PREVIEW: Sac State football team searches for consistency

Hornets poised to end four-game losing streak

Shaun Holkko, Social Media editor|October 26, 2018

Alex Daniels - The State Hornet

Sac State takes the field on Oct. 20 against North Dakota. The Hornets will host Portland State Saturday at 6 p.m.

The Sacramento State football team isn’t having the season that was widely expected, but with four games left, they are looking to find consistency to finish the season strong.

The Hornets (2-5, 0-4 Big Sky Conference) are currently on a four-game losing streak and have given up over 40 points a game during the skid.

“This season is hard to explain,” said sophomore running back Elijah Dotson. “We weren’t expecting anything that has been happening this season. It’s a tough pill to swallow but we have to get through it, just keep playing and be ready.”

Sac State has been affected by injuries all year long with key players like seniors quarterback Kevin Thomson, wide receiver Andre Lindsey and defensive back Dre Terrell, missing significant time to due injuries this season.

Thomson injured his back two weeks ago in a 48-27 loss at Southern Utah and was replaced by senior Wyatt Clapper. Lindsey has a broken wrist and is out for the remainder of the season. Terrell has been in-and-out of action and limited in recent weeks with a groin injury.

Head coach Jody Sears has had to plug in bench players as substitutes for injured starters frequently this season as nine opening day starters have missed time due to injuries.

“Anytime you’re going through trials or adversity, I feel that there is a silver lining in there as a coach,” Sears said. “We need to go play good football, all three phases in tune.

”I don’t feel like we’ve done that, and that’s probably the only thing that I am disappointed in. Not for any lack of effort, to me it’s the consistency of execution. We have to continue to work on that.”

The Hornets defense has also struggled this season due to injuries and inconsistency. The defense has allowed an average of 33 points and 468 yards per game to opponents.

Sac State has given up an average of 278.1 yards on the ground. The lack of a rush defense is attributed to missed tackles, according to junior defensive back Caelan Barnes.

“First of all, we have to tackle better, tackling has been our problem,” Barnes said. “We’ve got to shoot through the hips and keep our eyes low.”

“It all comes down to practice, we have to finish in practice,” Dotson said. “We aren’t finishing games and we aren’t mentally tough. We have the talent to do it but we have to be mentally tough about finishing all these games.”

Dotson has been the one bright spot for Sac State in the injury-riddled season. He has rushed for over 100 yards in four straight games, the first Hornet to do so since Jordan Robinson in 2016. Dotson averages 125 rushing yards per game which ranks seventh in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and second in the Big Sky.

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Sac State’s opponent, the Portland State Vikings (3-4, 2-2 Big Sky conference) are currently on a two-game win streaking coming off wins against Big Sky rivals Montana and Northern Colorado.

“Portland is a very well-coached team,” Sears said. “They bring a level of physically upfront on both sides of the ball, really improving the past couple years. Defensively, good ol’ Payam Saadat, the defensive coordinator, is going to get after us and try to bring some pressure and play some man free.”

The Vikings are having a much-improved season after going winless last year. Portland State will be coming for revenge as they narrowly lost to the Hornets, 42-35, the last time they were in Sacramento in 2016.

The Hornets look to end their four-game losing streak with a win Saturday against Portland State at 6 p.m. at Hornet Stadium.