There will be fall football after all.
The Mountain West Conference Board of Directors met on Sept. 24 to discuss the possibility of playing the 2020 season after initially announcing an indefinite suspension on Aug. 10 due to health concerns amid the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
After the meeting, the league reversed course and announced on Sept. 25 that the 2020 football season will start on Oct. 24. Subject to state, county and local approval, San Diego State University will play an eight-game regular-season schedule.
The MW championship game scheduled Dec. 19.
The league released its 2020 schedule on Oct. 1.
The Aztecs, who will play eight games, including seven conference matchups, are among 12 conference members.
MW West Division members include Fresno State, San Jose State, UNLV, Nevada-Reno, Hawaii and SDSU. The MW East Division includes Boise State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Utah State, New Mexico and the Air Force Academy.
Hawaii defeated SDSU, 14-11, to win last year’s MW West title while Boise State finished atop the East Division standings with a 7-1 conference record.
Hawaii and SDSU both finished with 5-3 conference records, with the Rainbow Warriors owning the tiebreaker advantage.
Boise State defeated Hawaii, 31-10, in the 2019 MW championship game.
Seven MW teams participated in postseason bowl games: Boise State (Las Vegas Bowl), Hawaii (Hawaii Bowl), Nevada-Reno (Potato Bowl), SDSU (New Mexico Bowl), Utah State (Frisco Bowl), Wyoming (Arizona Bowl) and Air Force (Cheez-It-Bowl).
SDSU finished the 2019 pigskin campaign 10-3 overall after defeating Central Michigan, 48-11, in postseason play.
“I am excited our football student athletes are going to have the opportunity to compete this fall,” SDSU director of athletics John David Wicker said. “While we still have work to do with campus and local county colleagues on a full return to play, we have made significant strides in returning our players to practice in a safe and healthy manner.
“We will continue to learn from those that have already begun competing this fall to ensure our health and safety protocols are at the levels we need to enjoy a successful 2020 football season.”
“I am very excited that we are getting back to football,” SDSU football head coach Brady Hoke said. “Our guys have been working hard and it will be great to get back out on the field. We can’t wait to compete. I don’t have any doubt that the priority has always been the health and well-being of our student athletes with the safety protocols we have here at San Diego State. I know the conference and all the (MW) institutions have been following the advice of the medical and athletic training staffs, and we’re going to go about this as safely as we can.”
The SDSU roster includes five South County high school alumni: senior offensive lineman Dominic Gudino (Olympian), senior running back Greg Bell (Bonita Vista), junior defensive lineman Ubaldo Nolasco (Chula Vista) sophomore offensive lineman William Dunkle (Eastlake) and freshman kicker David Delgado (Hilltop).
Nolasco is a transfer from Southwestern College.
The Aztec roster also includes four East County high school alumni: sophomore quarterback Carson Baker (Helix), junior safety Rashad Scott (Helix), sophomore wide receiver Jesse Matthews (Christian) and sophomore linebacker Michael Shawcroft (Helix).
While the return to the field is great news for everyone associated with the SDSU team, fans will have to tail-gate long distance.
The Aztecs announced on Sept 15 that home games have been moved to the Health Dignity Sports Park in Carson. The move was made to facilitate on-site construction of the school’s new football stadium on the recently purchased SDSU West parcel in Mission Valley, the current site of SDCCU Stadium.
Plans are to deconstruct the existing stadium ahead of schedule to advance the timeline of the SDSU Mission Valley project.
SDCCU Stadium is now scheduled to be demolished in the first quarter of 2021; the new 35,000-seat SDSU stadium is expected to open in time for the 2022 season.
Besides the new stadium, the Mission Valley site is expected to also include a mixed-use development that is transit-oriented and will expand the university’s educational, research, entrepreneurial and technology transfer programs. SDSU Mission Valley will also include transit, retail, housing and the development of more than 80 acres of community parks and open space, including the 34-acre River Park.
With the move now made official, the Aztecs have played their last game at SDCCU Stadium. That came on Nov. 30 — a 13-3 non-conference victory against BYU as Baker completed 19 of 24 passes for 172 yards and one touchdown.
The existing Mission Valley stadium, previously known as San Diego Stadium, Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium, first opened in 1967.
The Aztecs’ first game at San Diego Stadium was on Sept. 15, 1967, when SDSU defeated Tennessee State 16-8.
“Once the sale of the site was finalized with the city, and we knew we could play football in Aztec Stadium in fall 2022, based on all the information we had gathered, it became clear the existing stadium had to come down in the first quarter of 2021,” Wicker said.
