The San Diego State University football team will begin its 2025 season this week, opening against Stony Brook University at Snapdragon Stadium. The Aztecs will be led by six newly named captains, including returning captains Trey White and Tano Letuli, both juniors and South County alumni.
White and Letuli served as co-captains in the previous season and are the first multi-time captains for the Aztecs since J.J. Whittaker in 2014-2015. Both players have collected individual preseason honors. White has received recognition as the Mountain West preseason defensive player of the year, was named to watch lists for awards such as the Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy, and earned a spot on the Senior Bowl Top 300 list after leading his team with significant defensive stats last year.
Letuli, who played at Cathedral Catholic High School, recorded 70 tackles last season despite missing games due to injury. He received honorable mention all-conference in 2024 and is also on a preseason All-Mountain West list this season. Letuli is included among nominees for the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award.
Also serving as captains are senior center Ross Ulugalu-Maseuli from Santa Ana Mater Dei, senior cornerback Chris Johnson from Eastvale, junior quarterback Jayden Denegal from Apple Valley, and senior linebacker D.J. Herman from Las Vegas.
Head coach Sean Lewis commented on his team’s preparations: “I’m confident in this teram — I’m confident in the work that we’ve done (…) There’s something special that’s brewing in this building that I’m really excited to unleash. We’ve got to do that one step at a time, but we all know what the standards and the expectations are around here.”
Other team members have also been recognized ahead of the new season. Senior receiver Myles Kitt-Denton was added to the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List; sophomore Jordan Napier was included on the Paul Hornung Award Watch List. The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award acknowledges offensive players demonstrating integrity, teamwork, sportsmanship, drive, community involvement and determination—qualities associated with Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinee Earl Campbell.
Finalists for several national college football awards will be announced later in November or December with presentations scheduled during enshrinement events at related halls of fame.
South County area continues to contribute multiple athletes to SDSU’s roster for fall camp alongside other local players from East County and Lincoln High School alumni.
The home schedule for San Diego State includes matchups against California (Sept. 20), Colorado State (Oct. 3), Wyoming (Nov. 1), Boise State (Nov. 15) and San Jose State (Nov. 22). The game versus Wyoming is designated as homecoming.
Games will be available via KUSI-TV broadcast.
