Jayden Denegal leads San Diego State over Colorado State 45-24 in Mountain West opener

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jayden Denegal threw two touchdown passes, Byron Caldwell Jr. and Lucky Sutton both rushed for over 100 yards and combined for three scores and San Diego State beat Colorado State 45-24 in a Mountain West Conference opener Friday night.

Denegal fired a 45-yard scoring strike to Donovan Brown and San Diego State (4-1, 1-0) led 7-0 after one quarter. Christian Washington scored on a 2-yard run for a 14-0 lead early in the second.

Colorado State (1-4, 0-1) halved the deficit on Jackson Brousseau’s 49-yard touchdown pass to Armani Winfield on a flea flicker, but Denegal connected with Jordan Napier for a 42-yard touchdown on the ensuing possession and the Aztecs led 21-7.

Denegal hit Napier for a 61-yard gain and Sutton ran 14 yards for a touchdown on the next play for a 28-10 lead at halftime.

Gabriel Plascencia kicked a 53-yard field goal and Sutton scored on a 1-yard run for a 38-10 advantage after three quarters. Plascencia is 7 for 7 on field goals and has made 19 straight dating to last season.

Denegal finished with 256 yards on 13-for-16 passing. Napier had seven receptions for 153 yards. Cardwell had a 20-yard TD run in the fourth quarter and finished with 129 yards on 15 carries. Sutton rushed 21 times for 113.

Brousseau completed 13 of 25 for 155 yards. He had a 4-yard touchdown run in the final quarter. Jalen Dupree carried 16 times for 103 yards. Darius Curry had a 12-yard touchdown pass to fellow freshman Kory Hall on the final play and finished 5 for 5 for 51 yards in his first game.

The Aztecs averaged 316 yards of offense through their first four games but had 313 by halftime against the Rams and finished with 540.

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