The Sacramento State football team has started the season struggling with a 2-3 overall record and an 0-2 Big Sky record after falling to Cal Poly on Saturday.

The Hornets two wins were obtained against St. Francis of Illinois and the second win was against a winless University of Northern Colorado.

“We can turn the season around by just executing,” said sophomore running back Elijah Dotson. “This isn’t how we wanted to start the season. We had higher expectations. Our goals haven’t changed. We have the same expectation to run the ball and stop the run.”

The defense has struggled to stop the run this season giving up 240 rushing yards a game.

“We have to put our kids in better position to make plays,” said Jody Sears, Sac State head football coach.

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They have been without senior All-Big Sky Conference first team defensive end George Obinna since the opening game of the season and he is out for an undetermined amount of time.

“When one guy goes down, the show still goes on, so guys will have to step up to fulfill his role,” said senior defensive back Immanuel Anderson.

Defensively, the Hornets are allowing an average of 447 yards per game, but their passing defense ranks second in the conference with average yards allowed per game.

The defensive backfield is led by Anderson and senior defensive back Mister Harriel. Anderson leads the team with 41 tackles while Harriel leads the team with two interceptions.

Sophomore defensive lineman Elijah Chambers also had an impact defensively with his pass rushing ability, getting 4.5 sacks so far this season.

Offensively, the Hornets have shown they are capable of being explosive by scoring an average of 28.4 points per game and an average of 460.2 yards a game.

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Dotson has helped the offense achieve those numbers both on the ground, and being a frequent recipient of a Kevin Thomson pass. Dotson has a combined 668 yards which accounts for 29.9 percent of the total yards the Hornets have gained offensively.

“We can’t leave plays on the field,” Dotson said. “Offensively we have been doing a pretty good job, but we can’t depend on the defense to make the stops. When we get in the red-zone we have to score every single time.”

The Hornets will have a chance to turn their season around on Oct. 13 at Southern Utah University.