SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Football is a game of inches and that was never more evident than on Saturday night in Sacramento State's 51-48 overtime win over Weber State.
 
The Hornets improved to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the Big Sky Conference. Weber State dropped to 3-5 overall and 2-2 in league games.
 
The Hornet offense was prolific as Carson Conklin threw for a career-high 357 yards and three touchdowns, Elijah Tau-Tolliver rushed for a career-best 141 yards and three scores and Anderson Grover set his career high with 136 receiving yards and a pair of TDs. However, it was the defense that made the big plays when it needed to and gave the team late life.
 
Leading 41-38, Sacramento State was forced to punt and gave the ball to the Wildcats at their own 45-yard line with 4:58 remaining. Weber State methodically moved down the field during the drive, beginning with a pass interference call against the Hornets on 3^rd-and-7. After two more first downs, WSU had 1^st-and-goal from the 1-yard line with just over a minute to play. Will Leota and Eian Moore combined for a 1-yard tackle-for-loss on first down. Leota then had a solo TFL for a 2-yard loss on second down. The third-down rush by Damon Bankston was stopped by Leota and Nakian Jackson leaving Weber State to settle for a 21-yard field goal to force overtime.
 
Sacramento State won the coin toss and elected to start the overtime period on defense. The Wildcats needed just five plays to score a touchdown as Richie Muñoz hit Jacob Sharp for his third touchdown of the game. The Hornets answered with a five-play series of its own to tie the game. Conklin found Scudero for 11-yards on 3^rd-and-8 to keep the drive alive and Grover had his second score of the game with a 9-yard touchdown.
 
Sacramento State was unable to find the end zone in the second overtime and turned to Zach Schreiner for a 36-yard field goal. Needing a touchdown to win the game, WSU brought the ball to the Hornet 11-yard line before a third-down pass to Sharp fell short. The team then called on Kyle Thompson to force a third overtime but his 27-yard attempt missed wide left.
 
The fact that the game went to overtime was a shock to the 15,530 fans in attendance. Sacramento State took a 41-24 lead into the fourth quarter and had the ball 1^st-and-goal at the WSU 8-yard line. The Hornets went deep into the playbook and called a running back pass that was intended for Conklin but, instead, was intercepted by Frankie Edwards who traveled 95-yards for the pick six.
 
From that point, momentum swung to the Wildcats who limited the Hornets to 23 yards over the final 13:18 of the quarter while earning 125 yards of their own to send the game into overtime.
 
For the second-consecutive week, the Hornets scored on each of their first half possessions and led 34-24 at intermission. The team received three first-half touchdowns from Tau-Tolliver, a 54-yard TD pass to Grover and field goals of 43 and 41 yards from Schreiner.
 
The third quarter could not have started better for the team as the defense shut down WSU on its first three drives. Zelmar Vedder thwarted the opening drive of the half with a spectacular one-handed interception in the end zone. In the next series, Vedder sacked Muñoz and jarred the ball loose where it was gathered out of the air by Ben Ahio. The unit continued its run with a stop on 4^th-and-3 on the third Wildcat series.
 
Sacramento State set season-highs for points (51) and yards (544). Conklin finished 32-of-47 for 357 yards to set career highs in each category. Tau-Tolliver had 127 of his 141 yards in the first half. The running back also caught a career-best 11 passes for 85 yards.
 
The defense faced 85 offensive plays from the Wildcats and had four players finish in double-digits in tackles. The unit was guided by Nakian Jackson who had 12 total tackles. Brandon Knott had a career-high 11 stops while Davion Ross and Leota each had 10.
 
Muñoz had 211 passing yards for three touchdowns — all to Sharp who had 119 receiving yards. Bankston also rushed for 234 yards as part of 316 rushing yards for the team. Weber State, which entered the game averaging 7.1 yards per play, finished the contest with 527 yards (6.2 ypp).
 
Sacramento State will next play at Idaho State on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 3 p.m. PT.
 
NOTES

• Sacramento State last played double overtime on Oct. 23, 1999 in a three-OT loss to Northern Arizona (51-49).
• The game was just the second to go to overtime for the Hornets in the last 10 years.
• Tau-Tolliver became the first Hornet to rush for three touchdowns in a half since Elijah Dotson had three at Montana on Sept. 22, 2018.
• Tau-Tolliver moved into 20^th place in Sacramento State career history with 1,314 rushing yards.
• Gipson moved past Lamont Webb for eighth place in Hornet history with 120 career receptions.
• Schreiner's tied his career high with three field goals (43, 41, 36 yards). He now has 26 career field goals and is tied with Brad Cornish and Tyson Becker for fifth in school history.
• Schreiner also passed Tyson Becker (68) and Chris Diniz (70) to claim sixth place with 74 career PATs.
• Bankston's 234 rushing yards were the 12^th most by a Hornet opponent all-time.
• Malini Ti'a (NB), Mitchell Wolfe (LB) and Austin Jarrard (TE) made their first career starts.