San Diego State’s Jesse Matthews, Matt Araiza have Aztecs rolling

This has been the year of the Latino passer in college football. With Ole Miss’ Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Corral and Texas A&M’s Zach Calzada excelling, Latino quarterbacks have shone this season on the biggest stage.

There has also been the emergence of other young gunslingers such as NAU’s RJ Martinez and recently Iowa quarterback Alex Padilla. This week, however, was the week for Latino pass catchers to shine. 

They didn’t just find the end zone. They made those clutch catches when their teams needed them the most. 

Latino Offensive Player of the Week, San Diego State’s Jesse Matthews

San Diego State wide receiver Jesse Matthews scored all of the Aztecs’ offensive touchdowns in a 28-20 road victory over UNLV. 

Matthews scored his first two touchdowns in the second quarter, including one with five seconds left in the period. The third touchdown was the game’s last score with 3:33 remaining to give the Aztecs’ the 28-20 victory. 

The Aztecs snapped UNLV head coach Marcus Arroyo’s two-game winning streak. 

University of Texas-San Antonio tight end Oscar Cardenas preserved UTSA’s perfect 2021 record. His touchdown catch off a tipped pass on the game’s final play gave the Roadrunners a 34-31 victory over UAB. 

UTSA WINS IT ON A LAST SECOND TIPPED TD PASS! @UTSAFTBL

The dream season continues for the 11-0 Roadrunners 👏 pic.twitter.com/TJ9pnidhky

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 21, 2021

Cardenas hauled in another pass and finished with 29 yards receiving in UTSA’s winning effort. 

Defensive Player of the Week, Eastern Michigan’s Jose Ramirez 

The defensive player of the week is again Eastern Michigan José Ramirez.  The junior defensive lineman had 10 tackles and a sack in the Eagles’ 22-21 victory over Western Michigan in early week #MACTION.  

Special Teams Player of the Week, San Diego State’s Matt Araiza

SDSU senior kicker/punter Matt Araiza was perfect on PATs. He also punted six times for a 47.5 average, landing five inside the opponents’ 20.  

With a win on Black Friday morning over the Boise State Broncos, SDSU can clinch the West division of the Mountain West Conference. The Aztecs are 5-0 in one-score games in 2021. 

This is in large part due to Araiza’s clutch kicking and punts that pin opponents back and give the Aztecs favorable field position. 

Please let us know of other Latinos that you might know of on college football rosters. 

