Jayden Denegal

#4 · QB · Sr. · San Diego State6′5″ · 240 lb · Apple Valley, CA

Did not play in San Diego State’s last 2 games.

Stone Saunders started the last one, W 26-20 vs Washington State, Oct 31.

San Diego State’s next game: vs Utah State, Sat Nov 14, 9:30 p.m. ET · USA Network

San Diego State is 3-4 in the seven games played. A balanced passer who rarely runs.

Weakest: completes 54% of throws by play-by-play, 12th lowest of 158 starters.

Passing yards

896

82 of 150, 55%

TD–INT

7–5

6.0 per throw

NCAA rating

113.6

114th of 119

ZPR

24

109th of 119

How ZPR works

Graded Rough against Texas State, the last full game; shaky or worse in 4 of 5 graded games.

  • Lowest game: 45 yards and one interception at UCLA, a loss.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

at Colorado State

L 49–56·Unranked

Did not play

Washington State

W 26–20·Unranked

Did not play

Season

Quarter by quarter

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Dashed outlines on the Season row are last season’s average. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Balanced

Why this word
Runs1.9 a gameRarelyA lot
Throws9.5 yards past the lineShortDeep
Completes54% by play-by-playFewerMore
Takes sacks5% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws at a middling depth and rarely runs. 1.9 carries a game. Closest matches: Reed, Crowder, Loftis ’25, Lyddy.

Where the throws go

Behind the line21%typical 17%
Short43%typical 47%
Middle22%typical 22%
Deep15%typical 14%

Runs 1.9 times a game; 87% of starters run more.

Closest in style

ReedCrowderLoftis ’25LyddyThis QB

Nearer the middle means more alike.

  • Reed Texas A&M · Mobile passer
    1,388 yards, 8 TD, 8 INT so far. Both throw interceptions and are less efficient.
  • Crowder Troy · Mobile passer
    1,162 yards, 9 TD, 5 INT so far. Both are less efficient and miss more.
  • Loftis ’25 Charlotte 2025 · Balanced
    1,415 yards, 8 TD, 8 INT. Both miss more and rarely run.
  • Lyddy Southern Miss · Balanced
    1,326 yards, 8 TD, 4 INT so far. Both miss more and rarely run.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

  • RecordSan Diego State is 4-5.
  • What fans say

    Over the last few games, San Diego State fans have been down on Denegal.

    “Denegal can stay on the sideline I’ve seen enough”

    “Give Denegal's NIL money to the defense.”

    “Ngl ball don’t lie but Denegal is actually so trash”

    From r/CFB game threads. Read by AI.

What’s being said

4 stories in the last 30 days, from 3 outlets.

Oct 10: 1Oct 17: 1Oct 18: 1Oct 24: 1L 14-66 at Oregon StateLW 26-23 vs Fresno StateWL 49-56 at Colorado StateLW 26-20 vs Washington StateWOct 6Nov 4Most in a day: 1
Oct 10: 1Oct 17: 1Oct 18: 1Oct 24: 1L 14-66 at Oregon StateLW 26-23 vs Fresno StateWL 49-56 at Colorado StateLW 26-20 vs Washington StateWOct 6Nov 4Most in a day: 1
Stories per day. W and L: the team’s results.

All 10 stories this season

A play of his this season

  1. Q4, 2:28 · San Diego State down 18Jayden Denegal finds Jackson Ford for a 19-yard touchdownSan Diego State at UCLA, week 2Q4, 2:28 · San Diego State 10, UCLA 21▼2%San Diego State’s chance to win, 3% to 1%▼2%San Diego State’s chance to win, 3% to 1%J.Denegal pass complete short right to J.Ford caught at UCLA00, for 19 yards to the UCLA00 touchdown, 1ST DOWN, kick goodWatch from this playCFB ON FOX

All 2 of his plays on video

Jayden Denegal

QB · San Diego State · #4

The three seasons span two programs and two head coaches: Jim Harbaugh and Sean Lewis. One game to point at: 209 passing yards and 1 passing TD against James Madison — Week 3, 2026.

896 passing yards · 7 passing TD · 27 rushing yards