THIBODAUX, La. — Sacramento State jumped out to an early lead, withstood a surge from Nicholls, and then pulled away for a 38-24 win over the Colonels on Thursday night at Guidry Stadium. With the win, the eighth-ranked Hornets improved to 1-0 on the season and extended their regular season win streak to 20 games and its road win streak against FCS teams to 15 games.

Marcus Fulcher rushed for a pair of touchdowns in the first 17 minutes of the game, and Kaiden Bennett then threw for a pair of scores and rushed for another to lead the offense. The Hornets finished the game with 441 yards of total offense, rushing for 185 and throwing for 256.

The Hornets had a near perfect start to the game, using 14 plays to cover 75 yards for a touchdown on the opening drive. Fulcher gained 33 yards during the series, including a gain of 14 on 3rd-and-11. Fulcher capped the drive, which also included a 26-yard rush from quarterback Carson Camp, with a 5-yard run around the right edge.

Sacramento State added to its lead on the first drive of the second quarter when Fulcher scored on a 1-yard rush up the middle for his fourth multi-rushing touchdown game of his career. After the defense forced a stop, Anderson Grover returned the punt 36 yards to the Colonels 29-yard line. Newcomer Ezra Moleni helped bring the ball to the Nicholls 1-yard line with a trio of rush attempts but the team was forced to settle for a 23-yard field goal from Zach Schreiner to take a 17-0 lead midway through the quarter.

Nicholls found its offensive rhythm late in the second period, and used a 14-play drive which traveled 74 yards to score its first points on a 30-yard field goal from Gavin Lasseigne with just 21 seconds remaining.

The Colonels trimmed the deficit to 17-10 midway through the third quarter. The drive was set up after Kershawn Fisher intercepted a pass and brought it back to the Hornet 12. Three plays later, quarterback Pat McQuiade kept it for a 4-yard touchdown.

Sacramento State then put the game out of reach with 21 unanswered points. Bennett connected with Jared Gipson for a 40-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter. That play followed a 41-yard bomb to Carlos Hill on a third-down completion to keep the drive alive.

On the Hornets' next drive, they went over the top of the Colonel defense again as Bennett found Devin Gandy for a 47-yard pass to set up the team's next score. Bennett called his own number to end the drive with a 7-yard rush up the middle on a 4th-and-1 play. The defense followed by forcing Nicholls to punt, but the snap rolled past the punter and gave the ball to the Hornets at the 6-yard line. Bennett wasted little time finding the end zone with a pass to Grover for his first career score at Sacramento State. Grover is a transfer from Washington State.

Nicholls added a pair of late touchdowns, scoring twice in the final eight minutes.

Individually, Bennett completed 11-of-16 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 38 yards to account for 259 yards of total offense. Gandy (82 yards), Gipson (60 yards) and Coleman Kuntz (22 yards) tied for the team lead with three receptions. Camp finished 5-for-11 for 35 yards while rushing twice for 25 yards.

Fulcher rushed for 71 yards and JC transfer Moleni added 32 yards while averaging 4.0 yards per carry.

Brock Mather was credited with a team-high eight tackles and was followed by Armon Bailey, Dillon Juniel and Jeremy Harris who each had six stops. DeShawn Lynch had two sacks, and Brandon Knott added one sack. Sacramento State outgained Nicholls by 148 yards (441-293). The Colonels had 159 of those yards on their final two drives of the fourth quarter when the game was well out of reach.

Sacramento State returns home to host Texas A&M Commerce on Saturday, Sept. 9, at Hornet Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

NOTES

• Sacramento State has now won five straight season openers
• The victory was the first for the Hornet football team in the state of Louisiana in school history.
• Seven players caught passes for Sacramento State.
• The Hornets punted four times, and Cal McGough (three) and Connor Stutz (once) combined to pin Nicholls inside the 20-yard line in all four of those punts. That included McGough pinning the Colonels at the 1-yard line with a 46-yard punt in the first quarter.
• Elijah Tau-Tolliver had a 44-yard kickoff return in the third quarter. He had 64 yards on kick returns, as well as 23 rushing yards. His 87 all-purpose yards were second to Fulcher's 88 all-purpose yards.
• Both teams turned the ball over once (both interceptions).