SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State football team jumped out to an early lead but could not hold off the high-powered offense of 11th-ranked Eastern Washington in a 28-20 loss at Hornet Stadium on Saturday night.

The Hornets dropped to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in Big Sky Conference play. The Eagles improved to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the Big Sky while winning at Hornet Stadium for the 12th time in as many tries.

"I can't find any fault in the heart that our team showed tonight," Sacramento State head coach Jody Sears said. "But I told them that there are no moral victories. There are winners and losers and we did not do enough to be on the winning side tonight."

Sacramento State built a 20-7 lead at halftime following a pair of field goals from Brad Cornish which bookended touchdowns from Isiah Hennie and Jordan Robinson.

Momentum turned in the second half when EWU overcame a pair of difficult challenges and turned them into 21-unanswered points. The Hornet defense began the second half by creating a turnover when Nicholas Payne stripped Jabari Wilson and Nick Crouch was able to gather up the bouncing ball near midfield. After the Sacramento State offense went three-and-out, Smith Heath boomed a punt to the right corner where Joey Banks was able to catch it to pin EWU at the 2-yard line.

The Eagles then stole momentum in the game when Jordan West found Kendrick Bourne for a 98-yard touchdown reception up the right sideline. Bourne caught the pass around midfield and stepped out of a would-be tackle for the second-longest play in EWU history.

The Hornets appeared to score on its next possession when Brad Cornish nailed a 52-yard field goal which would have tied the school record. However, Sacramento State was whistled for delay of game and forced to punt. That punt was muffed by Cooper Kupp who was able to recover it setting up a 13-play, 75-yard drive which gave EWU a 21-20 lead. The drive was capped by a 1-yard rush up the middle by Wilson on 4th-and-goal.

The final blow to the Hornets came late in the third period when Hennie was unable to gather in a short punt and Alek Kacmarcik pounced on the ball deep in Hornet territory. Three plays later West lofted a pass to Kupp for a 22-yard touchdown. The score gave Kupp the Big Sky career record with 47 touchdown receptions.

Neither team was able to post points in the fourth quarter. Sacramento State took the ball to the EWU 34 midway through the period but was sacked on 3rd-and-10 forcing a punt. The team had one more attempt to tie the game but was unable to convert a 3rd-and-3.

The Hornets took the opening kickoff of the game and drove to the EWU 9 with the help of a 23-yard pass to Nnamdi Agude and a 25 yard rush from Robinson. A third-down pass to Shane Harrison sailed incomplete leading to Cornish's first field goal.

EWU had its only lead of the first period when Cupp caught an 18-yard pass from West on the next drive. That score held until Kniffin connected with Hennie on a short pass and the receiver showcased his speed outracing the defense for a 45-yard score.

The Hornets added to their lead in the second quarter with a methodical 18-play, 88-yard drive which chewed 8:30 off the clock. No play in the series picked up more than 12 yards and the team gained seven first downs before Robinson vaulted himself over the line from 2-yards out for the score. Cornish tacked on three more points on a 39-yard field goal with 25 seconds remaining and a Hail Mary attempt by Eastern fell incomplete to end the half.

Sacramento State finished the game with 359 yards of total offense while EWU accumulated 594. Kniffin was 19-of-36 for 223 yards and a score but was also intercepted once. Robinson finished with 104 rushing yards on 19 carries for his second consecutive 100-yard game and the fourth of his career. Harrison was the team's leading receiver with 84 yards on seven catches.

Eastern was paced by West who was 29-of-47 for a school-record 491 yards and three touchdowns. Kupp caught 10 passes for 133 yards while Bourne had seven grabs for 204 yards.

Defensively, the Hornet defense was led by linebacker Darnell Sankey with 13 tackles. Sankey has now been in double figures in three of the four games this season.

The team will host Northern Colorado on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m.

NOTES: During the first quarter, Sacramento State honored student Anthony Sadler, who helped stop a terrorist attack on a Paris-bound train…EWU had its streak of 61-consecutive quarters with points snapped when the Hornets shut them out in the second quarter…the Hornets are now 5-15 in Big Sky openers…Robinson has scored in three consecutive games…the 491 passing yards by West were the fourth most allowed by Sacramento State in school history…Joshua Armstrong and J.J. Castillo returned to the field for the first time in 2015 and recorded seven and five tackles, respectively…Heath averaged 43.0 yards on seven punts and pinned EWU inside the 20 three times…Cornish now sits in sole possession of fifth place in school history with 21 career field goals…Agude moved to 12th place on the career receiving lust with 1,315 yards.