GREELEY, Colo. — The Sacramento State football team rallied late in the fourth quarter but fell to Northern Colorado, 27-19, on Saturday at Nottingham Field. The Hornets rallied in the final two minutes, driving to the UNC 10-yard line, but quarterback Nate Ketteringham was brought down after a lengthy scramble.

The loss dropped Sacramento State to 1-7 overall and 1-4 in Big Sky Conference games. The Bears moved to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in league play.

After UNC scored on a 79-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game, the Hornets scored the game's next 10 points to take a 10-7 lead into halftime. Jaime Medina made a 22-yard field goal late in the first quarter and Jordan Robinson scored the first of his two touchdowns to give the team the lead.

Northern Colorado opened the second half with 10 points of its own to retake the lead. Tight end Michael McCauley caught a touchdown pass and Jamie Falloon added a 27-yard field goal.

The Hornets were never able to pull back ahead and trailed 24-13 following a 54-yard pass from Kyle Slotter to Hakeem Deggs. Robinson trimmed the lead to 24-19 following a 1-yard touchdown on a fourth down run but the team's two-point conversion attempt was stopped short.

After a 42-yard field goal from Falloon, Sacramento State started its final drive on its own 25-yard line. Robinson started the drive with a 25-yard gain and Ketteringham used his feet for a 22-yard run on 4th-and-10 to take the ball to the UNC 28. He later found Isiah Hennie for an 11-yard completion on 4th-and-10. However, hopes for a third fourth-down conversion on the drive ended when Ketteringam was flushed from pocket on the final play. He ended up being sacked for a 30-yard loss as he continued to weave through the defense trying to find an open receiver.

Sacramento State finished the game with 175 rushing yards, led by a season high 128 from Robinson. Ketteringham and Nolan Merker combined to complete 9-of-33 pass attempts for 108 yards.

Northern Colorado rushed for 229 yards as a team with 108 coming from Trae Riek. Slotter was 16-of-25 for 203 yards. The Hornet defense was able to create four turnovers (two fumbles, two interceptions) but could only convert those miscues into 10 points.

Manny Scott-Anderson led the team with 11 tackles. Scott-Anderson had a sack and an interception.

The Hornets will return home to face Cal Poly on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 6 p.m.

QUOTABLE

"We've been working on creating turnovers and the defense was able to get four today but we've got to turn those into points. I liked the fight we showed after a couple of tough weeks but we need to continue to get better."

Head Coach Jody Sears

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Quarter
14:10 - Northern Colorado scored on its second offensive play of the game when Ellis Onic took a jet sweep and travelled 79 yards down the right sideline.

4:44 - Jaime Medina made his first collegiate field goal when he nailed a 22-yard attempt to cap a 9-play, 84-yard drive. The drive got off to a strong start with a 27-yard rush from Merker. Jordan Robinson then recorded a 43-yard rush around the right edge for the longest run by a Hornet this season.

2nd Quarter
4:53 - Sacramento State took its first lead of the game when Jordan Robinson scored from 4 yards out on 3rd-and-goal. The drive was set up after Malcolm Thomas forced a fumble which was recovered by Manoah Pearson at the UNC 18.

3rd Quarter
9:18 - Northern Colorado retook the lead with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Slotter to Michael McCauley. UNC picked up 68 yards on the final three plays of the drive, beginning with a 12-yard completion to Theron Verna. Trae Riek then followed with a 28-yard rush to set up the pass to McCauley who got behind the Hornet secondary on the right sideline.

4:58 - The Bears added three points on a 27-yard field goal from Jamie Falloon to take a 17-10 lead. UNC took the ball to the Hornet 2 with a completion to McCauley but the play was negated by an offensive pass interference call and forced the team to settle for a field goal.

1:15 - The Hornet defense forced its fourth turnover of the game when Ben Sorensen stripped the ball from Trae Rieck and was also able to recover the fumble despite a cast on his hand. The offense wasn't able to pick up a first down but Medina made a career-long 40-yard field goal attempt.

4th Quarter
13:47 - Slotter connected with Hakeem Deggs for a 54-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field to give UNC a 24-13 lead. On the play, Slotter ran a post and got behind a Hornet linebacker and was able to outrun the rest of the defense for the score.

9:00 - Sacramento State kept itself in the game with a 10-play, 75-yard drive which was capped by a 1-yard rush from Jordan Robinson for his second touchdown of the game. The team elected to go for a two-point conversion but Nolan Merker was stopped short on rush attempt. The drive appeared to be stopped after three plays but was kept alive following a hands to the face penalty against UNC. Ketteringham later connected with Jaelin Ratliff for a 30-yard completion.

2:26 - Falloon made a 42-yard field goal to put UNC up by eight points. Riek went over 100 yards during the drive but the Hornet defense was able to stop the Bears and force the field goal attempt.

NOTES

• Jordan Robinson's first quarter touchdown moved him into a tie for sixth place in Sacramento State history with 16 career rushing touchdowns. He joined Garrett Safron, Tyronne Gross and Garrett White. The score was Robinson's 21st overall touchdown which tied him with White for eighth place. He went on to take sole possession of each mark with his second TD.

• Robinson's 100-yard game was the seventh of his career which places him seventh in Hornet history.

• Manny Scott-Anderson recorded his first career interception when he picked off Slotter in the second quarter.

• When Manoah Pearson recovered a fumble (which was forced by Malcolm Thomas) in the second quarter, it marked just the second fumble lost by Northern Colorado this season. The fumble recovery was the ninth by Sacramento State this year.

• Sacramento State's third turnover of the first half came in the final minute when Slotter's pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage and then grabbed out of the air by Tyler Meteer. The interception was the first for Meteer during his career and marked the first time Sacramento State has had multiple interceptions in a game this year.

• The seven points allowed by the Hornets in the first half were tied for the lowest (Weber State).

• Neither team was called for a penalty in the first half. Sacramento State's first and only penalty came on the final drive of the game. The game marked the fourth time in the school's FCS era history that it had just five penalty yards.

• Sacramento State made multiple field goals for the first time this season. The first field goal by Medina marked the first successful attempt since Sept. 24.