Sacramento State football fell victim to the Montana State Bobcats’ juggernaut offense Saturday under the lights on ESPN2.
In order to have a shot in this one, Sac State had to slow the Montana State rushing attack. The Bobcats ran up and down the field for 345 yards and four touchdowns. That’s the most rushing yards the Hornets have allowed since the 2022 FCS playoff game against Incarnate Word Dec. 9, 2022.
“Seemed like when we had people inside, they ran the ball outside and when we had people outside, they ran the ball inside,” Sac State head coach Andy Thompson said. “It starts with me as a coach, I have to do a better job getting them prepared. They worked their tails off, they gave us everything.”
Sac State’s defense started the game fast, forcing two tackles for loss on the opening drive that forced Montana State to settle for a field goal attempt that junior kicker Brendan Hall missed.
From there, the Hornets would only force one more tackle for loss in the second quarter. This allowed Montana State to stay ahead of the chains and set up easily convertible third downs. The Bobcats converted seven of their 10 third downs and only punted once.
Sac State did an excellent job covering the pass against Montana State, setting aside the lone coverage bust for a touchdown, the Hornets’ secondary had their best game since Texas A&M Commerce.
The Hornets’ secondary was responsible for both of the Hornets’ takeaways. Senior cornerback Dillon Juniel had his first interception of the season off of senior quarterback Sean Chambers and sophomore corner Jalin Speed forced his first career fumble on a kickoff return.
“Definitely something we look forward to in the next game,” senior linebacker Armon Bailey said about the Hornets’ pass defense. “We gotta keep doing that and it’ll be great for us.”
The brighter side of this game for Sac State was their offense. Sophomore running back Elijah Tau-Tolliver came in as relief for an injured junior running back, Ezra Moleni, and immediately made an impact.
Tau-Tolliver exploded for a 52-yard touchdown run that cut the lead to one score early in the third quarter. It was a career day for the young back from Sparks, Nevada, posting 100 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.
“It was good, but gotta come back better next week,” Tau-Tolliver said about his breakout performance.
Throughout the game, the Hornets were able to move the ball efficiently and when the offense was firing on all cylinders, it looked like a rival to Montana State.
The only problem was the miscues added up for the Hornets, like they have all season. One group that struggled was the offensive line that had to be reshuffled yet again due to senior tackle Troy Stiefel missing the game.
They were able to open up lanes in the running game, which allowed Tau-Tolliver and Moleni to have good days. However, they ended with three false starts and a holding penalty.
“Whole offensive line from the ones to the sixes, everyone is ready to go,” Tau-Tolliver said. “That’s not a worry that we have.”
Turnovers didn’t help them either, two interceptions from junior quarterback Kaiden Bennett netted Montana State 14 points. But late in the game, the offense found a way to keep the Hornets in it.
The game truly got away from the Hornets on a third-and-goal when Bennett tried to pitch the ball to freshman running back Zeke Burnett. Burnett couldn’t secure it and recovered his own fumble at the 8-yard-line.
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The Hornets settled for a field goal, and the Bobcats responded with a touchdown to make it an 11-point game. Looking to close that gap late, Sac State fell flat, failing to convert on a fourth-and-7 that would put the game away.
“Our offense had [converted] some fourth downs so I made the decision to go for it,” Thompson said. “I didn’t want to punt and have them drain the clock and not give our offense another down.”
This loss eliminates Sac State from winning their fourth-straight Big Sky championship. Sac State can still make the FCS playoffs, but they’ll need to rattle off some big wins in the latter half of the season.
“We got a lot to play for,” Thompson said. “A lot of season ahead of us. 5-2, we will look at the tape, be accountable like we always do.”
Sac State is back in action at Hornet Stadium Saturday against Idaho State at 6 p.m. for their homecoming game.
