San Diego State tight end Jay Rudolph (82) and wide receiver Elijah Kothe (96) celebrate with running back Greg Bell (22) after Bell's touchdown against Hawaii on Nov. 6, 2021, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
Jay Norvell is confident his Nevada Wolf Pack football team is ready for the San Diego State Aztecs.
“I just think our team has been tested,” said Norvell, whose Wolf Pack (7-2, 4-1) will meet the Aztecs (8-1, 4-1) at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., Saturday night (7:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network). “We’ve had to play a lot of tough games on the road and we understand how to play in those types of games.”
The Wolf Pack also understands how to beat San Diego State. Nevada has won three consecutive games against the Aztecs, including last year (26-21) at Mackay Stadium.
“It’s always a physical game,” Norvell said. “It tests you in every way. You have to have a certain mindset when you play these guys. They want to run the football, play good defense and play solid on special teams. You are going to have to play that kind of football to beat them.”
The Pack has beaten San Diego State just twice in the state of California since the rivalry began in 1945. Quarterback Bill Mackrides ran for two touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass to Tommy Kalmanir in a 26-0 Pack win in 1946 and quarterback Carson Strong was 19-of-26 for 147 yards and a touchdown in a 17-13 Pack win in 2019. Both of those games, though, were in San Diego. Saturday’s game will be in the Aztecs’ temporary new home near Los Angeles as they wait for their new stadium in San Diego to be completed.
The Aztecs are 7-2 at Dignity Health Sports Park over the last two seasons but have averaged just 9,650 fans a game this year at the 27,000-seat stadium, which is normally the home of the Los Angeles Galaxy professional soccer team.
“They are difficult to play wherever you play them,” Norvell said.
The winner on Saturday will have the inside track on the West Division title and a spot in the Mountain West championship game Dec. 4.
“There’s obviously a lot to play for,” Norvell said. “It’s an important game for us. It always is. But it’s that time of year. This is when your execution has to step up. You have to play sound, play without mistakes, play physical and with good fundamentals. That’s no secret to anybody.”
The San Diego State game plan is also no secret to anybody. The Aztecs want to run the ball, dominate the time of possession and play solid defense.
“Now let’s end those drives in the end zone with touchdowns,” Aztecs coach Brady Hoke said.
Scoring touchdowns has been the Aztecs’ problem lately. San Diego State has averaged just 19 points over its last four games, beating Hawaii (17-10), Air Force (20-14) and San Jose State (19-13) and losing to Fresno State (30-20).
“We haven’t had an explosive play in, I believe, the last three weeks,” Hoke said. “We’ve got to get some explosive plays.”
Running back Greg Bell leads the Aztecs with 745 yards rushing and seven touchdowns. Chance Bell has chipped in with 204 yards on the ground and Kaegun Williams has 202 yards. Quarterback Lucas Johnson has also run for 178 yards.
The Aztecs, which had just 109 yards rushing against the Pack last season on 36 carries, are second in the Mountain West this season with 193.6 rushing yards a game. The last four games, though, the Aztecs have averaged just 130 yards a game on the ground.
“I’m excited about what we’ll do this week,” Hoke said.
San Diego State has averaged just 132 yards on the ground (3.6 a carry) in its three-game losing streak to the Wolf Pack. No Aztec runner has had 100 yards in any of the three games.
“I just think our guys have confidence that whatever is presented to us, we can handle it,” Norvell said.
The Wolf Pack defense has returned three interceptions and one fumble for touchdowns over its last two games, a 51-20 win over UNLV and, last week, a 27-24 win over San Jose State.
San Diego State’s conservative offense, though, is based upon not making those sort of mistakes. The Aztecs have turned the ball over just 10 times this season in nine games. The Pack offense has been even more careful with the ball, turning it over just eight times in nine games.
“Our defense is really starting to come into its own and play together,” said Norvell, whose defense has forced 18 turnovers this season. “We have a lot of guys playing with confidence.”
Johnson, who has shared quarterback duties with backups Jordon Brookshire and Will Haskell, has completed just 66-of-109 passes for 625 yards and five touchdowns this year. His top receiver, tight end Daniel Bellinger, has just 21 catches for 257 yards and one score.
Strong, by comparison, has completed 289-of-410 passes for 3,197 yards and 25 touchdowns. Six Wolf Pack receivers, led by Romeo Doubs’ 55 catches for 726 yards and five touchdowns, have more catches this season than Bellinger.
“We won (this past week at Hawaii) kind of the way we do it,” Hoke said.
The Aztecs needed a 13-yard touchdown run by holder Jack Browning on a fake field goal attempt to beat Hawaii. Aztecs’ punter Matt Araiza leads the nation with an average of 51.9 yards on his 56 punts.
San Diego State’s defense is led by defensive linemen Keshawn Banks (nine quarterback hurries), Cameron Thomas (12 hurries, 13 tackles for a loss) and linebackers Michael Shawcroft (four hurries) and Caden McDonald (three sacks, four hurries).
The Aztecs lead the Mountain West, allowing just 16.7 points a game. Hoke, though, is well aware that Strong presents a lot of challenges for any defense.
“To me, he’s the prototypical pro quarterback,” said Hoke, a long-time defensive coach who coached in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers as well as for the Michigan Wolverines in the Big Ten and Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12. “He’s rangy, he’s tall, he has a real good arm and he gets rid of the ball well and makes all the throws.”
Strong was 31-of-46 last year against the Aztecs for 288 yards and two touchdowns, though he did throw an interception at the Nevada 26-yard line with 3:23 to play. San Diego State, though, was unable to turn the turnover into points.
“He really knows that offense real well,” said Hoke of Strong. “We are going to have to disguise our (defensive) fronts and show him different coverages.”
San Diego State, which beat Arizona (38-14) and Utah (33-31 in three overtimes) in back-to-back weeks in September, is ranked 22nd in the College Football Playoff Rankings, 28th by the Associated Press and 27th in the Coaches Poll. Nevada is ranked 35th in the Coaches Poll.
“This (Nevada) is a great football team that we will go up against,” said Hoke, whose Aztecs are a 3-point favorite against Nevada. “That is an old football team, with a lot of seniors, a lot of fifth-year and sixth-year guys that have played a lot of football. They are a team with a maturity about them.”
The winner on Saturday will control its own destiny in the West Division, though both teams will still have two games to play in the regular season. Fresno State, at 7-3, 4-2, is also still in the West Division race. If the three teams finish tied for first the division title would go to Fresno State because the Bulldogs have already beaten Nevada and San Diego State.
“It’s like a playoff,” Norvell said. “It’s like a high school team going through the playoffs. You have to win to advance. This is just the next step.”
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