3 Thoughts … after the Aztecs’ 23-0 win over Fresno State

FRESNO — Three thoughts after San Diego State’s 23-0 Mountain West win over Fresno State on Saturday at Valley Children’s Stadium.

1. Shutouts and shout-outs

There have been 33 shutouts this season in college football.

Top-ranked Ohio State has two shutouts, and the other nine teams in the top 10 have combined for two shutouts.

San Diego State has three shutouts, with the one against Fresno State added to those against Stony Brook (42-0) and Cal (34-0). There was nearly a fourth when the Aztecs won 6-3 at Northern Illinois.

Among all the impressive accomplishments so far by SDSU’s defense, it is the the zeroes that stand out most. It’s just not that easy to keep an opponent off the scoreboard.

Three shutouts in a season is a school record for the Aztecs during the Division I era (dating to 1969).

Archivists need to go back six decades, to SDSU’s undefeated 1966 team, to find another season with three shutouts. The 1965 team posted five shutouts, blanking Akron (41-0), Cal Poly (41-0), Cal State Northridge (50-0), Northern Arizona (20-0) and Cal Western (44-0).

Fresno State nearly got into field goal range on its opening drive, moving the ball 40 yards in 11 plays before punting at the SDSU 35. The Bulldogs got to the SDSU 41 in the second quarter before turning the ball over on downs after three straight incompletions by quarterback Carson Conklin.

Credit Fresno State for not attempting a chip-shot field goal simply to avoid a shutout when the Bulldogs advanced to the SDSU 12 midway through the fourth quarter. Conklin threw incomplete on a fourth-and-5.

It was Fresno State’s first shutout in 45 years at Valley Children’s Stadium. The Bulldogs’ previous home shutout was against Utah State at Ratcliffe Stadium in October 1980, a month before the current stadium opened.

Fresno State’s best starting field position of the game followed a third-quarter SDSU fumble that the Bulldogs advanced to their 47-yard line.

SDSU defensive coordinator Rob Aurich’s crew allowed Fresno State 2 yards in three plays, and the Bulldogs punted the ball away.

“You know that the defense isn’t going to flinch,” SDSU coach Sean Lewis said. “They’re going to go back out there, and they’re going to settle in and be just fine.

“They know that no matter where the ball is put down, it’s their job to go get a stop. They embrace that. They’re all for it. Again, that’s the complementary football.

“It looks a little different than your traditional complementary football. But our guys know that they’re going to take care of one another in all three phases, and they do an excellent job of all that.”

2. Good — and good fortune

There’s no telling how far SDSU kicker Gabe Plascencia can extend his record consecutive field goal streak.

It reached 25 in a row with makes of 42, 50 and 27 yards against Fresno State.

Plascencia is well past the previous SDSU record of 18 established by Chris O’Brien (1984-85). Against Fresno State, “the Hefty Lefty,” as Plascencia is known, broke the Mountain West record of 22 he shared with Air Force’s Luke Strebel (2015-16). Plascencia is still well back of the college record of 34, set by Wake Forest’s Nick Sciba from 2018-2019.

However long this goes, there will be a footnote. The streak could have ended at 24 straight.

In the second quarter against the Bulldogs, Plascencia lined up for a 45-yard attempt. A false start penalty made it no play, the ball was moved back 5 yards and Plascencia drilled a 50-yarder.

Lost amid the confusion of the penalty is this little notable — the 45-yarder was wide left. It looked good from the press box perspective and was originally reported as such, until a reader alerted the U-T to the error.

Officials made no signal because of the false start penalty. Announcers on the FS1 broadcast made no mention of make/miss, saying “and before the kick there was a flag. False start.” Viewers could see the ball curve wide of the uprights, though.

How legitimate the attempt was is subject to debate. The kick unit is trained to follow through regardless of penalty or timeout because it allows an extra kick. A practice swing, if you will.

But did the offensive line not follow through on its blocks, which allowed defenders to come through (it appeared one may have tipped the ball)? Did Plascencia, knowing there was a penalty, not follow through the way he normally would have?

None of it matters because of the penalty, but the false start may actually have saved the streak.

The NFL record for consecutive field goals is 44, by Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri over the 2015-16 seasons. The professional record comes from the CFL, where Ottawa Redblacks kicker Lewis Ward made 69 in a row during the 2018-19 season.

3. In the conversation

It was preposterous to consider SDSU among the nation’s top 25 teams in the preseason after last season’s 3-9 finish. A 1-1 start that featured a 36-13 loss in Week 2 at Washington State didn’t make anyone mindful of the Aztecs, either.

Five straight victories have attracted some eyeballs among media and coaches’ polls.

SDSU received two points in the AP poll after beating Nevada two weeks ago. The Aztecs had seven points a week later, even though they did not play. That was the equivalent of 31st in the rankings.

In Sunday’s AP poll, the Aztecs totaled 14 points, which was 31st (the Union-Tribune listed SDSU 25th on its ballot). The AP poll has Memphis listed No. 25 with 130 points.

There was some notice in the Coaches poll as well. SDSU received four votes (35th place) last week and 14 votes (34th) this week. Memphis is No. 25 with 105 points.