SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Following two games against FBS opponents with mixed results, Sacramento State head coach Andy Thompson challenged his team with playing one clean quarter. The 11th-ranked Hornets responded with its best four periods of the season on the way to a 34-7 win over 24th-ranked Nicholls in front of 12,494 fans at Hornet Stadium.

The victory was the first of the season for Sacramento State which improved to 1-2 and won its home opener for the sixth time in the last seven years. The Colonels dropped to 0-3 after early-season losses at Louisiana Tech and LSU.

Sacramento State had a flawless opening drive, using six plays to cover 75 yards culminating in an 11-yard touchdown run from Elijah Tau-Tolliver. Ben Ahio thwarted Nicholls' first offensive series with a third-down sack and the snap on the punt was mishandled giving the ball to the Hornets at the 13-yard line. Sacramento State turned the miscue into three points with a 25-yard field goal from Zach Schreiner.

Following a fourth-down stop early in the second quarter, Sacramento State added to its lead when Carson Conklin stepped under a pass rusher and found fellow redshirt freshman Danny Scudero along the sideline for a 34-yard touchdown to make it 17-0 with 10:03 left in the first half. Zeke Burnett tackled on a 14-yard rush for his first trip to the end zone this season.

Sacramento State appeared to be on the way to a first half shutout, getting the ball back with just over a minute to play. Instead Conklin's pass was deflected off the hands of a Hornet receiver and intercepted by Ty Marsh who returned it 49 yards for a touchdown.

Those points proved to be the only allowed by the team in the game. The defense recorded seven sacks — the most by a Sacramento State team since having 10 at Idaho State on Nov. 12, 2011. The seven sacks tonight came from six different players with linebacker Will Leota earning two. The Hornets also limited a Nicholls team which entered the game averaging 106.0 rushing yards per game to just 10 yards on the ground.

Sacramento State returned in the second half and outscored Nicholls 10-0. Schreiner matched his career long with a 44-yard field goal in the third quarter before Onterrio Smith, Jr. had a 4-yard catch for his first career touchdown with 1:55 to play.

Conklin, who was making his first start of the season, finished the game completing 22-of-32 passes for 264 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Danny Scudero and Coleman Kuntz each caught six passes to lead the team. Scudero had all of his action in the first half and eclipsed 100 receiving yards for the first time in his career with 102. Tau-Tolliver added 111 rushing yards to go over the century mark for the second time this season and third time in his career.

Defensively, Leota tied for the game-high with 10 tackles, including three for loss. Overall 22 Hornets had at least one stop in the game with the team combining for 14 tackles-for-loss.

Sacramento State will head back on the road to play at Texas A&M-Commerce next Saturday, Sept. 21, at 4 p.m. PT.

NOTES

• Sacramento State outgained Nicholls, 125-7, in the first quarter and finished the game with a 408-171 edge.
• Pat McQuiade entered the game with just four incompletions on the year but had four on his first 13 attempts against the Hornets. He finished 20-of-31 for 161 yards.
• Zach Schreiner moved into sole possession of 10th place with 18 career field goals.
• He also took sole possession of ninth place with 59 career extra points.
• The Hornet offensive line did not allow a sack for the second-consecutive game.