Sacramento State

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Quarterback Carson Conklin threw for a career-high 313 yards in his first career start, Marcus Fulcher added 121 yards on the ground, and Jared Gipson hauled in five catches for 154 yards as Sacramento State pulled away in the second half for a 41-30 victory over Cal Poly on Saturday afternoon at Hornet Stadium.
 
The Hornets improved to 7-3 overall and 4-3 in Big Sky Conference play, winning their fourth straight — and fifth in the last six — in the series with the Mustangs, who fell to 3-7 overall and 1-6 in league play.
 
Conklin, Fulcher, and Gipson combined to become the first Hornet trio to have 300 yards passing, 100 yards rushing, and 100 yards receiving in a game since Jake Dunniway (328 passing), Cameron Skattebo (117 rushing), and Marshel Martin (117 receiving) against Northern Arizona on Oct. 23, 2021. Conklin became the first Hornet freshman to throw for over 300 yards in a game since Nate Ketteringham in 2015.
 
In addition, Elijah Tau-Tolliver added 99 yards on nine carries and added a pair of scores for Sacramento State, which had four different players find the end zone on the day. He now has a team-high seven scores on the ground this season.
 
Gipson's 154 yards came on just five catches and were the most by a Hornet since Elijah Dotson had 158 against Northern Colorado in 2019. Conklin finished 17-of-26 through the air with three touchdowns to Carlos Hill, Devin Gandy, and Marshel Martin IV.

Fulcher picked up three-fourths of his rushing yards in the first half, tallying 94 yards on 12 carries. He now has 1,322 career rushing yards which moves him into 19th place in school history.

Cal Poly provided its own offensive fireworks as quarterback Sam Huard completed 37-of-58 passes for 483 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Huard set a school record for completions and finished the game with the second-most passing yards by a Mustangs. He was intercepted twice with both coming from junior nickelback Gavin Davis-Smith. The Folsom, Calif., native had not had a collegiate interception prior to today and became the first Hornet with a pair of picks in a game since Marte Mapu in 2021.

Cal Poly took an early lead with a field goal on the opening drive of the game. The Hornets built a small cushion with a 34-yard touchdown run from Tau-Tolliver and a 7-yard pass from Conklin to Gandy. The first quarter ended with Sacramento State owning a 14-10 lead after Michael Briscoe caught a 29-yard pass from Huard.

Cal Poly pulled within a point midway through the second quarter on a 44-yard field goal from Noah Serna. The teams then combined for five scores in the final seven minutes of the half. Marshel Martin IV started the deluge with a 39-yard TD down the middle of the field. The score moved Martin into a tie for second place with Fred Amey in the school record book with 27 career receiving touchdowns. Carlos Hill stretched the score to 28-13 with a 15-yard catch and run with 2:27 left in the half.

Briscoe and Huard connected for another long strike, this time from 52 yards and the Mustang defense followed with a three-and-out which led to a 23-yard field goal from Serna with only 18 seconds showing. The Hornets used a 35-yard spinning kick return from Tau-Tolliver to get into decent field position and Conklin found Jared Gipson for a 47-yard pass to set up Zach Schreiner's 32-yard field goal as time expired.

The scoring barrage slowed in the second half with each team posting one touchdown. Tau-Tolliver scored his second TD of the game with a 4-yard run with 11:13 to play in the third quarter to make the score 38-23. That touchdown was matched by a 3-yard run from Paul Holyfield to keep it a one-score game.

The only points of the fourth quarter belonged to Schreiner who made a 22-yard field goal That kick moved him into a four-way tie for seventh place in school history with 13 field goals on the year. The Sacramento State defense also did its part in the quarter, limiting the Mustangs to 82 yards. The unit had a 3-and-out, intercepted a pass and came up with a fourth-down stop on Cal Poly's three drives.

The teams combined for over 1,000 yards of total offense and were only separated by a single yard. Sacramento State ran 63 plays for 538 yards while the Mustangs had 73 plays for 539 yards. The Hornets' average of 8.54 yards per play was the third-highest for a game in the school's Div. I era.

Cal Poly's passing yards were the most allowed by Sacramento State since giving up 506 to Utah Tech on Sept. 3, 2022. The team's rushing total was the second-fewest surrendered this season and was just three yards off the low.

Dillon Juniel led all players with 10 total tackles — marking his first game in double digits in his career. Brock Mather and Cameron Broussard each had six total tackles.

Sacramento State closes the regular season with the Causeway Classic on Nov. 18 at UC Davis. The game will kick off at 12 p.m.

NOTES

• Sacramento State honored 18 seniors prior to the game.
• The Hornets tied the all-time series between the two teams, 21-21.
• Linebacker Armon Bailey, who leads the team in tackles, did not play in the game.
• Josh Cashiola recorded a sack for the second consecutive game.
• Cal Poly had not attempted a field goal since Oct. 21 but finished the game with a season best three field goals.