SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Redshirt freshman quarterback Carson Conklin set career highs with 389 passing yards and five touchdowns and Anderson Grover and Danny Scudero each had over 100 receiving yards, but it was No. 5 UC Davis that was able to hang on for a 42-39 win over Sacramento State in the 70^th Causeway Classic on Saturday at Hornet Stadium.
 
Conklin completed 32-of-44 passes for 389 yards and five touchdowns with two scores coming to Jared Gipson and one each to Grover, Scudero and Elijah Tau-Tolliver. His passing yardage total was the 10^th-best in Sacramento State history and the second-most by a Hornet QB in the Causeway Classic. Conklin's five passing TDs tied him for third in school history and marked his seventh career game with three TD tosses.
 
UC Davis scored on its opening drive with a 29-yard pass from Miles Hastings to Samuel Gbatu Jr. to cap an efficient 6-play, 63-yard drive. The Hornets tied the game near the end of the first quarter on a 3-yard pass from Conklin to Grover.
 
The Aggies took their largest lead of the game early in the second quarter. Lan Larison plunged in for a 1-yard score to put the team back on top with 11:03 remaining in the half and Winston Williams made it 21-7 with a 5-yard catch six minutes later.
 
Sacramento State had one final answer in the half when Jared Gipson made a diving catch in the middle of the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown with just 13 seconds left on the clock.
 
The teams traded punts early in the third quarter before the Hornets made their move. Gipson had a 6-yard grab with 5:43 showing to tie the game, 21-21, and Zach Schreiner made a 35-yard field goal with 1:54 remaining to give the team its first lead of the game.
 
The fourth quarter had major momentum swings in the early moments. Larison pinballed his way through the line for a 12-yard touchdown on the fourth play of the quarter to put the Aggies on top, 28-24. The Hornets were then stopped on 4^th-and-1 from their own 35-yard line but the defense answered with the first career interception from Anta'Veon McKenzie two plays later.
 
After a Sacramento State punt, UC Davis marched to the Hornet 8-yard line and faced 2^nd-and-goal where Hastings lofted a ball to the back of the end zone that was brought in by Williams. The call was ruled a touchdown on the field, and after a lengthy review to decide whether Williams landed in bounds, stood to make the score 35-24.
 
The Hornets, again, were not dead as Conklin completed 6-of-8 passes on a 70-yard drive which was capped by a 16-yard pass to Tau-Tolliver with 4:21 remaining. However, after forcing UC Davis into a 3^rd-and-3, Larison broke free for his longest run of the game, scoring on a 59-yard run up the middle of the field to make it 42-32 with 2:02 left to play.
 
Sacramento State returned to the air on the next drive, scoring on a 30-yard pass to Scudero to make it a one-score game at 42-39. The perfect hop came on the ensuing onside kick but Larison was able to come down with the ball to seal the victory.
 
The two teams combined for nearly 1,000 yards of offense with the Aggies finishing at 540 yards and the Hornets amassing 457. Sacramento State had a season-high 389 yards through the air but was limited to 68 on the ground.
 
Scudero set his career high with 140 receiving yards and was one catch off his career best with seven receptions. Grover added 10 grabs for 102 yards in his final game at Sacramento State. The pair became the first set of 100-yard receivers for the Hornets since Marshel Martin (144 yards) and Pierre Williams (102) against Incarnate Word in 2022.
 
Hastings was 27-of-36 for 398 yards and three scores. His favorite target was Gbatu who had all five of his receptions and 143 yards in the first half. Larison had 273 all-purpose yards with 148 coming on the ground, 69 on receptions and 56 on kick returns.
 
Defensively, Derek Houston led Sacramento State with a career high 11 tackles and nickelback Gavin Davis-Smith had nine stops in his final game.
 
NOTES

• Sacramento State recognized 18 seniors prior to the game who were playing their final contest at Hornet Stadium.
• Conklin set the school record for single-season passing yards by a freshman. He finished the year with 2,876 yards to top Ryan Leadingham's mark of 2,752 which came in 2001.
• Conklin added to his school freshman record with 28 TD passes this year. The previous record was 17, also be Leadingham.
• Overall, his 28 passing touchdowns are the second-most in school single-season history, trailing only the 34 from Garrett Safron in 2014.
• Linebacker Will Leota had eight tackles and finished his collegiate career with 307 stops counting his time at Utah Tech.
• Grover, Scudero and Jared Gipson became just the third trio in school history to each have 600 receiving yards in a season and the first since 1999. Gipson led the team with 797 yards while Grover had 782 and Scudero 667.
• Gipson concludes his career ranked sixth in school history with 2,218 receiving yards and 147 career receptions. He also moved into a tie for sixth place with 17 career receiving touchdowns.
• Zach Schreiner's 19 field goals this season rank second in program history while his 40 extra points are tied for eighth.
• Schreiner's team-high 97 points rank ninth in school history and are the fourth-most by a Hornet kicker.
• Tau-Tolliver moved past Pedro Lewis and B.J. Perkinson and now stands in 15^th place in school career rushing history with 1,535 career yards.