Sacramento State entered as heavy favorites against Division-II Western Oregon, but the Wolves and junior wide receiver Paul Revis had a different result in mind during their 38-30 victory on Saturday at Hornet Stadium.

“Coming here to Sac State, we knew these guys were going to be aggressive and trying to get after us because we’re Division II and walk all over us,” said Revis, who scored two touchdowns in the upset. “But we came in there and gave them punch after punch and stayed toe-to-toe. I thought we came in here with the right mindset … to make plays and it worked out.”

Western Oregon’s first jab came early in the first quarter as junior defensive back Trebriel Larry intercepted an errant pass attempt from Sac State sophomore quarterback Nate Ketteringham.

The Wolves (1-0) wasted little time and came out with a trick play as sophomore running back Malik Braxton lofted up a 19-yard halfback pass to Revis for the first score of the season.

“We felt like our players executed well and we knew … Sac State, obviously a Division-I team, is physical so we had to take that first step early and try to surprise them a little bit,” Western Oregon head coach Arne Ferguson said.

Revis’ night was far from over as the 5-foot-9-inch athlete sneaked past Sac State defenders in route to a 74-yard touchdown punt return.

“My job for the team is to make plays happen when I get the ball so when I can I’m always going to take that opportunity,” Revis said. “I made a couple guys miss in open field and I saw a lot of daylight so … we were just excited and ready to go so I think it helped our punt returns and a couple pass plays down the field.”

Sac State (0-1) made up some ground by scoring on a field goal and a nine-yard touchdown scramble by Ketteringham, but missed the ensuing PAT which left the Hornets behind, 14-9.

“We made way too many errors. I was very optimistic on the maturity of our team based on what I had seen in the winter, the spring and in fall camp—very optimistic,” said Sac State head coach Jody Sears after the game. “I do have to say, I’m disappointed because the team that I saw tonight was not what I’ve been seeing the last 40 practices. … I didn’t think we would’ve made as many mistakes as we did tonight.”

After both teams scored on each other in nearly back-to-back fashion throughout the next three quarters — including two fourth-quarter touchdown receptions from Sac State sophomore wideout Jaelin Ratliff — it was another mistake with the score at 38-30 in favor of Western Oregon that derailed the Hornets.

The Hornets, trying to force overtime, had moved within the Wolves’ 27-yard line with only seconds remaining in the game, but were hit with a holding call that put Ketteringham and the offense in a dangerous position.

The fourth-down pass attempt from Ketteringham — who completed 34 out of 58 passes for 370 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions — was then picked off by senior defensive back Danny Hankins in the endzone and the upset was complete for Wolves.

“[Ketteringham] made some uncharacteristic throws. He usually doesn’t miss a lot high and he missed quite a few high tonight for whatever reason,” Sears said. “I was hoping Nate was going to be a bit more accurate tonight, but you tip your hat to Western Oregon. They did a nice job and got some pressure, but we’ve got to get better—Nate’s got to play better and he will. He’s a tremendous competitor. He’ll bounce back.”

Sac State will look to rebound against the Bulldogs at Fresno State on Saturday, Sept. 10.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

The Good:

Ketteringham set a career high in passing yards with 370, and the performance also placed him in 14th place in school history, according to Hornet Athletics.

Sac State also entered the season with only two receivers who caught more than 17 balls last year. On Saturday, multiple wideouts stepped up. Isiah Hennie had six receptions for 73 yards, senior Cody Demps, in his first collegiate game, had five catches for 70 yards, freshman Johnnie Rucker, also in his first collegiate game, had four receptions and one score, and sophomore Ratliff caught four passes for 57 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

Sophomore and former walk-on defensive back Elijah Wallace caught up to Western Oregon’s Steven Long after it looked as if Long was well on his way to scoring a kickoff-return touchdown as time expired in the first half. Wallace also tied for the team-lead in tackles with eight.

The Bad:

Sac State rushed the ball 35 times, but only gained 95 yards on the ground for an average of 2.6 yards per carry.

Up until their 38-30 loss to Western Oregon, the Hornets hadn’t lost to a non-Division I opponent since suffering defeat to UC Davis — now in Division I with Sac State in the Big Sky conference — in 2002, according to Hornet Athletics.

The Ugly:

The Hornets turned the ball over three times — two interceptions and one lost fumble — while Western Oregon protected the ball to perfection with zero turnovers.

Ketteringham, who threw both of those interceptions, was sacked four times for a total of 26 lost yards as the offensive line failed to hold their ground against the Wolves’ pass rush.

The road will only get tougher for Sac State, as the Hornets will travel to Fresno State (Sept. 10), Weber State (Sept. 17) and Idaho State (Sept. 24) for its next three games before returning home on Oct. 1 to host Montana State at Hornet Stadium.

LAST WORDS

“You can’t let your circumstances dictate your vision, your plan, your principles. Yeah it stings, they all sting, but we know what we have to fix,” said Sears after Sac State was stunned 38-30 at Hornet Stadium. “I’ll look at that film tomorrow and we’re going to be wrapping our head on the wall because we left a lot of plays out there to be made.”