“Our intention had been to play a final season in SDCCU Stadium. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has forced our hand and we must move the 2021 games as well.”
According to the university, the decision to demolish SDCCU Stadium earlier than originally planned will advance the timeline for the entire project.
“This is not a decision we made lightly,” explained Tom McCarron, who serves as senior vice president of SDSU Mission Valley Development. “Getting the site ready for future development is critical for SDSU to realize the vision we have shared with the community over the past many years. The accelerated development timeline not only keeps the stadium on schedule, but also the River Park and development pads for the residential housing and Innovation District.”
Dignity Health Sports Park, which opened in 2003, is located about 110 miles north of SDCCU Stadium.
The 27,000-seat venue has played host to the National Football League, XFL, Major League Soccer and World Cup championship events. The Los Angeles Chargers called the facility home in from 2017-19, while the XFL’s Wildcats made their debut this spring before the league later suspended operations.
“Although I am disappointed that we will not be playing our home games in San Diego (this) year, I remain incredibly excited about playing in our new stadium in the fall of 2022,” Wicker said. “While we wait for completion of this transformational facility, I am thrilled that Aztec fans will be able to cheer on our team while enjoying a remarkable game-day college atmosphere. The staff at Dignity Health has experience running marquee events and our staff looks forward to working with them to make this a great experience for our supporters.”
Extra points
SDSU will appear five times on the CBS Sports Network this season, once on FS1 and once on the ESPN networks (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN3).
Last year’s win over BYU ended a six-game losing streak in the series and allowed SDSU to improve to 8-21-1 all-time against Brigham Young.
The Cougars were 7-6 a season ago, including a 38-34 loss to MW championship runner-up Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl. BYU, which is ranked 22nd in both national polls, has already played four games on the season, outscoring its opponents, 175-44, in rushing to a 4-0 start.
The Aztecs can look ahead to a familiar foe to start the season.
SDSU has won five of the last six meetings against UNLV after edging the Rebels, 20-17, in Las Vegas last year. The Aztecs lead the all-time series 19-10.
UNLV was 4-8 a year ago, but beat San Jose State, 38-35, and Nevada, 33-30, in its final two games of the season.
It looks like teams will need to enter the season in midseason form if they are to compete for this year’s conference championship.
It was announced that all 12 Mountain West teams will compete in one division this season, with the two teams with the highest winning percentage among conference games to play in the MW title game on Dec. 19.
The team with the highest winning percentage will host the championship game.
It looks to be a mad dash from the start.
National rankings
SDSU, its MW rivals, as well as Pac-12 teams, will have catching up to do as some college teams have already played four games.
Clemson (4-0) tops the Week 7 national rankings, followed by No. 1 Alabama (3-0), No. 3 Georgia (3-0), No. 4 Notre Dame (3-0), No. 5 North Carolina (3-0), No. 6 Ohio State (0-0), No. 7 Oklahoma State (3-0), No. 8 Cincinnati (3-0), No. 9 Penn State (0-0) and No. 10 Florida (2-1).
SDSU AZTECS 2020 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
OCTOBER
24: UNLV at Aztecs, 7:30 p.m. PT
31: SDSU at Utah State, 7:30 p.m. MT
NOVEMBER
6: San Jose State at Aztecs, 6 p.m. PT
14: Hawaii at Aztecs, 1 p.m. PT
21: SDSU at Nevada-Reno, 12:30 p.m. PT
27: SDSU at Fresno State, TBA
DECEMBER
5: Colorado State at Aztecs, 7:30 p.m. PT
12: SDSU at BYU, TBA
19: Mountain West Conference championship game, TBA (home of team with the highest winning percentage in Mountain West games)
Note:
Home games at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.
NFL ALUMNI REPORT
Ex-Crusader Myers soaring with 3-0 Seahawks
Mater Dei Catholic High School alumnus Jason Myers has logged 17 kicking points in his team’s 3-0 start to the 2020-21 NFL season, including one field goal and 14 point-after-touchdown conversions
He tacked on four more PAT conversions in the Seattle Seahawks dramatic 38-31 come-from-behind win over the visiting Dallas Cowboys on Sunday (Sept. 27).
Myers, a sixth-year pro, notched his four kicking points following touchdown completions by Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson.
Wilson threw five more touchdown passes to hike his league leading total to 14 in three games while passing for 925 yards.
The game went back and forth all afternoon with five lead changes. The Seahawks rallied from a 9-9 first quarter tie to lead 23-15 at halftime. Seattle built its lead to 30-15 on Myer’s fourth PAT of the contest following a one-yard scoring pass from Wilson to Jacob Hollister.
