After two touchdown drives and two dominant defensive stops, Sacramento State was riding high with a two-score lead late into the first quarter.
Junior quarterback Cardell Williams handed the ball to sophomore running back Damian Henderson, who exploded into the secondary and left the Central Arkansas defense in the dust for an 85-yard touchdown.
The Go-Go offense set the tone, and the defense held up their end of the bargain, holding the Bears scoreless until the waning seconds of the first half. After a dominant start, Sac State cruised to a comfortable 45-16 win.
“We definitely started with a killer instinct,” head coach Brennan Marion said. “I know there was a panic there early because we didn’t put up 1000 yards the first game and score 50, but our offense has been successful throughout the years by playing basketball on grass. That’s not one guy dominating the ball, but the point guard distributing the ball to all the guys.”
Both Henderson and senior running back Rodney Hammond, Jr. averaged over five yards per attempt behind a much-improved offensive line performance.
“Me and K-Rich are mad right now because we didn’t get 300 yards on the ground,” Marion said. “In the first week, we got smacked in the mouth in the trenches, but ever since then the guys have done a really good job.”
Williams took the reins of the Hornet offense, racking up over 300 all-purpose yards and scoring three touchdowns. His speed and agility gave the Go-Go a dynamic look that ground down the Bears defense. The rushing attack combined for 262 rushing yards for an average of 6.7 yards per carry.
“Cardell is a quarterback that can really run around,” Marion said. “He can make and extend plays with his legs, but when it’s third down and he needs to drop back and pass, he’s also been able to do it. I’m proud of where our quarterbacks are.”
This game was the Go-Go offense fully realized, but the most impressive showing was on the defensive end of the ball.
Sac State combined for eight sacks and 13 tackle-for-losses, their season high and the most in a game for the program since a 2011 matchup against Idaho State.
Sophomore Jayland McGlothen and redshirt sophomore Dylan Hampsten led the Hornets with two and 2 ½ sacks, respectively. McGlothen increased his season total to five sacks, tied for the lead in the Big Sky conference. The pair also led the Big Sky in TFLs, with over five each.
“Coming into the game, we had a great game plan,” Hampsten said. “Our secondary was holding up well, so we knew what we were doing on the D-Line, causing havoc out there.”
In addition to getting to the quarterback, the defense bottled up the Bears’ run game, holding them to just two yards per attempt and the lowest amount of rushing yards this season.
“It all comes down to practice,” Hampsten said. “Every day we’re hitting hard, and we’ve really put the emphasis on stopping the run.”
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With the win, the Hornets improve to 2-2 ahead of the Big Sky season opener against Cal Poly next week, after opening their year with two losses on the road.
“We needed those first two games because they exposed a lot of people that were here just for the glitz and the glamor,” Marion said. “I told the players this week, ‘we’re going to win by addition, subtraction and multiplication here, not division.’ Anybody who’s trying to divide us, we have to get rid of.”
Sac State will have a chance to climb the FBS rankings in the next couple games, with their first three Big Sky games coming against unranked teams before a national TV matchup against Montana in week nine.
“The goal is just to be 1-0 every week,” Marion said. “If we play the right way and do what we’re supposed to do, we could go on a run and be exactly where we want to be at the end of the season.”
Sac State plays Cal Poly at home at 6 p.m on Saturday, Sept. 27.
