The Sacramento State defense came out to play against Fresno State, but due to an offensive slump, lost 31-3 to the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Through three quarters, Sac State (0-2) held the Bulldogs (1-1) to 10 points as the defense forced both an interception and three fumbles, one recovered, which Hornets head coach Jody Sears credited to physical hits and high-spirited play.

“The physical play…played a lot more physical than we did last week and we played really good on defense,” Sears said. “Offensively, we just couldn’t sustain drives, make some first downs. I was really proud of the energy and the physical play.”

However, the aforementioned offense, led by sophomore quarterback Nate Ketteringham, struggled mightily as Sac State compiled only 185 yards (89 passing and 96 rushing) of total offense and produced a lone 44-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Devon Medeiros.

“[We] didn’t really execute that well. Offense kind of stalled, didn’t really do what we were supposed to,” Ketteringham said. “Our defense bailed us out the whole game, we just didn’t execute the way we should have.”

One such contributor on the Hornet defense was junior linebacker Tyler Meteer who led all defensive players — including Fresno State — with 13 total tackles, 10 solo tackles and three tackles for loss.

“[I] felt good, we came out with a lot of energy and a lot of passion and I felt like we kind of punched them in the mouth when we first came out,” Meteer said. “They just kind of popped some runs on us. I don’t know what to tell you, it was a long game…and they just ended up playing better in the end.”

The final quarter of the game was all Fresno State as the Bulldogs scored three touchdowns — two of which were passes of four and 11 yards from quarterback Chason Virgil to wide receiver KeeSea Johnson — to take a commanding 31-3 lead that would not be relinquished.

“We ran out of gas on defense, just battled and fought their hearts out, extremely proud of them because they bounced back from a miserable performance the week before,” Sears said. “It looked and sounded like football for about three quarters…I think we got a little bit fatigued there in the fourth quarter and that ended up being the difference.”

The loss brings the Hornets’ all-time record against Fresno State to 0-3 and Sac State is forced to look for its first win of the season against Weber State at Stewart Stadium in Ogden, Utah at 5 p.m. on Sept. 17.