# 2016 San Diego State Aztecs football team

The 2016 San Diego State Aztecs football team represented San Diego State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aztecs were led by sixth-year head coach Rocky Long and played their home games at Qualcomm Stadium. They were members of the West Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 11–3, 6–2 in Mountain West play to be champions of the West Division. They represented the West Division in the Mountain West Championship Game where they defeated Wyoming to be crowned Mountain West champions for the second consecutive year. They were invited to the Las Vegas Bowl where they defeated Houston.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 5:30 p.m. | No. 22 (FCS) New Hampshire* | | Qualcomm StadiumSan Diego, CA | | W 31–0 | 46,486 |
| September 10 | 7:30 p.m. | California* | | Qualcomm StadiumSan Diego, CA | CBSSN | W 45–40 | 42,473 |
| September 17 | 12:30 p.m. | at Northern Illinois* | | Huskie StadiumDeKalb, IL | CBSSN | W 42–28 | 14,513 |
| October 1 | 5:00 p.m. | at South Alabama* | No. 19 | Ladd–Peebles StadiumMobile, AL | ESPNews | L 24–42 | 14,471 |
| October 8 | 7:30 p.m. | UNLV | | Qualcomm StadiumSan Diego, CA | ESPNU | W 26–7 | 33,296 |
| October 14 | 7:00 p.m. | at Fresno State | | Bulldog StadiumFresno, CA (rivalry) | CBSSN | W 17–3 | 24,731 |
| October 21 | 7:30 p.m. | San Jose State | | Qualcomm StadiumSan Diego, CA | ESPN2 | W 42–3 | 25,613 |
| October 28 | 5:00 p.m. | at Utah State | | Maverik StadiumLogan, UT | CBSSN | W 40–13 | 17,332 |
| November 5 | 4:00 p.m. | Hawaii | | Qualcomm StadiumSan Diego, CA | CBSSN | W 55–0 | 41,644 |
| November 12 | 7:30 p.m. | at Nevada | | Mackay StadiumReno, NV | CBSSN | W 46–16 | 16,730 |
| November 19 | 1:30 p.m. | at Wyoming | No. 24 | War Memorial StadiumLaramie, WY | CBSSN | L 33–34 | 19,112 |
| November 26 | 6:00 p.m. | Colorado State | | Qualcomm StadiumSan Diego, CA | CBSSN | L 31–63 | 34,223 |
| December 3 | 4:45 p.m. | at Wyoming | | War Memorial StadiumLaramie, WY (Mountain West Conference Championship Game) | ESPN | W 27–24 | 24,001 |
| December 17 | 12:30 p.m. | vs. Houston* | | Sam Boyd StadiumWhitney, NV (Las Vegas Bowl) | ABC | W 34–10 | 29,286 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Pacific time ||||||||

## Personnel
### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Seasons at San Diego State | Alma Mater |
| Rocky Long | Head coach | 6 | New Mexico (1974) |
| Jeff Horton | Offensive coordinator/Associate head coach/Running backs | 6 | Minnesota (1984) |
| Bobby Hauck | Associate head coach/Special Teams Coordinator | 2 | Montana (1987) |
| Zach Arnett | Assistant coach/Linebackers Coach | 3 | New Mexico (2009) |
| Hunkie Cooper | Assistant coach/wide receivers | 2 | UNLV (1991) |
| Danny Gonzales | Assistant coach/Safeties | 6 | New Mexico (1999) |
| Ernest Lawson | Assistant coach/Defensive line | 1 | SDSU (2010) |
| Blake Morgan | Assistant coach/quarterbacks | 2 | Air Force (1999) |
| Mike Schmidt | Assistant coach/Offensive line | 5 | SDSU (2009) |
| Tony White | Assistant coach/cornerbacks/recruiting coordinator | 8 | UCLA (2002)ll |
| Kevin McGarry | Director of player personnel | 6 | San Diego |
| Jashon Sykes | Assistant Athletic Director – Football Operations | 4 | Colorado (2002) |
| Doug Deakin | Assistant for Football Operations | 5 | SDSU (2010) |
| Jake LaudenSlayer | Graduate Assistant – Offense/Tight ends | 3 | CLU (2011) |
| Zach Schultis | Graduate Assistant – Offense | 3 | CLU (2013) |
| Zach Shapiro | Graduate Assistant – Defense | 2 | SDSU (2010) |
| Demetrius Sumler | Graduate Assistant – Defense | 1 | Colorado (2011) |
| Adam Hall | Assistant Athletic Director for Strength and Conditioning | 6 | SDSU (2004) |
| Derrick Baker | Assistant strength and conditioning coach | 2 | Cal (2015) |
| Reference: ||||

## Game summaries
### New Hampshire

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #22 (FCS) Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aztecs | 14 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 31 |

### California

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Bears | 14 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 40 |
| Aztecs | 14 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 45 |

### At Northern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aztecs | 14 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 42 |
| Huskies | 0 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 |

### At South Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #19 Aztecs | 6 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 24 |
| Jaguars | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 | 42 |

### UNLV

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rebels | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Aztecs | 10 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 26 |

### At Fresno State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aztecs | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |

### San Jose State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Aztecs | 7 | 14 | 21 | 0 | 42 |

### At Utah State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aztecs | 10 | 10 | 3 | 17 | 40 |
| Aggies | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 |

### Hawaii

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rainbow Warriors | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aztecs | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 55 |

### At Nevada

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aztecs | 10 | 16 | 13 | 7 | 46 |
| Wolf Pack | 7 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 16 |

### At Wyoming

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #24 Aztecs | 7 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 33 |
| Cowboys | 3 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 34 |

### Colorado State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 21 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 63 |
| Aztecs | 7 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 31 |

### At Wyoming–Mountain West Championship Game

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aztecs | 7 | 3 | 14 | 3 | 27 |
| Cowboys | 10 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 24 |

### Houston–Las Vegas Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cougars | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Aztecs | 0 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 34 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 19 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | — | — | RV | 25 |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | 25 |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |