A BRIEF PREVIEW

• Sacramento State will visit another new team as the Hornets play at Ball State will meet for the first time on Saturday, Oct. 24, in Muncie, Ind. The game kicks off at 12:30 p.m. PT from Scheumann Stadium.
• This week's game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Joe Tordy will serve as the play-by-play announcer with former Florida State offensive lineman Forrest Conoly as the analyst.
• Hornet fans can tune in to ESPN 1320 AM to hear the radio call of Jason Ross (play-by-play), Steve McElroy (analyst) and Danny Sullivan (sideline). Live audio streaming is also available via www.hornetsports.com and the Audacy app.

STORYLINES

• Sacramento State suffered a 48-7 Homecoming loss to Ohio on Saturday. The defeat dropped the Hornets to 1-6 overall and 0-4 in MAC games.
• The game against the Cardinals will be the first in Indiana in program history. Indiana will become the 19th state in which the Hornets have played a football game and the third new state this season (Michigan and Ohio). Sacramento State will add a 20th state to its resume when it ends the year at Hawaii.
• The Hornets scored 52 points in a shutout win over Mississippi Valley State but have totaled just 53 points in its six losses combined. Sacramento State has not scored an offensive touchdown in the first three quarters against an FBS team this season and has been limited to 10 offensive points or less in each game.
• The team's five-game skid is its longest since dropping the final five games of the 2024 season and the first two games of the 2025 campaign.
• A week after hosting Homecoming, this weekend's game will be Homecoming for Ball State.
• Ball State earned a 32-31 overtime win at Bowling Green. The Cardinals trailed by seven with under a minute to go in regulation and drove 78 yards to tie the game as time expired. After BGSU went up seven in the first overtime period, Ball State scored on a 1-yard run from TJ Horton and then converted a two-point conversion to snap a 14-game road losing streak.
• The Cardinals are now 2-5 overall and 1-2 in MAC games.
• Quarterback Keldric Luster has thrown for 1,066 yards and seven touchdowns while completing 64.7 percent of his passes. Luster is also second on the team with 189 rushing yards.
• Horton has scored seven rushing TDs this season and averages 56.0 ypg while Donovan Hamilton and Jamarion McDougle each have 20-plus receptions.
• Mike Uremovich is in his second season as the head coach at Ball State. Uremovich is in his 28th year in college football and was previously the head coach at St. Francis (Ill.) from 2005-11 and was the offensive coordinator at Temple and NC State.

USING ALL OPTIONS

• Sacramento State used three quarterbacks in the game against Ohio and has played four players at the position this season. Against the Bobcats, Jackson Sharman completed 11-of-21 passes for 69 yards and an interception. He left the game in the second half and was replaced by Brian Salazar Jr. who was 4-of-5 for 71 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown pass to Kenyon Shabazz. Jaylen Patterson also saw time at the position, recording a pair of runs for three total yards.
• The Hornets started the season with Carson Conklin as the team's quarterback. Conklin earned the start at Eastern Michigan and was 25-of-46 for 222 yards. However, he suffered a broken bone in his thrown arm in the game and has yet to return.
• Having to make a change at quarterback is nothing new for Sacramento State. This season marks the fourth consecutive year that the team has started two QBs during the first four weeks of the season. In 2023, Carson Camp started at Nicholls in the opener but was replaced by Kaiden Bennett at halftime. The following year, Bennett was the starter at San Jose State before giving way to Conklin. Last season, Jaden Rashada started the first two games but was replaced by Cardell Williams. Prior to those seasons, Sacramento State used a designed two quarterback system with Jake Dunniway and Asher O'Hara splitting time.
• Sharman, a transfer from Idaho State, had never thrown more than two touchdowns in a collegiate game prior to tossing four against Mississippi Valley State. His four TDs passes are tied with Dunniway (2019), Ricky Ray (1999) and Tyler Jesse (1996) for the school record for most in a starting debut. 
• Salazar played the 2025 season at Citrus JC where he threw for 3,210 yards and 36 touchdowns and was named second team all-conference. He was the league MVP at Rio Hondo HS in 2024.
• Patterson is a transfer from New Mexico State after a decorated prep career at San Jacinto HS. He made an immediate impact as a Hornet, scoring on a 43-yard rush on his first play from scrimmage.

ADD ANOTHER TO THE LIST

• Sacramento State has spread its 12 touchdowns between nine players this season with only wide receiver Matt Coleman scoring more than once. Coleman leads the team with four scores — three of which came against MVSU. Eight other Hornets have scored one time this year with the latest addition being wide receiver Kenyon Shabazz who scored on a 38-yard catch and run against Ohio.
• Sacramento State has had at least 10 players score touchdowns in a season dating back to 2017. The last time there were not double-digit touchdown scorers came in 2016 when nine players found the end zone. Since moving to NCAA Div. I in 1993, there have only been three seasons where the team did not have at least 10 players find the end zone.
• The Hornets have had at least two players score five or more touchdowns in a season each year dating back until 20010. That includes last year where six players had at least five touchdowns with two scoring 10-plus.
• This season, the team seven rushing touchdowns, four receiving scores and a defensive scoop and score.