But the Texas visitors scored 16 unanswered points to retake the lead. Dak Prescott connected with Cedrick Wilson (42 yards) and Michael Gallup (43 yards) on two long passing scores to narrow the score to 30-28.
Dallas took a 31-30 lead with 3:59 to play in the game on a 42-yard field goal by Greg Zurlein, who had opened scoring in the game on a 43-yard upright splitter.
Wilson rounded out scoring with a 29-yard touchdown pass to D.K. Metcalf with 1:47 to play and then added a successful two-point conversion pass to Hollister to put his team in front by seven points.
Wilson, who was sacked four times, finished the game with 315 passing yards, including three scores to Tyler Lockett (nine catches, 100 yards).
Prescott, who was sacked twice, passed for 472 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions in the loss. He leads the NFL with 1,188 passing yards in three games.
Extra points
Mount Miguel alumnus Cory Middleton recorded five tackles, including three solo stops, in Sunday’s 36-20 loss at the New England Patriots.
In three games to start the season with the Raiders, Middleton has logged 14 tackles, including eight unassisted tackles.
MLB PLAYOFFS
Padres bow to Cardinals, 7-4, in wild card opener
The St. Louis Cardinals appear to have the San Diego Padres number in postseason play. The Red Birds eliminated the Friars in the Major League Baseball playoffs in 1996, 2005 and 2006 , and moved to just one win away from crushing the hopes of Padres faithful for a fourth time after posting a 7-4 win Wednesday (Sept. 30) in the opener of the teams’ best-of-three wild card series at Petco Park.
The Cardinals scored four runs in the top of the first inning off Padres starter Chris Paddack and tacked on two more runs in the top of the third inning to take a 6-2 lead. Paddack lasted just two-and-one-third inning on the mound.
Paul Goldschmidt cracked a two-run home run to get the Red Birds rolling. Goldschmidt knocked in La Jolla High school alum Tommy Edman, who had singled with one out. Yadier Molina kept the rally going with an RBI single and Matt Carpenter hit a sacrifice fly.
The Padres got runs back in the bottom of the first and second innings to trail 4-2.
Eric Hosmer got the Friars on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly in the first inning and Aaron Mola followed with a sacrifice fly in the second inning.
However, Paddack allowed three consecutive hits to start the third inning, including an RBI single by Paul DeJong. Carpenter picked up an RBI single off Paddack’s replacement, Matt Strahm, as the inning continued.
Paddack, who finished 4-5 in the regular season with a 4.73 earned-run average and 58 strikeouts in 59 innings, coughed up eight hits and struck out one batter.
The hosts halved the score to 6-3 on Tommy Pham’s RBI single in the third inning, and later inched closer on Nola’s sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to make it a two-run game.
The Padres had other scoring chances with men on base but were unable to bring them home. Fernando Tatis Jr. scored two runs.
Pham doubled and Jake Cronenworth tripled in the game, and also each stole a base, but poor baserunning cost the hosts in a pair of situations.
The Padres left nine men on base.
The Cards closed out scoring in the ninth inning on a RBI single by Dexter Fowler. Reliever Giovanny Gallegos picked up the win while Alex Reyes received credit for the save by getting the last four outs of the game.
The Padres employed the services of eight pitchers in the game, yielding 13 hits while striking out 10. The Red Birds’ five pitchers combined to scatter eight hits and strike out five batters.
The unavailability of pitchers Mike Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet for the wild card series due to injuries obviously played a factor for the Padres in the choice of the pitching rotation for the opening series.
The Cardinals concluded a whirlwind regular season that saw the Missouri team play 53 games in 44 days, including 11 doubleheaders, after the team was forced to suspend play for 14 games due to 10 players and eight staff members testing positive for the COVID-19 virus.
Valhalla High School alum Greg Garcia did not appear in Wednesday’s series opener against the Cardinals.
Update:
The Padres stormed back from an early 4-0 deficit in Thursday’s Game 2 of the series by clubbing five home runs, including two each by Tatis Jr. and Wil Myers, to win 11-9.
The Padres rallied with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game 6-6, then scored three times in the seventh inning to take a 9-6 lead. Both teams scored two runs in the eighth inning for an 11-8 standoff.
The Cardinals homered in the top of the ninth inning to make things a bit nervous for the hosts but two runs was as close as the visitors would get.
Tatis Jr. led the Friars with five RBI on the night while Myers finished the comeback effort with four RBI.
Manny Machado hit a solo homer to round out the Pads’ long ball attack. Tatis Jr. and Machado hit back-to-back home runs during one stretch in the game.
Emilio Pagan received credit for the win while Trevor Rosenthal recorded the save.
