On Saturday the Hornets jumped out to a 30-0 half-time lead versus Cal Poly, and went on to take a 37-18 victory, before a crowd of 16,557, the largest home-opening crowd that Sacramento State has ever had.

“The fans can help us, we need them,” said head coach John Volek, visibly pleased with the large crowd that saw his team improve to 2-0. “It was great hearing them get loud in the right situations. Our fans are learning.”

The Hornet players were also pumped up by the mass of Hornet fans that surrounded them.

“It feels good to have that amount of people here,” said senior running back Charles Roberts, who rushed for 240 yards on 30 carries, moving him closer to the NCAA career rushing mark, while also running for three scores.

“I felt really good out there. I had a better feeling of the offensive line,” Roberts said. “All I had to do was run through the hole.”

Sac State earned the decisive victory despite the fact that they were without senior quarterback Ricky Ray for the last three quarters. Sophomore Garrett White, whose style of play is quite different than Ray’s, replaced him.

Volek was pleased with White’s all around performance, which included a reception before White slid over and played quarterback.

“He can catch, run and throw,” Volek said. “I would hate to be a defensive coordinator knowing that Charles (Roberts) and Garrett are coming at you.”

On the game’s first drive, Roberts fumbled the ball away on Sac State’s 30-yard-line. But, the defense responded and stopped the Mustangs before Allen McCoy blocked a 39-yard field goal attempt to give the Hornets the ball back.

The offense then took advantage of the situation and drove 78 yards for the 7-0 lead.

They never looked back.

To get into scoring range, Roberts had a 34-yard run, before being brought down at the 14-yard-line. Ray took the ball the rest of the way, with two runs, including a 5-yard-touchdown run on fourth down and inches.

Later in the first quarter, senior Lamont Webb returned a punt 44 yards, tackled just inside Cal Poly’s 20-yard-line. After a run by White, who entered the game after Ray strained his groin, Roberts scampered 12 yards for the touchdown, and the 14-0 advantage.

The second quarter proved to be nothing short of a stage for the defense to shine. On three consecutive possessions for the Mustangs, the Hornets held them to minus six yards, two yards and minus one yard, while forcing a fumble during the stretch.

“We did a spectacular job tonight,” said linebacker Anthony Daisley, who led the Hornets with nine tackles. “It was 30-0 at half-time.”

Volek liked what he saw out of the defense, which held Cal Poly to 52 first half yards, compared to the 295 that the Hornets put up. In the first half, the Hornets reached the end zone twice as many times as Cal Poly reached the first down marker.

“It was really a good defensive effort,” Volek said.

Following all three of the defensive stops the Hornets were able to put points on the board. Roberts rushed for a 61-yard touchdown, Jimmy Sanchez kicked a 26-yard-field goal and White showed his speed and strength on a 25-yard-touchdown run with :54 seconds left in the half.

“That’s something I always wanted to do. Just bust an option, bust a play,” White said. “Everybody did the right thing. They made me look good, and I wouldn’t be able to run like that if they didn’t do their job.”

After the dust cleared, the Hornets went into the break with a 30-0 lead.

For the complete story-see the print addition of the State Hornet on Wednesday.