SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Despite playing in a steady rain throughout the game, the Sacramento State football team threw for a season high 400 yards and three touchdowns to rally for a 38-31 win over Richmond on Saturday afternoon at Hornet Stadium.

The victory was the first FCS playoff win for the Hornets in school history and the first postseason victory for the program since the Div. II quarterfinals in 1988. Sacramento State added to its story book season and is now 12-0 on the year. The team will host seventh-seeded Incarnate Word next weekend at a date and time to be announced. The Spiders ended their season with a 9-4 record.

Trailing for most of the first half, Sacramento State took its first lead (24-21) on the opening play of the second half when Elijah Tau-Tolliver returned the kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. Tau-Tolliver appeared to be stopped on the play near the 35-yard line but wiggled free and then burst up the left sideline for the longest kickoff return by a Hornet since Tyrone Taylor traveled 99 yards against Idaho State in 1999.

The lead, however, was short-lived as the Spiders knotted the game, 24-24, with a 26-yard field goal from Andrew Lopez. Richmond then stopped the Hornets on 4th-and-1 at their own 17 and turned that into a 10-play drive which ended with a 21-yard pass from Reece Udinski to Leroy Henley.

As the rain increased late in the third quarter, there was a wild exchange of turnovers between the teams. Richmond intercepted Sacramento State twice and also stopped the Hornets on 4th-and-1 but the Spiders also turned it over once with a fumble of their own.

Sacramento State stopped the frenzy with a 6-play, 73-yard drive which featured a heavy dose of Jake Dunniway to Marshel Martin. The pair ended the third quarter with a 43-yard completion into double coverage. The drive ended with a 19-yard strike to Martin in the center of the end zone for his fourth career multi touchdown game.

The deciding score game nearly four minutes later when O'Hara floated a perfect pass to Pierre Williams for a 51-yard touchdown. The reception tied Williams' longest of the season and was his seventh TD of the year.

Richmond had one final chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. The Spiders started the series at their own 18 after a season-long 55-yard punt from Cal McGough. A pass interference penalty took the ball to the 33 and was followed by an incompletion. Jeremy Harris then sacked Udinski for a 10-yard loss and Cameron Broussard sealed the game with an interception on fourth down.

Sacramento State scored the first points of the game with a 5-yard shovel pass from O'Hara to Martin midway through the first quarter. During the drive the Hornets converted three third downs, including the final play where Martin moved from right to left behind the line of scrimmage took the pitch from O'Hara and then won a foot race to the corner of the end zone.

Richmond had an emphatic answer, scoring the next 21 points. Jasiah Williams tied the game with a 25-yard reception from Udinski with 4:52 left in the opening quarter. Savon Smith then gave the Spiders the lead with a 1-yard rush with just under a minute to play in the period. Richmond capped its run with a 24-yard pass from Udinski to Henley early in the second quarter.

Sacramento State chipped away at the deficit beginning with a 24-yard field goal from Kyle Sentkowski. The team made it a one-score game with 19 seconds remaining in the half when Marcus Fulcher scored on a 1-yard carry.

The Hornets outgained Richmond, 472-396. Dunniway completed 19-of-39 passes for 317 yards and a score while O'Hara was 5-of-8 for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Martin set  career highs with 10 receptions for 148 yards and matched his career best with two scores. Williams had 107 yards on four catches to give Sacramento State a pair of receivers over the century mark for the first time since 2019.

Richmond lived up to its reputation as a team which is strong against the run. The Spiders held Sacramento State to just 72 yards on 35 carries. O'Hara led the team with 53 yards while Cameron Skattebo was limited to 21 yards on nine attempts.

Udinski completed 21-of-39 passes for 216 yards and three scores. The quarterback entered the game completing 75 percent of his pass attempts but was limited to 53.8 percent on Saturday. That continued a streak in which Sacramento State has kept the opposing quarterback to under 60 percent in 15 consecutive games.

Aaron Dykes rushed for a game-high 109 yards while Leroy Henley (84 yards) and Jakob Herres (58) each had seven catches.

Broussard was the leading tackler for the Hornets with nine stops. He was followed by linebackers Brock Mather (8) and Harris (7, two for loss).

NOTES

• Tickets for next weekend's game against Incarnate Word will go on sale on Monday morning at 10 a.m.
• The victory was the first for Sacramento State in December snapping a streak of five losses.
• All eight seeded teams were victorious on Saturday in the FCS Playoffs.
• Asher O'Hara was held without a rushing touchdown for the first time this season.
• O'Hara moved into 15th place in school history with 1,512 career rushing yards.
• Pierre Williams recorded his 10th career 100-yard receiving game. That ties him for second with DeAndre Carter and trails on Fred Amey (17).
• Jake Dunniway is now fourth in school history with 5,367 career passing yards. He is also tied for fifth in career TD passes with 34.
• Kyle Sentkowski tied Juan Gamboa for second place in program history with 36 career field goals. He also moved past Gamboa into second with 108 career PATs.
• Sacramento State last threw for 400 or more yards against Northern Arizona (410) on Oct. 23, 2021.
• Dunniway threw for 300 yards for the first time since last season's FCS Playoffs loss to South Dakota State where he had 331 yards.
• Martin and Williams posted the 21st time that two Hornets had 100 receiving yards. The last two occasions were recorded by Williams and running back Elijah Dotson. The last time two wide receivers had 100 yards was Shane Harrison (128) and Jaelin Ratliff (116) at Cal Poly on Nov. 7, 2015.