SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State remained tied for the Big Sky Conference lead and, once again, led wire-to-wire in the team's 41-9 victory over Cal Poly on Saturday night.

The Hornets, which entered the game ranked 16th in the FCS, improved to 7-2 overall and 6-0 in the Big Sky. Cal Poly dropped to 1-8 overall and 0-6 in league play.

Sacramento State won its sixth consecutive game for the first time since the 1991 team won six in a row. The Hornets and Montana State remain the only undefeated teams in the Big Sky this season.

The Hornet defense played another large role in the game as the unit shutout Cal Poly in the second half and has now held opponents scoreless in five halves and 18 quarters during the season. The team also extended its run to 253 minutes, 28 seconds since the last time it trailed in a game.

"Our defense did a really good job in the red zone," Sacramento State head coach Troy Taylor said. "We had really good preparation during the week and I'm proud of the way we played tonight."

The Hornets built a 14-0 lead in the first quarter with a pair of touchdowns. The team marched 75 yards on the opening drive of the game on a 23-yard rush from Cameron Skattebo. That TD was setup by a 27-yard pass from Jake Dunniway to Isaiah Gable up the middle of the field.

After the teams traded punts, Munchie Filer III picked off Spencer Brasch along the right sideline and went untouched for a 47-yard pick six. The play marked the first defensive touchdown of the year for Sacramento State and the first interception for a score since Miguel Garica traveled 27 yards against Eastern Washington on Oct. 16, 2019.

The Mustang defense accounted for the first points for Cal Poly when Jake Dunniway was sacked in the end zone by Josh Ngaluafe, resulting in a safety. The Mustangs then took the free kick and brought the ball out near midfield. After converting a 3rd-and-7 during the drive, the team faced 3rd-and-3 from the Hornet 15 when Brasch found Zedakiah Centers in the middle of the field. Centers was stripped by Cameron Broussard but the bounding ball was jumped on in the end zone by Giancarlo Woods for a score to pull CP within five, 14-9.

The Hornets stopped the Cal Poly momentum when Asher O'Hara scored on a 6-yard run for his seventh rushing TD of the year. The Hornet defense later came up with a fourth-down stop with one minute left in the half and the offense led a 7-play, 50-yard drive which ended with a 40-yard field goal from Kyle Sentkowski.

Sacramento State stretched its lead to 27-9 midway through the third quarter with another field goal from Sentkowski. This time, the junior connected on a career-long 53-yard attempt (the sixth longest in school history) and set the program single-season record with 15 field goals during the year. The record had been shared by four Hornets until Sentkowski tied, and later passed, the mark tonight.

"I'm really proud of the whole field goal unit," Sentkowski said. "We really focused on field goals after 2019. We put in work everyday and it's paying off for the team."

Following a fumble recovery from Tali Finefeuiaki, the offense found the end zone to make it 34-9. Skattebo capped the drive with his second touchdown of the game and his fourth in the last three games with a 2-yard rush.

The defense again set the table for the offense with its third fourth-down stop of Cal Poly to give Sacramento State the ball at the Mustang 38. The drive ended with a 2-yard pass from Asher O'Hara to a wide open Marshel Martin.

Sacramento State finished with 419 yards of total offense while allowing 303 for Cal Poly. The Hornets played four quarterbacks during the game with Dunniway and O'Hara combining for 224 passing yards.

Eight Sacramento State players combined for 195 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The group was led by Skattebo who had 96 yards and two TDs. O'Hara finished with 37 yards and a score.

Martin led the team with five receptions while Pierre Williams had 62 receiving yards on four grabs. In all, nine players caught at least one pass.

Cal Poly quarterback Spencer Brasch completed 19-of-26 passes for 225 yards and a score. Lepi Lataimua had a team-high 33 rushing yards while Chris Coleman caught five passes for 59 yards.

Linebackers Marcus Hawkins and Jeremy Harris paced the Hornet defense with nine and eight tackles, respectively. The team had 10 tackles-for-loss, with defensive end Josiah Erickson accounting for four.

Sacramento State will play its final regular season home game on Saturday, Nov. 13, against Portland State. The team will honor seniors from this season as well as some from the 2020 prior to the start of the game which is scheduled for 6 p.m.