SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State amassed over 500 yards of offense and allowed just one score on defense in a 34-6 win over Texas A&M-Commerce in front of 12,316 fans at Hornet Stadium on Saturday night.
The eighth-ranked Hornets rushed for 311 yards with three players gaining at least 59 yards. The group was led by Kaiden Bennet who had 101 rushing yards to become the fourth quarterback in school history to go over the century mark. Bennett also scored two touchdowns on the ground and had one through the air to give him three scores for the second consecutive game.
With the victory, Sacramento State improved to 2-0 on the year and won for the 21st consecutive time in the regular season. The Lions dropped to 0-2 on the season.
Sacramento State scored on the opening drive of the game with a 7-play, 80-yard drive. The Hornets were explosive from the beginning as
Kaiden Bennett connected with
Devin Gandy for a 33-yard strike. Bennett capped the series with an 8-yard dash up the middle of the field.
The Hornets extended their lead to 10-0 with a 33-yard field goal from
Zach Schreiner with 4:13 remaining in the opening period. The team tacked on a touchdown on the opening drive of the second quarter. Facing 3rd-and-8 Bennett found
Chris Miller for a 16-yard touchdown. Miller was well-covered on the play and made the catch while falling backwards in the back of the end zone to make the score 17-0.
After the defense forced a stop, Bennett again found paydirt with a 40-yard sprint down the right sideline.
Sacramento State appeared to be poised to score the final points of the half when the team took the ball with 1:19 remaining at the A&M-Commerce 30-yard line. Instead, Bennett was intercepted by Max Epps who returned it all the way to the Hornet 14. Two plays later, the Lions scored their only points with a 1-yard run from quarterback Peter Parrish.
The Hornets quickly answered with a four-play drive which brought the ball tot he A&M-Commerce 22-yard line with just four seconds remaining. Schreiner was again called upon and delivered a 40-yard field goal as time expired to give the Hornets a 27-6 lead at intermission.
The Hornet defense started the second half with a 3-and-out and the offense responded with a 9-play, 55-yard drive which resulted in a 5-yard touchdown run from
Marcus Fulcher. That score, with 8:47 remaining in the third quarter, proved to be the final points in the game.
Bennett completed 14-of-22 passes for 176 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Carson Camp came on in the second half and was 3-of-4 for 16 yards.
Carlos Hill led all Hornet receivers with a career high seven receptions for 53 yards. Tight end
Coleman Kuntz added four receptions for 68 yards to also set career best in both categories.
Gavin Davis-Smith, who was starting at nickelback for the first time in his career, led the Hornets with seven tackles.
Leke Fashola,
Brock Mather and
Cameron Broussard each had six stops. Mather intercepted a pass in the second quarter and added a second pick on the two-point try by the Lions. However, that second interception does not count towards his season total.
Sacramento State will play its next two games on the road starting with a Sept. 16 showdown at Stanford. The team will then open Big Sky Conference play at Idaho which recorded a 33-6 win at Nevada on Saturday.
NOTES
- The meeting between the two teams was the first in school history.
- Kaden Richardson (right guard) and Jordan Stanley (right tackle) started for the Hornets on the offensive line.
- Despite the two changes, Sacramento State did not allow a sack for the second straight game.
- Leke Fashola and Jeremy Harris combined on a sack for Sacramento State.
- Zach Schreiner made both of his field goal tries and is now 3-of-4 this season.
- The Hornets did not score in the fourth quarter, snapping a streak of a 17 consecutive quarters with points.
- Marcus Fulcher surpassed 1,000 career rushing yards during the game.
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