The 52nd edition of the Causeway Classic was anything but classic for Sacramento State as they were trounced by rival UC Davis 37-7 on Saturday.

The loss drops the Hornets record to 0-4 for the first time since 1980. It is also the Hornets sixth-straight loss both to Davis in the annual game and overall dating back to the end of the 2004 season.

“As the head coach I will take responsibility for it,” head coach Steve Mooshagian said. “I will never point fingers at coaches or players, so put it on me. If we didn’t do something out there, it was because I didn’t prepare them.”

The Aggies showed the 10,187 in attendance at Hornet Stadium why they beat Stanford last weekend on their opening drive of the game. It only took the Aggies four plays to get into the Hornets end zone as wide receiver Tony Kays hauled in a 30-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jon Grant to give the visitors a 7-0 lead only 3:14 into the game.

“Scoring on that first possession was key because of the emotion that goes into this game,” UC Davis head coach Bob Biggs said.

Sac State couldn’t move the ball early in the game as their offense was forced to punt at the end of all four first-quarter drives.

After a Grant rushing touchdown, the Hornets were finally able to move the ball consistently and it resulted in their only points of the game. Chris Hurd connected with Philip Perry for a 3-yard touchdown pass on third down which cut the Davis lead to 14-7.

The Davis offense went back to work on the next possession and capped off a quick 6-play, 73-yard drive with another Grant short touchdown run.

The key play on the drive was a 61-yard completion from Grant to Kays. The Grant to Kays combination was successful for the entire first half as the Elk Grove native had eight catches for 161 yards by halftime.

He finished with 10 catches for a career-high 182 yards. It was the fourth-straight game Kays has had 10 receptions and his 47 catches on the season is one of the best totals in the nation.

“Kays is a very good receiver,” Sac State cornerback Brandon Smith said. “He didn’t do anything that we didn’t prepare for, but that’s why he’s a good player. You always have to keep a body on him.”

Down 14 points going into halftime, the Hornets couldn’t have started the third quarter any better. After a three and out by the Davis offense, the Hornets used two long runs to move deep into Davis territory. On third down and 17, Ryan Mole broke off a 47-yard run to put Sac State at the Davis 25 and on fourth down and 15, Hurd ran 23 yards to get inside the Davis 10.

With the ball at the one-yard line and a chance to cut the Aggie lead to seven, Mole fumbled on a toss play which was recovered by the Aggies at their nine-yard line.

After the defense forced another three and out for Davis, again a costly turnover hurt the Hornets.

Punt returner Nick Miller fumbled the ensuing punt and it was recovered by Davis lineman Mike Ng at the Sac State 35. Ng also recovered Mole’s fumble on the previous possession.

“Turnovers were definitely the story of the game,” Mooshagian said. “Today it was a little different than what has happened early in the season, but I felt if we could have gone when we had the ball at the one, it would have changed the momentum of the game and instead it went in reverse.”

Davis didn’t waste long as they converted the turnover into seven more points when Grant connected with Aaron Hines for a 13-yard touchdown. The Aggies converted on all three third down plays on the drive and from that point on, the game was in hand for Davis.

Davis would score nine more points in the fourth quarter on a safety and another Jon Grant touchdown pass to push the lead to the final score of 37-7.

“We are going to keep battling and our result won’t be because of a lack of effort,” Mooshagian said. “My hat goes off to (Davis). They did it two weeks in a row; especially coming off the biggest win in their school’s history.”

Grant, along with Kays, were the story of the game for the Aggies. Grant would finish with 321 yards and three touchdowns passing along with his two running scores.

For Sac State, it was a tough day for the offense as quarterback Chris Hurd was held to 97 yards and a touchdown by the Aggie defense. Hurd was also sacked seven times by Davis defenders. Wide receiver Ryan Coogler led the way for Hornet receivers with his eight catches for 72 yards and running back Ryan Mole had 89 yards rushing, but most of that came on his 47-yarder in the third quarter.

?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”?”

Mitch Mclaughlin can be reached at [email protected]