In their first two games of the year, the San Diego State Aztecs committed a total of 24 penalties. They say they are trying to get that back under control.

In the first half of their game at Cal, they were assessed 13 penalties, the second-most fouls committed in a half by an FBS team in the last 20 years. The penalties were a major problem in a 31-10 loss to the Golden Bears that dropped the Aztecs to 1-2 in their first season under new head coach Sean Lewis.

One violation in particular stood out as a momentum killer. In the second quarter, linebacker Tano Letuli intercepted an intercepted pass and ran it back 65 yards for a touchdown that would have given the Aztecs a 9-7 lead. An illegal block in the back nullified the return. On the ensuing drive, a holding penalty nullified a 4th down conversion in Cal territory that forced a punt and ruined what seemed like a promising scoring opportunity.

San Diego State’s offense was missing starting quarterback Danny O’Neil, who was out due to injury. He was replaced by quarterback Javance Tupau’ata-Johnson, also in his first year, who was unable to get the Aztecs’ sputtering offense back on track, which keeps shooting itself in the foot with its mistakes.

Again, credit must be given to SDSU’s defense. Just like a week ago against Oregon State, the Aztecs stayed close for a while. In the 3rd quarter, Cal led 7-3 when the dam began to break. Cal scored touchdowns on two consecutive possessions to take a 21-3 lead.

In the 4th quarter, the Aztecs got into the end zone for the first time since Week 1 when Tupua’ata-Johnson found Jordan Napier for a 40-yard touchdown. Maybe that’s something they can build on next week when they face Central Michigan on the road again.