Snapdragon signature: Aztecs dominate Cal from start to finish in 34-0 victory

San Diego State has been searching for a signature win in the Sean Lewis era since, well, ever since Lewis was hired 22 months ago.

It finally came Saturday night against Cal amid roars of approval rarely heard in three-plus seasons at Snapdragon Stadium.

The Golden Bears came into the game as unbeaten, two-touchdown favorites. They left with a lopsided loss.

SDSU’s defense sparked a 34-0 victory with a goal-line stand on Cal’s opening drive and a pair of third-quarter takeaways for touchdowns — a 33-yard fumble return by safety Dwayne McDougle and a 97-yard interception return by cornerback Chris Johnson.

“How ’bout them Aztecs,” Lewis said as he sat down for a postgame interview.

Coming off a very disappointing loss at Washington State, Lewis called the Aztecs a “good team that had a bad night.”

After this game, Lewis said, “That’s a good team that played well on a good night.”

“I’m really freaking proud of them,” he said. “There’s a lot of great, emotional toughness that they’ve showed the past 14 days to respond to coaching, to respond to the situations and to respond to an incredible opportunity that they had tonight that they really capitalized on.

“That’s a really good football team. We’re a good team. It’s a great start. It’s early in the season, but it feels good. It’s good to be in the locker room with those boys and all the hard work they’ve put in and the sacrifice and the discipline, the selflessness that they’ve shown. To have a night like that and share it with our community, that’s pretty cool.”

It was SDSU’s first shutout against a Power conference school in 50 years, when they defeated Oregon State 25-0.

SDSU led 13-0 at halftime before an announced crowd of 31,369 (21,819 turnstile) on a 6-yard shovel pass from quarterback Jayden Denegal and 34- and 41-yard field goals by Gabe Plascencia. The second field goal was the 16th straight for Plascencia, setting a school record.

The Aztecs (2-1) were in dire need of a pick-me-up after a 36-13 loss at Washington State in which the Cougars scored 29 unanswered points. SDSU had two weeks to contemplate that one.

The defense came out inspired in this one.

The Bears were in the midst of a 10-minute, 19-play drive in the first quarter that advanced them within a yard of SDSU’s goal line.

On third-and-goal, Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele handed off to running back Kendrick Raphael. SDSU’s Johnson raced in from the outside and dropped him for a 1-yard loss.

On fourth-and-goal, Sagapolutele dropped back, looking, looking, before throwing to tight end Landon Morris in the back of the end zone. SDSU safety Dalesean Staley broke it up, and the Aztecs took over.

The video board flashed “Threat block” after the play.

It was just one drive, but it set the tone.

Thus inspired, SDSU’s offense made it 7-0 four minutes into the second quarter on a drive highlighted by an 80-yard pass from Denegal to Jordan Napier. It was the Aztecs’ longest pass play since an 89-yard pass from Christian Chapman to Fred Trevillion in 2017 at Boise State.

“One thing we always talk about is ownership,” Cal linebacker Cade Uluave said. “You have to own what you do, you have to own what you put on film. We’re going to own it. We got punched in the mouth. That’s obvious.”

Plascencia’s first field goal followed another defensive stop. His second one came as time expired in the second quarter.

In between, during a stop in play as Cal drove down the field, SDSU defenders looked to the crowd and lifted their arms. The fans responded with a roar.

A couple plays later, Cal missed a 44-yard field goal attempt and the Aztecs were on the way to their second shutout in three games. The Bears were averaging 32 points coming into the game.

“If you don’t play this game with the utmost focus, effort and detail, it will disrespect you in two seconds,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “We have to give a lot of credit to San Diego State. They played a fantastic game. Our level of detail, the fundamentals, the execution was very, very poor, obviously.

“We have to learn a lot. You don’t get to just wipe it and forget it. You also can’t wallow in your own self-pity. The most important day of the year is going to be Monday, what it looks like walking through that door.”

When the Bears seemed to be closing in on a score four minutes into the third quarter, Staley forced a fumble and McDougle scooped up the loose ball and scored to make it 20-0.

“Before the game, I brought up all the (teammates) from California that are here,” Staley said, “and I told them, ‘They passed up on us, bro.’ They passed up on us, so we’ve got to hunt the whole game. We’ve got to hunt. So that’s what we did.”

Sagapolutele (17-for-38, 208 yards, 2 INTs) had played mature beyond his years in leading the Bears (3-1) to three wins this season.

Against the Aztecs, the true freshman from Hawaii acted his age.

With the Bears inside the red zone, Sagapolutele lofted a sideline pass that Johnson jumped on at the 3-yard line. He followed a couple blocks before bursting into the clear for the final 50 yards to make it 27-0. Staley struck again on the next possession, picking off a Sagapolutele sideline pass.

“Everything they were showing was what they were showing on film, especially in the first half,” Sagapolutele said. “But we weren’t getting much of a rhythm. They started playing back. They knew we had to take some shots. They made plays. That was on me, not getting the offense going and not getting in a rhythm to get us in the end zone.”

SDSU completed the scoring midway through the fourth quarter on a 6-yard carry by running back Lucky Sutton (12 carries, 61 yards).

Denegal, who struggled against Washington State, shined against the Bears, completed 15 of 18 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown. Napier was his favorite target, catching nine passes for 154 yards and a score.

“I just like the ball in my hands,” said Napier, who added, “Moving forward, we know we’ve got a good team. We know that Cal was one of the better teams on our schedule this year. We went out and we balled, so we know what we’ve got and we know what we’ve got to keep doing. It’s as simple as that.”