San Diego State football fall camp 2026: Schedule, dates and everything fans need to know

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San Diego State Aztecs football team. | Photo courtesy of San Diego State University Athletics

San Diego Stateopens its fall camp on Tuesday, Aug. 5, and will have 26 practices to prepare for its first season in the reborn Pac-12.

Third-year coach Sean Lewis will direct a squad coming off a 9-4 turnaround season that included a 6-2 finish in the Aztecs' final season in the Mountain West. The Aztecs just missed out on hosting the conference championship game but did reach a bowl for the first time in three seasons, a wild 49-47 loss to North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl.

Camp breakdown

The Aztecs will hit it hard from Aug. 5 through Aug. 22, which will be the last practice before school starts on Aug. 24. Lewis said the Aztecs will have one more week of camp after that before getting into game prep for the season opener at home on Sept. 5 against Portland State of the FCS Big Sky Conference.

"So, the level of maturity, the level of competitive stamina that we need to have, and the urgency and intensity is going to require a lot of great work, but again, that work is the reward," Lewis said. "And then we look forward to again being here for them to be able to showcase all the work that we've done and to having a raucous crowd made up of our community, our student community and everyone that is Aztec supporters."

What can fans see?

All practices are closed to the public.

However, the Aztecs have scheduleda scrimmage as part of the "First Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium" on Aug. 15. Admission and parking are free butfans need to reserve ticketsbeginning on Monday at 10 a.m. PT.

The scrimmage will begin at 5:30 p.m., offering fans a glimpse of what the Aztecs will put on the field for real on Sept. 5. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. and there will be limited concessions. An autograph session will be held after the scrimmage.

Who's back

The Aztecs lost a fair amount of talent to graduation and the transfer portal. In a moment that all Aztecs cheered, star cornerback Chris Johnson was taken by the Miami Dolphins with the 27th pick overall in the NFL Draft.

Offense

Seven starters return on offense, and this will be Matt Johnson's second season as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. Just like the defense gave the Aztecs their identity last year, they will turn to the offense to set the tone early this season.

The offensive starters back are senior quarterback Jayden Denegal, senior running back Lucky Sutton, senior left tackle Joe Borjon, senior left guard Kalan Ellis, junior wide receiver Jordan Napier, senior wide receiver Jacob Bostick and senior wide receiver Donovan Brown.

Defense

The Aztecs return only three starters on defense: EDGE Brady Nassar, tackle Malachi Finau and linebacker Tano Letuli.

Specialists

The Aztecs lost placekicker Gabe Plascencia and punter Hunter Brown. Napier is back as the main returner.

Key battles

There are plenty of jobs to be won up and down the lineup. The most competitive will be in the secondary, where the Aztecs must replace all five starters. Dalesean Staley would have been the lone returning starter in that group, but he's out for the season with a knee injury suffered in spring ball.

The Aztecs must identify three new starters on the offensive line, two on the defensive line and one at placekicker.

What's next

The Aztecs' non-conference schedule includes the home opener against Portland State, a road game against UCLA, a home game against James Madison and then a game at Toledo.

The big red-letter day is Oct. 3, when the Aztecs host Texas State in the Pac-12 opener.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/san-diego-state as San Diego State football fall camp 2026: Schedule, dates and everything fans need to know.

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