Oct. 13, 2014 SAN DIEGO -
Aztecs Start Second Half of the Season Saturday at Home vs. Hawai'i
• San Diego State opens the second half of the 2014 campaign at home against Hawai'i, the only Mountain West's West Division team without a league loss, on Saturday night at Qualcomm Stadium. The Aztecs (3-3, 2-1 MW) are tied with Fresno State (3-4, 2-1 MW) for second place in the West Division, behind the first-place Rainbow Warriors (2-4, 1-0 MW). Announced kickoff time is set for 7:30 p.m. PT, and the game will be on TV on CBS Sports Network and on radio on The Mighty 1090 and The Max 105.7 FM.
• SDSU is 3-3 in the first half of the 2014 campaign, despite playing four true road games, including two at Power 5 Conference members, and having a rash of key injuries. San Diego State, which is tied with 16 other schools for playing the fewest home games (2) to date, has four home games remaining in the 2014 campaign.
• The Aztecs have won four consecutive home games, which is tied for the 23rd-longest active win streak in FBS, five straight against unranked teams and nine in a row against unranked conference opponents.
• Oddly, this will mark SDSU's only home game from Sept. 28 through Nov. 7, a 41-day period.
• Last Friday, San Diego State never trailed in defeating New Mexico, 24-14, in Albuquerque for a fifth consecutive victory in the series. Sophomore running back Donnel Pumphrey rushed for 246 yards, the 13th-highest single-game total in school history and the seventh-highest total in FBS play this season. As a team, the Aztecs rushed for 397 yards, the eighth-highest total in school history.
• With last Friday's victory, SDSU is 15-3 (.833) over its last 18 Mountain West games, dating back to Oct. 6, 2012. That is tied for the 12th-highest winning percentage nationally in league games during that time frame.
• Since the beginning of the 2010 campaign, San Diego State has posted a 37-21 record (.638), tied for the 28th-best mark over that time frame.
• Rocky Long, the all-time Mountain West leader in coaching victories, owns 93 career wins. Now in his fourth season with the Aztecs, Long owns a 28-17 record (19-7 in MW games).
• Sophomore running back Donnel Pumphrey ranks among the nation's leaders in several categories, including tied for third in rushing touchdowns (11) and ninth in rushing yards per game (134.5). The Doak Walker candidate has 1,559 career rushing yards to rank 16th on the school's career rushing chart.
• SDSU opponents have failed to accumulate 400 yards of total offense in five of six games this season. For the year, the San Diego State D is allowing 20.2 points per game to rank 27th nationally and 351.8 yards per outing to rank 36th nationally. The unit is also 34th in tackles for loss (6.8) and 44th in sacks per game (2.50).
• Through six games, the Aztecs have had 17 players make their first career start (nine on offense, eight on defense) and 29 players see their first action with SDSU (two are DI transfers). San Diego State currently has three projected starters that are out due to injury - senior linebacker Derek Largent, junior linebacker Jake Fely and senior wide receiver Ezell Ruffin - with another (senior quarterback Quinn Kaehler) expected to start Saturday vs. Hawai'i.
• The Aztecs have advanced to four consecutive bowl games. SDSU joins Stanford as the only football teams in California - FBS or NFL - to advance to the postseason in each of the past four seasons.