The ceremonious cannon used to celebrate Sacramento State touchdowns was silent Saturday at Fred Anderson Stadium as the University of California, Davis, football team blanked the Hornets 43-0 at the 48th annual Causeway Classic.

The Sac State football team?s hopes for a win in October, plus back-to- back winning seasons, were shut out by an Aggie squad (6-2 overall) which forced seven turnovers and was led by their senior standout quarterback J.T. O?Sullivan on offense.The seven turnovers tied a Hornet record set back in 1993 against San Francisco State University, but that was a 49-10 Sac State win.

View more Causeway Classic photos here.”We can?t turn the ball over that much and expect to win the football game,” a dejected Hornets head coach Jon Volek said after the game. “We put entirely too much pressure on our defense.”

The second largest crowd at Hornet Stadium ? 17,328 ? saw a Hornet team hurt itself with poor execution and costly turnovers, a common theme that has haunted the young team all season long. Ironically, last year?s Causeway Classic, played in horrible weather and referred to as the “Mud Bowl,” ended in a 13-10 Aggie victory that produced three total turnovers, only one by the Hornets. Saturday, playing in a crisp, dry autumn night, the two teams produced eight turnovers.

The Hornets? effort began with a promising start when senior defensive end Drew Bogetti picked off an attempted screen pass, then managed to rumble six yards down to the UC Davis 4-yard-line in the game?s opening minutes. Two plays later, freshman quarterback Ryan Leadingham dove into the end zone in what appeared to be the game?s first points and an early Hornet lead.But it wasn?t meant to be. Aggie linebacker Nathaniel Hackett popped the ball loose in the goal line and recovered the free ball.

“That was big, momentum-wise. (UC Davis) took the momentum and never let it go,” Volek said.

Leadingham, participating in his first Causeway Classic, was chased and frustrated by a relentless defensive attack that forced him to fumble three times, including two in the first quarter. The Aggies converted four first-half turnovers into touchdowns, making the contest all but decided at halftime with the score at 24-0.Leadingham finished his frustrating night 11-of-19 for 128 yards passing.

“I was careless with the ball,” Leadingham said. “I?ve just got to keep two hands on the ball. I?ll definitely correct that this week.”

As for Leadingham?s counterpart, O?Sullivan was given plenty of time by an offensive line that controlled the line of scrimmage, giving the heralded gunslinger the time to use an effective play action set up by an efficient running game. O?Sullivan lit up the Hornet secondary for 253 yards on 16-of-24 passes, resulting in three touchdown strikes, including a 47-yard bomb to Michael Oliva with three minutes left in the third quarter that sent many Hornet fans home early.

The Aggies used a balance attack with 278 yards rushing and 285 yards passing to keep a guessing Hornet defense off balance. The 563 total yards yielded by the Sac State defense followed a 534-yard total last week that resulted in a bitter 42-35 overtime defeat to Eastern Washington University.

The only downfall for the Aggies, who now seem in position for a first-round playoff game at home, came when starting junior tailback Trae Milton went down with a dislocated kneecap with 13:31 left in the first half. The injury caused a 20-minute delay as Milton was assisted onto an ambulance and taken to Sutter General Hospital.

The Aggies never missed a beat, however, placing Matt Massari into the game.He dazzled the Hornet defense with a cut-back style of running en route to 119 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

“He?s definitely a different kind of runner,” UC Davis coach Bob Biggs said.

The Aggies now lead the series 33-16.The loss was the fifth straight for the Hornets (2-6 overall, 1-4 in Big Sky) who haven?t won since a 33-27 nail biter against Idaho State University back on Sept. 22.

“We need to win a football game,” Volek said. “We need to play physical football. We have to go forward, not backward right now.”

The Hornets will travel to California State University, Northridge next Saturday to play what will be their final game against the Matadors. The Matadors announced earlier this year they will terminate their football program.