_{Featured photo by Kent Horner/Getty Images}

LAST NAME, FIRST NAME	TEAM	POSITION	STATS	TEAM RESULT
Aguilar, Luis	NAU	K	FG- 1/2PAT- 6/6	W, 45-21 Cal Poly
Alcoser, Joe	Houston	DFO		W, 31-13  Memphis
Alonso, Mandy	Virginia	DL	2 QB Hurries	W,48-38 Pittsburgh
Araiza, Matt	San Diego St.	P/K	FG-0/PAT- 4/4. Punting average- 47.5 5 of 6 punts inside the 20	W, 28-20 UNLV
Aranda, Dave	Baylor	Head Coach		W, 20-10 Kansas State
Arias, Daniel	Colorado	WR	3 rec., 22 yds.	W, 20-17 Washington
Arroyo, Elijah	Miami (FL)	TE	1 rec., 19 yds.	Virginia Tech
Arroyo, Marcus	UNLV	Head Coach		L, 28-20 San Diego St.
Avalos, Andy	Boise State	Head Coach		W, 37-0 New Mexico
Aybar, Wilfredo	Stanford	LB	NO STATS	L, 41-11 California
Banda, Ephraim	Utah State	Def. Coord/Safeties		L, 44-17 Wyoming
Barr-Mira, Nicholas	UCLA	K	FG- 0/1PAT- 8/8	W, 62-33 USC
Borregales, Andrés	Miami (FL)	K	FG- 1/1PAT- 5/5	W, 38-26 Virginia Tech
Calzada, Zach	Texas A&M	QB	10-14, 150 yds., 2 TD	W, 52-3 PV A&M
Camarena, Evan	Portland State	CB	2 tackles	L, 42-28Eastern Washington
Canales, Mike “Chico”	Maryland	Analyst		L, 59-18 Michigan
Cardenas, Oscar	UTSA	TE	2 rec., 29  yds., 1 TD	W, 34-31 UAB
Cavazos, Lejond	Ohio State	CB	1 tackle, I pas defended	W, 56-7 Michigan State
Chavez, Isaiah	New Mexico	QB	1-2, 2 yds. 4 rushes, 8 yds.	L, 37-0 Boise State
Coley, James	Texas A&M	TE Coach		W, 52-3 PV A&M
Corral, Matt	Ole Miss	QB	27-36, 326 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT7 rushes, 29 yds	W, 31-17 Vanderbilt
Corrales, Beau	North Carolina	WR	NO STATS	W, 34-14 Wofford
Cristobal, Mario	Oregon	Head Coach		L, 38-7 Utah
Cropper, Jalen	Fresno St.	WR		BYE
Cruz, Gunner	Arizona	QB	NO STATS	L, 44-18Washington St.
Davila, Peter	Albany	DB Coach		L, 36-14 Stony Brook
Diaz, Manny	Miami (FL)	Head Coach		W, 38-26 Virginia Tech
Echevarria, Jesus	Washington St.	DL	NO STATS	W, 44-18 Arizona
Escobar, Alex	NM State	RB	2 rushes, 3 yds. 3 rec., 24 ydss.	L, 56-16 Kentucky
Escobar, Ivan	NM State	DL	1 tackle	L, 56-16 Kentucky
Figueroa, Nick	USC	DL	3 tackles, 1 TFL	W, 62-33 UCLA
Flores, Joah	New Mexico	WR	NO STATS	L, 37-0 Boise State
Flores, Justin	Maine	WR coach		W, 33-20 New Hampshire
Flores, Reynaldo	UTEP	RB	2 rushes, 0 yds.	W, 38-28 Rice
Garcia, Albert	Fresno St.	DPP		BYE
Garcia, Cole	Rice	OL	NO STATS	L, 38-28 UTEP
Garcia, Elijah	Rice	DL	5 tackles0.5 sacks0.5 TFL1 QB Hurry 1 Pass Defended	L, 38-28 UTEP
Garcia, Jake	Miami (FL)	QB	NO STATS	W, 38-26 Virginia Tech
Garcia, Julio	UNLV	OL	Total offense- 394 yds.	L, 28-20 San Diego St.
Garcia, Xavier	Temple	Def. GA		L, 44-10 Tulsa
Garcia- Castaneda, Isaiah	NM State	WR	2 rec., 33 yds. 1 rush., 6 yds.	L, 56-16 Kentucky
Gonzalez, Billy	Florida	WR/ Passing Game Coord.		L, 24-23 Missouri
Gonzales, Christian	Colorado	CB	4 tackles	W, 20-17 Washington
Gonzales, Danny	New Mexico	Head Coach		L, 37-0 Boise State
Gonzales, Paul	TCU	Safeties Coach		W, 31-28 Kansas
Gutierrez, Daniel	UNLV	K	FG- 2/2PAT- 2/2	L, 28-20 San Diego St.
Hernandez, Dan	Eastern Illinois	OL Coach		L, 20-13 Murray St.
Hernandez, Zach	Cal Poly	DB	NO STATS	L, 45-21 NAU
Infante, Gabe	Temple	RB Coach		L, 44-10 Tulsa
Jackson, Jim	Rice	TE Coach		L, 38-28 UTEP
Loya, Logan	UCLA	WR	NO STATS	W, 62-33 USC
Lozano, Alex	Portland State	LB	NO STATS	L, 42-28Eastern Washington
Madrigal, Anthony	San Jose St.	LB	NO STATS	BYE
Maldonado, Dino	NM State	QB	NO STATS	Kentucky
Maldonado, Gunner	Arizona	Safety	NO STATS	L, 44-18Washington State
Martinez, Adrian	Nebraska	QB	23/35, 351 yds., 1 TD, 2 INT 9 rushes, 23 yds. , 1 TD	L, 35-28 Wisconsin