TOP OF THE PACK IN THE MAC

• Along with his touchdowns, Coleman is also the team leader with 36 receptions and 473 receiving yards this season. He ranks first in the MAC in receiving yards and receiving yards per game (67.6) and is second in receptions per game (5.14).
• Coleman is in his first year with the program after spending the last four seasons at San Jose State. He surpassed 1,000 receiving yards against UMass and now has 1,134 career yards and seven touchdowns. He leads the team this season with 32 grabs and 454 yards.
• Fellow wide receiver Onterrio Smith Jr. is 10th in the MAC with 4.29 receptions per game and ranks second on the team with 30 catches for 314 yards and a score.  Prior to this season, Smith had seven catches for 45 yards in 2024 and 2025 combined.
• Both players come from football families as Coleman's father, Herman, played quarterback at Southern from 1980-83 and Smith's father, Onterrio Sr., was a running back at Tennessee and Oregon before playing in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings.

CONTINUING TO CHANGE

• A week after playing a 3-4 defense at Bowling Green, Sacramento State reverted back to a base of 3-3-5 against Ohio. In the formation, the Hornets returned to three safeties while Kenwick Thompson remained the defensive play caller.
• The initial change to the formation was dictated by a rash of injuries which led to the team being without its three backup safeties against the Minutemen. Two weeks ago against the Falcons, Caleb Reese made the move from corner to safety and responded with a career-high seven tackles.
• Other changes for the team against Bowling Green included Malachi Kindle making his first start on the defensive line and Diego Davis earning a starting nod at linebacker. They became the 18th and 19th different players to start on defense this season for the team. Only four players (Austin Chambers, Elias Mullican, Boogsie Silvera and Dionte Thornton) have started all six games this season on defense.

BOOGSIE NIGHTS

• Fifth-year safety Boogsie Silvera remained the team leader in tackles as he posted a game-high eight tackles against Ohio. Silvera now has 50 stops on the season which is 17 more than the closest Hornet.
• His average of 7.1 stops per game  ranks 15th on a crowded MAC leaderboard. Akron's Donelius Johnson and Bowling Green's Dorian Pringle lead the MAC with 9.6 tackles per game. 
• The Penbroke Pines, Fla., native has had a winding path to Sacramento State. He began his career at Charleston Southern in 2021 and 2022, played the 2023 and 2024 seasons at McNeese and the 2025 campaign at USF. Overall, he has 255 career tackles.
• Silvera also accounts for the team's lone interception of the season as he hauled in a tipped pass on the third offensive play of the game at Bowling Green.
• The takeaway was just the third of the season for the Hornets but all three have been turned into points. The interception at BGSU led to a 33-yard field goal from Grant Meadors. The first takeaway came at Eastern Michigan where Fata Puloka had a strip sack which was gathered up by Xavier Williams and returned 29 yards for a score. The other was against Mississippi Valley where Diego Davis forced a fumble which was recovered by Collin Kallhoff. That turnover turned into a touchdown from Daniel Swinney.
• Sacramento State did have a turnover of its own when the Falcons knocked the ball loose on a jet sweep and, after being batted around, was recovered by D'Kyah Banks who traveled 27 yards for a touchdown. The score is the third defensive TD against the Hornets in the last three weeks. The team's 12 giveaways have resulted in the opposition scoring 49 points.
• Sacramento State now has three takeaways this season opposed to 12 giveaways. The minus-9 ratio averages to -1.50 turnovers per game which is tied for 136th in the FBS.

BIG DAY FOR THE HAMMER

• Sacramento State punter Hamish Adams matched his career high with seven punts against Ohio. Adams averaged 43.1 yards per punt aided by a career-long 59-yarder late in the game. Adams placed four punts inside the 20-yard line and did not allow a return yard.
• Adams' season average of 41.1 yards per punt ranks 10th in the MAC but his ability to force fair catches has the team's net average of 41.0 second in the conference. Only four of Adams' 35 punts this year have been returned with 22 kicks ending in a fair catch. Those four returns have resulted in a total of six yards. The average of 1.5 yards per punt return ranks 16th in the FBS.
• The Melbourne, Australia native is the third consecutive Ausie to serve as punter for the team, following Sam Clark (2019-21) and Cal McGough (2022-25). All three are products of ProKick Australia.

THEN THERE WERE NONE

• Sacramento State entered last week tied with Washington State and Tennessee as the national leaders in fourth down defense. All three teams had not given up a conversion through the first six weeks of the season. 
• That came to an end for all three last weekend. The Hornets surrendered a 4th-and-1 on Ohio's first drive of the game. That conversion continued a series which ended in a touchdown for the Bobcats. Sacramento State has now come up with stops on 5-of-6 fourth downs it has faced.
• The team's .167 defensive conversion rate ranks fourth in the FBS behind Boise State (.083), Baylor (.111) and Tennessee (.125).

END OF THE ROAD

• Sacramento State saw its 10-game streak of holding the opposition scoreless in at least one quarter come to a close when Ohio put points up in each period. The last team to put up points in every quarter against the Hornets was Montana in a 49-35 win on Oct. 24, 2025.
• Kenyon Shabazz's touchdown in the fourth quarter continued a streak in which Sacramento State has not been shutout in 107 games. The last time the Hornets were held scoreless came in a 44-0 setback at Southern Utah on Oct. 17, 2015.