In yet another close loss, the Sacramento State Hornets dropped to 1-7 overall and to 1-5 in the Big Sky Conference.

The Hornet offense exploded – out gaining Eastern Washington 469 to 466 yards. Freshman quarterback Jason Smith completed 29 of 41 passes for 396 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions- but it wasn’t enough.

The Hornets fought back from a 21-point deficit to cut the lead to 31-24, but Sac State made too many mistakes in the end- fumbling twice, two interceptions, a turnover on downs at the one, and several penalties that either killed Sac State drives or aided Eastern Washington.

“We just didn’t make the plays we needed to make to win it,” coach Marshall Sperbeck said. “It’s tough when we battle as hard as we do, and haven’t been able to taste many victories.”

The Hornets had 23 first downs and the Sac State receivers had their best performance of the year. Tony Washington led the team with nine receptions for 146 yards and two touchdowns, both career highs. Torrell Baker also had a career high with seven catches for 95 yards. Ryan Coogler moved into fourth place on the all-time receiving list, and had four catches for 87 yards, one of which was for a 62- yard touchdown late in the game.

“Our main goal was to get a win, but that didn’t happen,” Washington said. “We just kept doing what we were doing after the half- they couldn’t stop us.”

The Hornets had opportunities inside the red zone to score, but penalties and turnovers let Eastern Washington hold onto a slim lead and eventually pull out the victory.

“It’s frustrating,” Smith said. “Every week we’re one play away. We’re waiting to get over that hump. Mistakes, penalties- without those we are in position to win. They (Eastern Washington) didn’t stop us all game, we were in control. We just shot ourselves in the foot and made too many mistakes.”

Sac State had 10 penalties for 119 yards.

The Hornet defense was tough, going up against the leading passer and receiver in the conference. EWU quarterback Matt Nichols threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Aaron Boyce had a big game with eight receptions for 177 yards and two touchdowns, but the Hornet defense put continuous pressure on Nichols and shut down the rest of the offense.

“Our d-line went out and played hard,” senior linebacker Mike Brannon said. “We realized what we had to do to win- we just didn’t play well enough to get it done. We linebackers need to work on getting deeper in coverage and helping out the DB’s.”

Brannon had 16 tackles, a Sac State record three and a half sacks, and a blocked a punt. Senior safety Brett Shelton added 12 tackles and linebacker Cyrus Mulitalo had eight.

Late in the game the Hornets went for it on fourth and one at the goal line and were stopped, turning the ball over on downs. It was a tough call for coach Sperbeck to make- but it had to be done in the situation of the game.

“It wasn’t a good call, because it didn’t work,” Sperbeck said. “If it had worked it would have been a good call. The good thing about playing the game is it comes down to execution. I take full responsibility for that.”

In front of 4,700 fans, the Hornets had 95 yards rushing, split between Bryan Hilliard’s 46 yards on 12 carries and Travon Jones’ 37 yards on 10 carries. Jones also had six receptions for 37 yards. The Sac State balanced offensive attack still couldn’t overcome the numerous mistakes.

“We were in it the whole way,” Sperbeck said. “We need more consistent play. We have to make improvements where there were breakdowns and continue to work. It’s a competitive league, but are we really 1-7? We could easily be 5-3 or 6-2. The frustration is in coming so close.”

Galen Kusic can be reached at [email protected]