SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State offense scored a season-high in points, the defense recorded three interceptions and three sacks and the special teams remained effective in a 41-20 win over Southern Utah on Saturday at Fred Anderson Field at Hornet Stadium.

The victory improved the Hornets to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the Big Sky. Sacramento State joins Eastern Washington and Montana State (both 3-0) as the only undefeated teams in the 13-team league.

The Hornets never trailed in the game, scoring on their first three drives and four of the first five. The team was the most balanced it had been all season, rushing for 251 yards and throwing for 173. The tandem of Jake Dunniway and Asher O'Hara continued to rotate at quarterback and combined for 243 yards of total offense and four touchdowns. Dunniway completed 8-of-13 passes for 105 yards and had a pair of TD passes. O'Hara completed each of his four pass attempts for 68 yards and also rushed for 73 yards with two scores.

After the defense forced a three-and-out on the game's opening possession, the offense began with a 53-yard rush from BJ Perkinson and scored three plays later on an end-around to Isaiah Gable for his first score of the year.

Kyle Sentkowski added to the lead with a 45-yard field goal on the team's second drive. That series was set up by a 31-yard punt return from Marcus Fulcher after the defense created a second three-and-out in as many series.

The Hornets pushed the lead to 17-0 in the closing minutes of the first quarter with an eight-play, 80-yard drive. Both quarterbacks saw time during the series, but it was O'Hara who found pay dirt with a 10-yard run where he hurdled the defender at the goal line before landing on his feet.

In that opening 15 minutes, Sacramento State outgained SUU, 158-33, with 149 yards on the ground. That total alone would be the second-largest game total for the team this season.

"We wanted to run the football and be more balanced," Sacramento State head coach Troy Taylor said. "We had two weeks to get it done and get guys healthy. We challenged our O-line to play better and be more consistent because we knew they were a good group."

The Thunderbirds scored their first touchdown with 9:12 left in the second quarter to make it, 17-7, and snap a scoreless streak of over 52 minutes which dated back to the Idaho State game on Sept. 25. That score, however, was immediately matched by Sacramento State when Dunniway found freshman Devin Gandy for an 18-yard touchdown pass — the first of Gandy's career.

Both teams had touchdowns in the third quarter beginning with O'Hara's 3-yard rush and a 13-yard pass from Justin Miller to Ethan Bollingbroke for the T-Birds.

The Hornets pushed the lead to 41-13 early in the fourth quarter with a 40-yard field goal from Sentkowski and a 3-yard pass from Dunniway to Pierre Williams. The touchdown came following Marte Mapu's second interception of the game and a lengthy return which gave the team the ball at the SUU 10. Williams touchdown reception was the 14th of his career, tying him with Mark Young for eighth in school history.

Individually, Perkinson rushed for a season best 85 yards while O'Hara was second on the team with 73 and Marcus Fulcher added 51. Williams led the team with 60 receiving yards, snapping his streak of three consecutive games over the century mark. Perkinson also had 42 receiving yards and Gandy had 28.

SUU was limited to 43 rushing yards with 31 coming from Isaiah Williams. Three Thunderbird players combined to completed 28-of-44 passes for 297 yards and a score with three interceptions.

Four Hornets had nine tackles each to lead the team. Munchie Filer III, Marte Mapu, Taylor Powell and Marcus Hawkins accounted for nearly half of the team's total in the game. Hawkins' total included two sacks and 3.5 TFLs. Along with Mapu's pair of interceptions, Abel Ordaz also picked off the first pass of his career despite a club covering his right hand.

Sacramento State travels to Montana on Saturday, Oct. 16. The game against the Griz will start at 12 p.m PT and can be heard on ESPN 1320 or viewed on ESPN+.