played against Wyoming."
Who will be SDSU's starting quarterback when the Cowboys and Aztecs hook up Oct. 12 inside War Memorial Stadium?
Danny O'Neil.
The true freshman last week earned all-conference honors after throwing for 224 yards and a touchdown in a 27-24 home victory over Hawaii. The 6-foot, 195-pound Indiana product has yet to throw an interception on 113 attempts. O'Neil is also completing nearly 63% of his passes.
Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
(Editor's note: This story was originally published last July during Mountain West Media Days. It has since been updated)
University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
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- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players