The Hornets pushed their Big Sky Conference record to above .500 with a 38-35 victory over the University of Northern Colorado on Saturday.

Sacramento State is now 4-3 in conference play and 4-5 overall on the season. The 38 points tied a season-high for the Hornets.

It was a tale of two halves for Sac State. The Hornets led 31-0 at halftime only to get outscored 35-7 in the second half by Northern Colorado.

The Hornets were led by a pair of young running backs – Jake Croxdale and Jeff Badger. Croxdale ran for 107 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns – the final touchdown proved to be the game-winning score. Croxdale became the third Hornet running back this season to go over the century mark in yardage, joining Terrance Dailey and Sam McCowan.

Badger had 75 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown. As a team, Sac State ran for 203 yards on a season-high 55 attempts.

Quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson started in place of Jason Smith, purely on a coach’s decision.

Bethel-Thompson completed 13-22 passes for 133 yards, one touchdown and one interception. It was the junior’s first start of the season for Sac State.

Wide receiver Ronald Richardson gave the Hornets their first touchdown with a 48-yard pass to wide receiver Brandyn Reid on a trick play.

Kicker Chris Diniz missed his first field goal attempt of the season – a 34-yarder that would have given Sac State a 13-point lead with under three minutes to play.

The Hornet defense was dominant in the first half, forcing two Northern Colorado turnovers, 100 yards of offense and no points.

However, the Bears got rolling in the second half and almost made a miraculous comeback.

Quarterback Bryan Wagner threw for 325 yards and completed 35 of 58 passes. He also ran for 53 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns. Bear wide receiver Alex Thompson caught 11 passes for 110 yards.

Northern Colorado had five touchdown drives in the second half. The drives averaged 9.6 plays, 77.8 yards and took roughly 2:10, which showed the Hornet defense had let up considerably from the first half.

Sac State looked like an entirely different team in the second half, but a 31-point cushion at halftime ended up being just enough to earn the victory.

The Hornets travel to Montana State on Saturday at 11:05 a.m. in their last game before the Causeway Classic versus UC Davis on Nov. 21 at 2:05 p.m.