SAN DIEGO — The San Diego State Aztecs football team got trounced by Boise State on Friday night on the Smurf Turf 56-24. Up next is a chance to redeem themselves at home against New Mexico.
The Aztecs and Lobos are two of the most penalized teams in the country.
San Diego State will play host on a field that is making as much news as the team is.
In the wake of the blowout at Boise State the Aztecs no longer control their destiny to the Mountain West Conference Championship.
"The growth and mastering skills and building the culture can be pretty messy, and sometimes that means getting punched in the face," Aztecs Head Coach Sean Lewis said. "Taking a good old American ass whooping the way that we did there on Friday night."
"First off, we got to double down," Aztecs Cornerback Bryce Phillips added. "Like the loss we took, we fought hard to them, but like the next day that Sunday, Saturday practice, we got to double down. We got to go even harder."
"You know, we got four games in front of us now," Aztecs Tight End Michael Harrison said. "How are we gonna respond to it? That's probably our worst game so far this season. So how are we gonna respond to that? And, you know, try and steal four more out of the next four."
Coach Lewis liked the fight in his team to the end but continues to stress and trust "the process" to bring the program where he wants it.
The Aztecs are not out of conference championship contention and they do control their postseason destiny. If they win three of their final four games, State will be bowl-eligible.
"That's the standard expectation that our fan base has," Lewis said. "Our guys all know what that number is and what that mark is. They're well aware of how many games are left to play and how many more we have to win to become bowl-eligible. And the only way that we achieve that result is by handling today in an elite level, right? Like, what was our mindset when we came through the door? What was our attitude? Were we thankful and grateful that we get to do this? Can we savor the details of the prep? Have a sense of urgency to get it done so we can go, and we can plan, and we can prepare so that we can win normal down and distance. We can win short yardage, which is what we do on Tuesday, even though it's a Monday, because we're playing on a Friday, right? And we obsess about that so that we can ultimately get to the goal that we're shooting for this coming Friday."
The field at Snapdragon Stadium has been the center of all kinds of attention on social media.
"I don't have any concern safety wise at all (in regards to the field)," Lewis said. "I know the grounds crew does an elite job. From the time we left that surface when we played there."
Since the Aztecs last played at Snapdragon, the San Diego Wave was forced to move its final home game to the stadium of its opponent. The Aztecs have no talk of changing venues due to the field condition.
"The plan has been laid in front of me about irrigation, sod, fertilization, grow, tarps, everything else," Lewis said. "That sounds good. I don't have an agricultural degree, but I couldn't tell you how to grow grass, so I'm going to leave that to the experts to say, well, I don't want the fields crew telling me what to call in third down, right? So they got a job to do. I got a job to do. I'm going to trust them to do it at an elite level. I'm going to do mine at an elite level."