Martinez, Cameron	Ohio State	SAF	4 tackles	W, 56-7 Michigan State
Martinez, RJ	NAU	QB	11-22, 167 YDS, 1 TD	W,45-21 Cal Poly
Martinez, Marc	Tarleton St.	LB coach		W, 24-3 Central Arkansas
Martinez, Willie	Tennessee	CB coach		W, 60-14, South Alabama
Mateos, Eric	Baylor	OL		W, 20-10 Kansas State
Matthews, Jesse	San Diego State	WR	9 rec., 75 yds., 3 TD	W, 28-20 UNLV
Mejia, Christian	Washington St.	DL	2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL	W, 44-18Arizona
Mirabal, Alex	Oregon	OL Coach		L, 38-7 Utah
Montano, Abraham	Fresno State	K	NO STATS	BYE
Montero, Antonio	Rice	LB	NO STATS	L, 38-28 UTEP
Morales, Kamari	North Carolina	TE	1 rec., 4 yds.	W, 34-14 Wofford
Navarro, Jaime	San Jose St.	OL	NO STATS	BYE
Navarro, Juan	NCCU	DL Coach		W, 34-28 Delaware State
Navarro, Donny	Illinois	WR	2 rec.,34 yds.	W, 33-23 Iowa
Nunez, Jay	Eastern Michigan	Sp. TeamsAssoc. HC		W, 22-21 WMU
Olave, Chris	Ohio State	WR	7 rec., 140 yds., 2 TD	W, 56-7 Michigan State
Ortega, Josh	UTEP	DE	NO STATS	L, 38-28 Rice
Ortega- Jones, Julian	Texas St.	WR	1 rec., 5 yds.	L, 35-21 Coastal Carolina
Ortiz, Angel	Ottawa Univ. (AZ)	WR Coach		L, 38-63 Morningside
Pacheco, Isaih	Rutgers	RB	6 rushes, 7 yds.	L, 28-0 Penn State
Padilla, Alex	Iowa	QB	6-14, 67 yds., 83 yds, 1 INT	W, 26-23 Illinois
Padilla, David	Charleston Southern	Ass’t AD for Football		L, 56-7 Georgia
Pagan, Justice	Portland State	LB	6 tackles	L, 42-28 Eastern Washington
Perales, David	Fresno State	DL		BYE
Ponce, Frank	Appalachian State	Offensive Coordinator		W, 45-7 Troy
Ramirez, José	Eastern Michigan	DE	10 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL	W, 22-21 WMU
Ramirez, Manny	Texas Southern	OL Coach		L, 24-21 Alabama State
Regalado, Marco	Washington State	Director of On-Campus Recruiting		W, 44-18Arizona
Restrepo, Xavier	Miami (FL)	WR	2 returns, 74 yds.	W, 38-26 Virginia Tech
Rivas, Eddie	Texas State	OL	Total Offense- 301 yds.	L, 35-21 Coastal Carolina
Rodriguez, Anthony	Portland State	TE	NO STATS	L, 42-28 Eastern Washington
Rodriguez, Chris	Kentucky	RB	16 rushes, 119 yds., 1 TD	W, 56-19 New Mexico St.
Rodriguez, Drew	Towson St.	QB coach		L, 56-10 James Madison
Rodriguez, Jacob	Virginia	RB	NO STATS	L, 48-38 Pittsburgh
Rodriguez, Joel	FIU	OL coach		L, 49-7 North Texas
Rodriguez, Juan	Fresno State	TE	NO STATS	BYE
Rodriguez, Justin	UTSA	RB	NO STATS	W, 34-31 UAB
Rodriguez, Malcolm	Oklahoma St.	LB	3 tackles, 1 TFL	W, 23-0 Texas Tech
Rodriguez, Oscar	Akron	Assoc. HC/ ILB		L, 38-0 Kent St.
Rodriguez, Robert	Arizona St.	DL coach		Oregon State
Rojas, Manny	Delaware	Def. Coordinator		L, 21-13Villanova
Rubio, Cruz	Cal Poly	LS	NO STATS	L, 45-21 NAU
Salazar, Martin	Portland State	DL	NO STATS	L, 42-28 Eastern Washington
Santa Cruz, Victor	Hawaii	Defensive Ends coach		W, 50-45 Colorado State
Santana, Bryce	New Mexico	DE	NO STATS	L, 37-0 Boise State
Santana, JuanCarlos	Tulsa	WR	5 rec., 59 yds., 1 TD	W, 44-10 Temple
Segura, Justin	NM State	DL	NO STATS	W, 56-16 Kentucky
Silva, Cesar	Fresno State	K	NO STATS	BYE
Small, Seth	Texas A&M	K	FG- 1/1PAT -6/6	W, 52-3 PV A&M
Sori-Marin, Mariano	Minnesota	LB	4 tackles , 0.5 sacks	W, 35-14 Indiana
Soto, Anthony	Lenoir-Rhyne	Offensive Coordinator/ /OL		L, 31-10 Bowie State
Steele, Chris	USC	CB	5 tackles, 1 TFL	L, 62-33 UCLA
Stone, Jr., Ron	Washington State	LB	5 tackles	W, 44-18Arizona
Umana, Orlando	Ole Miss	OL	Total offense- 470 yds.	W, 31-17 Vanderbilt
Velazquez, Alonzo	Wyoming	OL	Total offense- 604 yds.	W, 44-17 Utah State