After posting another confidence-building win over Central Arkansas, Sacramento State looks to open Big Sky conference play against Cal Poly at home on Saturday.
The schools are familiar with each other in football, as they have battled 43 times across 60 years. The series is very contested with the Hornets winning 21 of those matches, but the Hornets are looking for some payback after losing last year’s matchup 23-26.
Sac State had some Go-Go magic brewing in Hornet Stadium last weekend, as the offense had over 600 yards in its recent 45-16 win over Central Arkansas. The yardage came in bunches, with 340 yards in the air split between quarterbacks junior Cardell Williams and redshirt sophomore Jaden Rashada.
The remaining yards came from the backfield, with running backs senior Rodney Hammond, Jr. and sophomore Damian Henderson II carrying the load and Williams contributing, as well.
Defensively, the unit finished with 8 sacks and only allowed two yards per carry, both achieving season highs.
RELATED: Running full speed ahead: the Hornets focus next on the Bears
The challengers, the Cal Poly Mustangs, lost their most recent game to Stephen F. Austin, falling 35-17. The Mustangs had 354 total yards but had three turnovers that decided the game.
The Hornets have a test coming into this game, as head coach Brennan Marion laid down the philosophy he wants his team to execute. .
“We have to raise our standard and raise our level throughout the season,” Marion said. “We’re not anywhere close to where we want to be. The goal is to remain confident while overcoming adversities.”
Becoming more durable, strong and working together have been goals the Hornet defense has keyed in on.
“Coming from the first two weeks of the season to the second two weeks, we have really developed as a defense,” sophomore linebacker Jayland McGlothen said. “We started playing more together, just trying to be a little more valid in our approach.”
In this iteration of the Go-Go offense, the running backs are finding a lot of success and look to continue that as the season progresses.
“We’ve found our identity. We just know it’s only going to get better,” Hammond said. “We got a strong backfield, and we’re going to show you what we have each week.”
Keys to the game
The Hornets will need to keep progressing on offense. In the past two games, the offense has been cooking, with over 1200 yards combined in its last two games.
The Go-Go is finally showing its true potential, and to sustain it, the offense has to outgain its opponents in the run game. The team that controls the line of scrimmage wins the game 96% of time, according to CBS sports.
On the defensive side, not letting up big plays and stopping the run will be key.
In both the Hornets’ wins this season, they have stopped teams from getting over 100 yards rushing. In the first two games of the season – against South Dakota State and Nevada – the opposite happened, giving the opponents north of 240 rushing yards in each game.
Applying pressure in the backfield will be huge as well, with the Hornets leading the nation with 18 sacks in both the FCS and FBS. Also in this game specifically, creating turnovers will be an emphasis.
Cal Poly’s starter was injured early in last week’s game, causing the Mustangs rotated quarterbacks that resulted in three turnovers.
“The goal for us is to play our absolute best game; play with great effort, energy and violence out there and make plays,’’ Marion said.
Sac State faces Cal Poly at Hornet Stadium on Saturday at 6 p.m.
