Penalties played a huge factor today in Sacramento State football’s devastating 44-24 road loss to Idaho State on Homecoming night, Saturday, Sept. 27.

In the first quarter with 1:23 to go, linebacker Darnell Sankey was ejected from the game with a controversial helmet-to-helmet hit.

The junior leads the Big Sky Conference in tackles with 55 through four games and is the nation’s second leading tackler. His exit was crucial after posting two tackles early in the game.

The 15-yard personal foul by Sankey changed the momentum in favor of the Bengals after Hornets had a 7-3 lead. ISU’s running back Xavier Finney rushed for a 1-yard touchdown on the same drive, putting them up by three points to end the first quarter.

The Hornets fought back with an assist from the Bengal’s Hayden Stout after being penalized for roughing the passer, which was good for a 15-yard penalty. Quarterback Garrett Safron was able to capitalize on the play, hitting senior receiver DeAndre Carter for a 4-yard touchdown pass with 4:52 to go in the second quarter. The team was trailing 16-14 after this completion.

Sac State never recovered from deficit at this point and trailed Idaho State for the remainder of the game.

Carter racked up 14 catches on the day which tied him with Mike Powell for the second most single-game receptions in Sac State’s history. The senior hooked up with Safron for three touchdowns combining for 158 receiving yards, averaging 11.3 yards per grab.

Fellow receiver Nnamdi Agude picked up 153 yards, averaging 13.9 yards a catch but did not reach the end zone. This marks another game this season where Agude and Carter ended with 100 plus receiving yards.

Safron stayed nearly perfect in the first half with the quarterback going 18-of-20, airing out for 167 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The second half was a different story for the senior who went 15-of-29 with two interceptions and one touchdown. His passer rating dropped from 193.1 to 144.9 while throwing for 382 yards to end the day. The senior recorded 79 yards rushing but was unable score a touchdown.

Running backs De’Jon Coleman and Jordan Robinson ran for only 70 yards on 19 attempts but both failed to break through the plain for a touchdown. The team averaged 4.7 a carry.

Offensively the Hornets were in contention heading into half with a score of 25-17 in favor of the Bengals, but the opening drive in the second half resulted in a Safron throwing his first interception of the game to ISU’s Cody Sorensen at Sac State’s 47-yard line.

The pick allowed the Bengal’s Finney to rush for three yards to score his second touchdown of the game with 14:45 on the clock. The running back tallied 135 yards on 26 attempts and ended with three rushing touchdowns.

Sac State’s defense struggled to contain Idaho State’s running game as they rushed for 191 yards in 39 attempts. The Bengal’s quarterback Justin Arias contributed to the 639 yards of total offense against the Hornets by throwing for 413 yards and two touchdowns with only one interception.

The Hornets are now 0-1 in conference with an overall record of 3-2. The team will look to recover in their conference home opener against Montana State on Oct. 4.