The 52nd edition of the Causeway was anything but a Classic to Sacramento State as it was trounced by the rival UC Davis Aggies 37-7 Saturday.

The loss drops the Hornets to 0-4 and it’s the first time since 1980 Sac State has opened a season with four consecutive losses. 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.

UC Davis 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’ endzone 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.

Sac State wasn’t very successful early in the game as their offense was forced to punt at the end of all four first quarter drives. After a Jon 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 play on third down which cut the Davis lead to 14-7 with just under five minutes to play in the first half.

The Davis offense went back to work on the next possession and capped off a quick 6-play, 73 yard drive with another Jon 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 8 catches for 161 yards just 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 for the season is one of the best totals in the Nation.

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 on a called quarter back draw 23 yards to get inside the Davis 10.

With the ball at the 1-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 recoverd Mole’s fumble on the previous possession.

Davis didn’t waste any time as it 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.

Grant, along with Kays, was 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 8 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.