SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State defense produced a dominant first half and the offense overcame a slow start to roll past Northern Colorado, 55-7, on Saturday night at Hornet Stadium.

The Hornets, which entered the game ranked fourth in the AFCA FCS coaches poll, improved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big Sky Conference. The start to the year is the best in the school's Div. I era and the second best in school history, trailing only the 6-0 mark of the 1991 team. UNC dropped to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in league games.

The defense did not allow a first down in the first half and limited the Bears to 27 yards in the first two quarters. The unit recorded a fourth-down stop on the opening drive of the game and then followed with five straight 3-and-outs to end the half. The defense has now posted nine scoreless halves and 34 scoreless quarters over the last two seasons.

It took the Sacramento State offense some time to get revved up but the team eventually found its rhythm. The Hornets were stopped on fourth down tries on their own on the first two drives of the game and had to punt on its third series.

The team broke through with a 9-yard rush from Marcus Fulcher with 4:23 left in the first quarter. Asher O'Hara added a 5-yard rush up the middle of the field five seconds into the second quarter and Fulcher followed with his second touchdown on a 4-yard rush. The final points of the first half came from the leg of Kyle Sentkowski who made a 46-yard field goal as time expired.

Sacramento State wasted little time scoring in the second half, finding the end zone on a 45-yard pass from Jake Dunniway to Marshel Martin to cap a 4-play, 75-yard drive to start the third quarter.

Northern Colorado pieced together its most successful offensive drive of the game on the ensuing series, earning its initial first down and eventually scoring on a 2-yard rush from Elijah Dotson with 6:43 left in the third quarter. The Bears attempted an onsides kick which was recovered by Sacramento State and the Hornets scored four plays later with a 17-yard rush from Cameron Skattebo.

The defense recovered a fumble on the next offensive series by the Bears and the offense responded with an 11-yard strike to Parker Clayton four plays later to make it 45-7 at the end of the third quarter.

Sacramento State ended its scoring with points in the first and last minute of the fourth quarter. Sentkowski made his second field goal of the night with a successful attempt from 41 yards just 48 seconds into the period. The final score came on a 6-yard run from redshirt freshman quarterback Dorian Hale.

The Hornets finished the night with 622 yards of total offense on 97 offensive plays — both season highs. The team rushed for 332 yards on 59 carries and scored five touchdowns. Skattebo led the way with 124 yards on 18 carries. The quarterback trio of Kaiden Bennett (59 yards), Asher O'Hara (57 yards) and Hale (41 yards) combined for 157 rushing yards.

Dunniway completed 20-of-28 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns while O'Hara and Bennett added five additional completions. In all, 10 Sacramento State receivers caught passes in the game, led by tight end Marshel Martin who had nine receptions for 103 yards.

Northern Colorado finished the game with 175 total yards and nine first downs. Both marks were season bests for the Hornet defense which has allowed less that 200 total yards of offense in two games this season.

Sacramento State will next play at Eastern Washington on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 4 p.m.

NOTES

• The 97 offensive plays ties for the fourth most in the school's Div. I-era (1993-pres.) It is the most since the Hornets ran 101 against UC Davis on Nov. 23, 2019.
• Dunniway moved into 12th place in school history in career pass attempts with 491, passing quarterbacks coach Bobby Fresques (465). Dunniway also jumped into eighth place in Sacramento State career history with 310 completions.
• Marshel Martin recorded his third 100-yard receiving game of his career and first of 2022. He now ranks 12th in the Sacramento State record book with 1,541 career receiving yards and is eighth with 118 career receptions (the most by a non-wide receiver).
• Martin drew back even with Pierre Williams with 17 career receiving touchdowns. The pair are tied for fourth place along with Mike Carter (1968-69).
• Kyle Sentkowksi took sole possession of fourth place in Hornet history with 28 made field goals. Sentkowski now has multiple field goals in three games this season.
• Sacramento State has now scored 50 points or more in the last three home meetings against Northern Colorado.
• Cameron Broussard recorded his first career interception and is the fifth Hornet to have a pick this year.