It wasn?t the way Sacramento State football coach John Volek wanted to end a season. Heck, it wasn?t the way he wanted the season to go, period.The Hornets rounded out their 2001 campaign with a disheartening 52-33 loss to Portland State University Saturday at PGE Park Stadium, losing their eight-straight contest after starting what was looking to be a promising season at 2-1.

“It?s disappointing to lose like that in the last game (of the season),” Volek said. “We have got to get better defensively and with our running game.”

Sac State?s porous defense was exploited once again, giving up 724 total yards including 256 yards on 33 carries and three touchdowns from All-Conference freshman tailback Ryan Fugua.

“It was tough because their running back had great speed, and we couldn?t match that defensively,” Volek said.

Viking quarterback Justin Wood racked up 373 yards passing on 19 of 33 attempts. His main targets were Terry Charles (seven receptions, 156 yards, one touchdown) and Jesse Levin (six catches, 165 yards), providing the perfect compliment to their potent running attack.

Sac State countered with a nice outing from its offense as well, led by freshman signal caller Ryan Leadingham. Leadingham amassed 312 yards through the air on 26 of 44 pass attempts with three touchdowns to go along with 55 yards on the ground. Leadingham stamped his name into the record books, breaking the single-season yards record (2,532), completions (180) and attempts (393). He is also tied for second on the touchdown list, throwing 17 this season while maintaining an efficient quarterback rating at 122.46.

“?Led? improved in every game,” Volek said. “He passed (Tony) Corbin and (Ricky) Ray with all those records. That speaks highly of him for a freshman.”

Freshman Fred Amey and junior Michael Johnson, Jr. paced the Hornets with five catches apiece, gaining 98 and 62 yards respectively.

“I was pleased with our offense,” Volek said. “They started slow but picked it up in the second quarter. But it was too late by then.”

Down 17-0 is the second period, Leadingham connected with Johnson on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 6:05 left, capping a 12-play, 72-yard drive.The Hornets closed in 24-14 with 0:52 on the clock on a 20-yard touchdown strike to Amey, but the Vikings once again pushed the lead up to 17 following a six-play drive that resulted in a two-yard touchdown pass from Wood to Tim Hester.

Sac State struck first in the third quarter when Leadingham hooked up with fullback Beau Huiskens on a four-yard pass to make it 31-21. But that was as close as the Hornets would get.Portland State finished the season 7-4 overall, 5-2 in the Big Sky Conference.

Despite the winning season, the Vikings missed out on a bowl bid, as first-place University of Montana (11-1, 7-0) received an automatic bid, while second-place Northern Arizona University (8-3, 5-2) earned an at-large bid.Sac State, meanwhile, went 2-9 on the year and was tied for last with Idaho State University with a 1-6 conference mark.

With the disappointing season now behind the Hornets, Volek is looking to the future with the young, talent-rich roster he will have in 2002.

“We had 13 to 14 underclassman starting this season, and I?m talking about freshman and sophomores here,” Volek said. “We have an experience group next year, so we?ll be looking forward to building on that.”