3 Thoughts … after San Diego State’s 24-7 win over Wyoming

Three thoughts after San Diego State’s 24-7 Mountain West win over Wyoming on Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium:

1. Defense, defense, defense

Any ideas the Aztecs had for their fourth shutout of the season went out the window when Wyoming scored 4 1/2 minutes into the game.

It was one and done.

After driving 75 yards in eight plays for a touchdown, the Cowboys collected 110 yards over their next 14 drives. SDSU limited them to 47 yards in the second half.

“We just stuck to the game plan,” said SDSU edge rusher Trey White, who had two sacks. “We just had to settle in as a defense. They, obviously, scored on that first drive, which is really unacceptable on our defense. We have a really high standard for that. … We’ve got each other’s backs and we know that’s unacceptable. Once we settled in, we just locked in, and gave up zero points after that.”

SDSU tacklers were waiting for Wyoming running backs as soon as they touched the ball. On the rare occasions when a back avoided the rush, a second wave of Aztecs was there to greet him. Linebacker Owen Chambliss seemed like he was in on every tackle. Chambliss had a game-high 13 tackles, giving him a team-high 71 this season. Aztecs defensive lineman Malchi Finau applied one of the biggest hits of the evening when he popped Wyoming wide receiver Michael Fitzgerald and forced a fumble.

White noted that SDSU forced Wyoming into some third-and-long situations favorable to the Aztecs.

Sure enough, Dwayne McDougle tipped and intercepted Wyoming quarterback Kaden Anderson on a third-and-9 in the second quarter. But interceptions also came on second-down plays when the rush was coming and Anderson was off target with his efforts. That’s when cornerback Bryce Phillips and Chambliss came away with interceptions.

It seems the only thing SDSU’s defense lacks is a cool nickname. Defcon 1 Defense? This is a military town. Snap, Crackle and Pop Defense? Perhaps Kellogg’s does NIL. Red & Black Hole Defense? Maybe they can workshop that this week.

2. Perseverance pays off

SDSU running back Byron Cardwell Jr. is proving to be a weapon out of the backfield.

Catch or carry, Cardwell has shown some wiggle when he gets his hands on the ball. He had only one carry for four yards against Wyoming. It was 24-and 25-yard catches that had people talking. He scored SDSU’s first touchdown and the first reception.

When quarterback Jayden Denegal didn’t have time to locate his primary receiver because of a blitz, Denegal dumped the ball to Cardwell over the middle behind the line of scrimmage. The 6-foot, 220-pound senior Cardwell did the rest, eluding two tacklers to get into the open field, then beating two more to the right corner of the end zone before diving across the goal line for the score.

It was Cardwell’s second touchdown of the season. The first TD was on a 20-yard carry against Colorado State. An emotional Cardwell went to his knees and raised his arms to the sky after that score. It had been a couple years since he carried a ball into the end zone.

Cardwell was a 2,000-yard career rusher during a prep career spent mostly at St. Augustine. He attended Oregon out of high school and made an immediate impact for the Ducks, rushing for 417 yards as a true freshman and leading the Pac-12 with 6.84 yards per carry.

A high-ankle sprain limited Cardwell to two games for the Ducks during the 2022 season. He transferred thereafter to Cal, where a knee injury forced him to miss the entire 2023 season. Cardwell played in nine games last season for the Golden Bears, carrying 24 times for 75 yards.

“I feel like my contribution is definitely noticed during the flow of games. I can feel it when I’m in there,” Cardwell said. “Whether it’s a few carries or a lot of carries, I make an impact with what I get. It takes all 11 on each side of the ball and special teams to win a game. What I’ve learned from my freshman year of college to now, my graduate year, you just do what’s best to help the team. With that, you’re also going to get your individual accomplishments.”

Cardwell gives opponents something else to think about when he subs in for starting running back Lucky Sutton.

“I feel like I bring a unique skill set,” Cardwell said. “Just being able to catch out of the backfield. Running the ball. Blocking. Every aspect of my game, I feel I bring something to the team and help contribute.”

3. Drawing a crowd

Winning was supposed to solve SDSU’s attendance issues at Snapdragon Stadium.

So explain how a team riding a five-game winning streak (now six) gets only 17,109 people to show up in the stands (tickets distributed was 24,325).

Part of it was a student section that had the lowest turnout of this season’s four home games.

More disturbing is the lack of attendance from the general public. There were nearly 8,000 unsold tickets for the Wyoming game. That’s almost 25% of Snapdragon’s 32,500 seats

There is one other thing at play here. Passion, or lack thereof. Is that a SoCal thing or a failure to connect with the public? Probably a combination of both. Attendance wasn’t very impressive during more than a decade of winning from 2010-22, either.

SDSU announced last year that the 2024 graduating class boosted the university to 500,000 living alumni. An estimated 300,000 of them still live in San Diego County. And SDSU is struggling to get more than 3% of them to attend football games.

If the Aztecs return from Hawaii with their winning streak at seven games, a showdown sellout for the Nov. 15 game against Boise State seems reasonable.

Or does it? The TicketMaster website currently lists more than 6,000 tickets available for the Boise State game. That doesn’t include those held back for opponents’ fans, student overflow and other promotions that could be released for sale.

Fewer than 300 tickets (all on the visiting side) are at the lowest price point — $62.55. Prices for the other tickets are $115.60, $156.90, $180.50, $209.95 and $298.45.

SDSU officials have said that surveys were conducted before Snapdragon Stadium opened to determine appropriate pricing. No one ever said the surveys were accurate.