The story of the Sacramento State season has been their play in the third quarter of each ball game, and Saturday’s Causeway Classic was the same story for Steve Mooshagian’s team as UC Davis beat Sac State 37-7. The Hornets went scoreless in the third quarter for the fourth straight game after two crucial turnovers helped UC Davis take any chances Sac State had of winning its first game of the season.

“Clearly it was the biggest play of the game,” Davis head coach Bob Biggs said.

That play was the turning point of the football game as midway through the third quarter, Sac State had a second and goal from the Davis 1-yard line and a chance to cut the Aggie lead from 14 points to seven.

Hornet running back Ryan Mole took the toss play and headed toward the corner of the end zone, but Davis linebacker Josh Edwards put a blindside hit on Mole that jarred the ball loose and Davis defensive end Mike Ng recovered the ball at the Davis 9-yard line.

“I came in at the right angle and just put a hit on the ball,” Edwards said. “I hope he doesn’t say he didn’t see me.”

“I didn’t see him,” Mole said. “I tried to get to the corner and their man got a good shot on me and it just popped the ball right out.”

The Sac State defense did force a punt on the following Aggie possession, but on that punt, Hornet return man Nick Miller fumbled the ball and again Davis’ Mike Ng recovered the free football. This time the Aggies got the ball at the Sac State 35-yard line and used that turnover as a springboard for a back-breaking touchdown drive that essentially ended the game as Davis went ahead 28-7 late in the third quarter.

“Those were without a doubt the biggest plays of the game,” Mooshagian said of the two critical turnovers. “Having back-to-back turnovers like that was just too much for us to overcome.

“We let two of them get away right there in a row. Bottom line is we can’t keep turning the ball over.”

The scoreless 15 minutes for Sac State puts them at a 52-0 deficit during that quarter. It is a key reason that the Hornets are now 0-4 on the season. Coach Mooshagian thinks his guys are pressing and trying to do too much, and this has been especially evident early in the second half of all their games so far.

“They just need to relax and go play football, especially on offense,” Mooshagian said. “It’s been discouraging and frustrating but we are going to keep fighting. I’m going to keep battling until they won’t let me anymore.”

Mitch McLaughlin can be reached at [email protected]