One straight-line burst put Jaylon Hawkins in the record book. Three days later, it put San Diego State in the Pac-12's weekly awards for the first time. The conference named Hawkins its Special Teams Player of the Week on Tuesday after his 100-yard kickoff return helped break open the Aztecs' 53-20 win over Portland State.
Hawkins fielded three kickoffs and totaled 141 return yards, an average of 47 per attempt. His touchdown was the first of his college career and the longest kickoff return recorded at Snapdragon Stadium. The 141 yards also set the stadium's single-game kickoff-return mark, according to SDSU and the conference.
The runback arrived in Hawkins' fifth career game. The Pac-12 lists the second-year receiver and returner as an Argyle, Texas, native, and the score was his first at SDSU. It was the Aztecs' first kickoff-return touchdown since Jordan Byrd scored against San Jose State on Nov. 12, 2022, and their first 100-yard return since Byrd went the distance at Utah in September 2021. The comparison places the play within the program's recent special-teams line rather than treating one return as a complete résumé.
The award belongs to Hawkins, but the unit created a broader statistical distinction. SDSU blocked two punts and returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the same game. The Pac-12 said no Football Bowl Subdivision team had combined those three plays in one game since at least the 2012 season.
That sequence mattered because Portland State initially kept pace. SDSU converted short fields after the blocks, then Hawkins erased the field entirely. Special teams helped the Aztecs score 29 points on four consecutive possessions over a little more than one quarter, turning a competitive opening into a decisive margin.
The honor is also an administrative marker for SDSU. The Aztecs entered the reconfigured Pac-12 on July 1, and Hawkins is their first weekly recipient in the league. He was one of four players recognized after the opening week of the conference's football season; Colorado State supplied the offensive and defensive winners, while Oregon State had the freshman honoree.
SDSU's own release adds national context with care. Hawkins was one of three FBS players to return a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown through the first week, and the program's 15 kickoff-return touchdowns since 2015 lead the subdivision over that span. Those figures describe a sustained team strength, though the personnel and schemes have changed across the period.
The next test shifts from a home opener against an FCS opponent to UCLA at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. The Bruins can choose to kick away from Hawkins, shorten the field with higher placements or test the coverage unit directly. Each choice changes where SDSU begins possessions, even if he never gets another open lane.
Weekly awards freeze a single performance. Hawkins' value against UCLA will be measured more quietly if the ball never reaches him. Portland State gave him three chances; one traveled the full field, and it was enough to make the Pac-12 take notice.