San Diego State’s regular season might have ended just shy of a conference title shot, but the Aztecs are walking away with something just as meaningful: respect. A whole lot of it.
Ten SDSU players earned either first- or second-team All-Mountain West honors, the most of any team in the league-two more than Boise State, who’s heading to the conference championship game. And leading the charge?
Senior cornerback Chris Johnson, who didn’t just make the first team-he was named Mountain West Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
Let’s start with Johnson, because his season was nothing short of electric. He didn’t just show up-he took over.
With 49 tackles (36 solo), four interceptions for 146 return yards and two touchdowns, nine pass breakups, and a forced fumble, Johnson was a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks. His 97-yard pick-six in SDSU’s 34-0 upset of Cal was the kind of play that flips a game-and maybe even a season.
He followed that up with another house call, a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown in a blowout win at Nevada. He’s not just a shutdown corner-he’s a game-changer, and he’s now a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which goes to the nation’s top defensive back.
He’s also earned Associated Press Midseason First-Team All-American honors. In short: he’s been everywhere.
But SDSU’s first-team haul didn’t stop there. Sophomore linebacker Owen Chambliss and junior edge rusher Trey White joined Johnson on the defensive side of the all-conference squad.
Chambliss was a tackling machine this year-106 total stops, 61 of them solo, and 9.5 tackles for loss. He added four sacks, five pass breakups, an interception, and a fumble recovery.
That kind of production from a sophomore? That’s the foundation of a future defensive leader.
White, meanwhile, made his second straight appearance on the first team, and it’s easy to see why. He racked up 49 tackles, led the team with 10.5 tackles for loss and tied for the team lead with seven sacks.
Add in a team-best 16 quarterback hurries, and White was a constant presence in opposing backfields. He entered the season as the Mountain West preseason Defensive Player of the Year and was on the radar for both the Bednarik Award and the Nagurski Trophy.
He backed up the hype.
On offense, junior running back Lucky Sutton broke out in a big way. In his first season as the lead back, Sutton ran for 1,237 yards and 10 touchdowns on 239 carries-an average of 5.2 yards per touch.
He topped 100 yards six times and hit at least 75 yards in 11 of 12 games. That kind of consistency is rare, especially for a first-year starter.
Sutton became just the 20th player in SDSU history to reach the 1,000-yard mark in a season, and he’s already climbed to 16th on the school’s single-season rushing list-with a bowl game still to go.
Of course, no running back gets there alone. Senior offensive lineman Ross Ulugalu-Maseuli earned his first-team nod after anchoring a line that helped SDSU rush for 2,003 yards and 14 touchdowns on the year.
The line averaged 5.3 yards per carry and gave up just 31 yards in losses all season. That’s efficiency-and that’s dominance in the trenches.
Special teams got in on the action too. Sophomore Jordan Napier became just the second SDSU punt returner ever to earn a first-team All-MW nod, joining Jordan Byrd (2022).
Napier returned 22 punts for 193 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown against Nevada. He also made the second team as a wide receiver-an impressive feat, especially considering his season ended early due to injury.
Before going down, he posted 48 catches for 629 yards and two touchdowns, plus 40 rushing yards and another score. He was added midseason to the Biletnikoff Award watch list for the nation’s top wide receiver and was already on the radar for the Paul Hornung Award, which honors college football’s most versatile player.
Napier lived up to that billing.
The second-team list also featured senior offensive lineman Christian Jones, senior kicker Gabe Plascencia, and junior punter Hunter Green-rounding out the Aztecs’ league-leading 10 total selections.
San Diego State finished the regular season at 9-3 overall and 6-2 in conference play, landing in a four-way tie atop the Mountain West standings. But due to the league’s computer-based tiebreaker, the Aztecs were left out of the championship game. UNLV and Boise State will battle for the title on Friday.
As for SDSU, they’ll have to wait until Sunday to find out their bowl destination. But wherever they end up, they’re heading into the postseason with momentum-and a roster full of players who’ve already proven they’re among the best in the conference.