SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State defense limited Northern Colorado to just 179 yards of total offense but three non-offensive touchdowns by the Bears lifted UNC to a 27-20 victory over the Hornets on Saturday at Hornet Stadium.

Northern Colorado (3-2 overall, 1-2 Big Sky Conference) returned the opening kickoff for a score when Hakeem Deggs brought the ball out from 5-yards back in the end zone and up the right sideline for a 100-yard touchdown.

Sacramento State (1-4, 0-2) was able to tie the score late in the first quarter when Kolney Cassel found tight end Stone Sander for a 2-yard completion which marked the first TD of both players Sacramento State careers.

The score remained tied at the half with both teams converting field goals. UNC  took a 10-7 lead with 10:42 left in the second quarter on a 28-yard field goal from Jamie Falloon. Sacramento Sate drove to the UNC 3-yard line with 30 seconds left in the half but was forced to settle for a 22-yard field goal from Brad Cornish.

Neither team was able to post points for most of the third quarter until the Bears scored 10 in a span of 53 seconds. Falloon converted a 38-yard field goal with 3:47 remaining in the quarter. Two plays into the Sacramento State possession, Mikhail Dubose stripped the ball free and it was scooped up by cornerback AJ Battle who ran 26-yard up the sideline for a touchdown which gave UNC a 20-10 lead.

The Hornets were able to trim their deficit to 20-13 following a 35-yard field goal from Cornish. The defense followed with a three-and-out before Cassel led the team on a 5-play, 77-yard drive which knotted the score, 20-20, with 7:32 remaining. During the drive Cassel hit Isiah Hennie for 21 yards and Sander for 40 before connecting with freshman tight end John McGill for a 14-yard touchdown pass.

Another defensive stop returned the ball to Sacramento State at its own 19-yard line with 5:14 remaining in the game. Jordan Robinson carried the ball on the first three plays of the drive and, with the help of a face mask penalty, brought the ball to the UNC 40. The Hornets went back to Robinson a fourth time but he had the ball jarred free by Keifer Morris and Trevor Douglass returned the fumble for a 58-yard touchdown.

Despite the blow, Sacramento State had one final chance to tie the game. Cassel competed of 5-of-7 passes to bring the ball to the Northern Colorado 19 with less than two minutes remaining and a defensive holding call set up a 1st-and-goal situation from the 9-yard line. Short completions to Robinson and Hennie moved the ball to the 5-yard line before a third-down pass sailed out of the back of the end zone. After both teams called timeout, Cassel's fourth-down attempt could not be hauled in giving the ball back to the Bears.

Sacramento State dominated the final statistics, outgaining UNC 438-179. The game marked the first time that the Hornets have held the opposition to under 200 yards of total offense since the 2011 game at UNC where the Bears amassed 72 yards in a severe storm. Cassel completed 28-of-44 passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns. Robinson surpassed the 100-yard mark for the third consecutive game with a career high 149 yards on 28 carries. Hennie was the team's leading receiver with nine catches for 95 yards.

Defensively, Darnell Sankey led all players with 15 tackles. Sankey, who recorded his third-consecutive double digit tackle game, also had a sack, two tackles-for-loss and forced a fumble.

Sacramento State will next play at Montana State on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 4 p.m. PT.

NOTES: Northern Colorado earned its first win over Sacramento State in 10 tries…the Bears became the first team to score two defensive touchdowns against the Hornets since Montana in 2005…Cassel broke Daniel Kniffin's short-lived school record for most passing yards in a debut start…senior Nnamid Agude had six receptions for 69 yards and moved into 10th place on the career receiving yards list in school history…Robinson is now 12th on the Sacramento State career rushing list…Sankey jumped to ninth place with 248 career tackles.