Quality Non-Conference Wins Suggest San Diego State is For Real

Playing college football as part of the Mountain West will get a good program two things; near-automatic wins and very little recognition for their efforts.

What Boise State has done to combat that is schedule Power 5 schools and beat them, then take their best shot at Top-20 Power 5 school in a bowl game. 

San Diego State's 3-0 start to the 2017 season is reminisce of a Boise State schedule. They dominated UC Davis then beat Arizona State by two scores. This past Saturday, they dropped the-No. 19 Stanford 20-17 and the score was not indicative of how the game went.

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The Aztecs out-gained the Cardinal 353-254 and held possession for 41:14 to Stanford's 18:46. Bryce Love ran for 184 yards on 13 carries, but SDSU countered that with 166 yards of their own and dominated on third down. That's turning the table on David Shaw's M.O.

The Aztecs' rushing attack has been led by by tailback Rashaad Penny, who leads the nation with 588 yards and is averaging more than eight yards per carry.

Compare Rashaad Penny to Any RB in College Football

Defensively, SDSU has 10 sacks in three games — three players have at least two — and sophomore Ron Smith has two interceptions.

The Aztecs scheduled two Pac-12 schools. One on the road and one at home. They beat both of them in impressive fashion and start conference play Saturday at Air Force.

Air Force won't be an easy road foe Saturday, and Boise State comes to SDCCU Stadium October 14. It's always difficult to travel to Hawaii (October 28) and win. But Long has the Aztecs on track, playing well and favorites to win the conference outright.

It may not be too much to suggest running the table is entirely out of the question, though a lot can happen and it's very early. A convincing win at Air Force and we'll have a different conversation next week.