With seven minutes on the clock and holding a 3-point lead, Sacramento State lined up to attempt a fourth and 8 from UC Davis’ 39-yard line.
The Hornets could have opted to punt, pinning the Aggies deep in their own territory and trusting their defense, but head coach Brennan Marion stayed with his aggressive approach.
Junior quarterback Cardell Williams dropped back to throw, spotting junior wideout Jace Wilson downfield. Williams had time but missed his target by a wide margin, and the Hornets gave the ball back to the Aggies at midfield.
On the following play, Sac State committed a roughing the passer penalty. After a short yard gain, Aggies redshirt freshman quarterback Caden Pinnick delivered a 30-yard bomb to senior running back Samuel Gbatu, Jr. for what would be the game-winning touchdown.
“Our passing game has hurt us all season,” Marion said. “When you play ranked opponents, you have to be able to pass the ball better than we have.”
Williams only completed three passes for a total of 17 yards and opened the fourth quarter with an interception. On the season, Williams completed 62.5% of his passes, posting a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 10:7.
After the Davis touchdown, the Hornets had six minutes to score four points. Had sophomore kicker Grant Meadors made his extra point from early in the third quarter, Sac State could have settled for a game-tying field goal, but they needed to get into the Davis end zone.
With six minutes and two timeouts to burn, Marion dialed up 14 consecutive run plays.
Play after play, the Hornet backs pummeled the Aggie interior, looking for the explosive play that they’d managed to find all season. It never came.
The lone pass attempt came on fourth and 8, and once again, Williams dropped back and looked towards redshirt freshman Ernest Campbell on a midrange curl.
The throw fell far short, sealing the loss for the Hornets, 31-27.
“We stayed on script,” UC Davis head coach Tim Plough said. “If you’ve got a one-dimensional team that’s going to run the football that many times, you’ve got to be able to come back every play.”
During the postgame interview, the Causeway Classic trophy was placed on the press conference table.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I really wanted to win the game,” Plough said. “You know, I didn’t want to be the guy that lost the last Causeway ever.”
Davis has suffered with injuries all season, including a season-ender to All-American defensive back Rex Connors, but the Aggies have battled through.
“They find ways to get things done,” Plough said. “They overcome adversity every week. Other teams have players that they’re paying, but we have guys that compete.”
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Davis dominated the game at first, keeping their quarterback clean and allowing him to carve up the Sac State defense. The Hornets only managed a single sack, struggling to make Pinnick feel the pressure.
Pinnick drove the Aggies downfield. He then let junior running back Jordan Fisher do the dirty work at the goal line, scoring a pair to take an early 14-0 lead.
Sac State’s offense roared to life in the second quarter, grinding the Aggies’ defense down with their rushing attack. Led by senior running back Jamar Curtis, who had been sidelined since the third game with torn ligaments in his ankle, the Hornets went on a methodical drive that placed the Hornets on the Aggie goal line.
From there, senior running back Rodney Hammond, Jr. punched in a rushing touchdown to cut the deficit to 14-7.
On Davis’ next drive, Pinnick held the ball too long and was stripped by senior edge rusher Xavier Williams. The ball was scooped up by junior safety Koa Akui, and the Hornets were handed a game-tying opportunity in the Aggie red zone.
Williams would take the initiative, keeping the ball and scoring the touchdown himself, briefly tying the game at 14 before a late field goal sent the Aggies into halftime with a 17-14 lead.
After exiting halftime with two straight scoring drives, the Hornets would score on back-to-back drives to open the second half and climb to a 27-17 lead, dominating the third quarter.
In the fourth, it was a different story. Sequentially, the Aggies figured out how to outmaneuver the Hornets on both sides of the ball, ripping their defense to shreds and shutting down their offense.
Davis opened the quarter with a touchdown, intercepted Williams, and then turned the Hornets over on downs.
Finishing the season at 7-5, Sac State’s odds at securing a Football Championship Subdivision Playoff berth are slim.
Northern Arizona, who Sac State was tied with for fourth place in the Big Sky, lost to Weber State in their final game. Both teams are tied in overall record, so if the FCS committee decides to let a fourth team from the Big Sky into the playoffs, it’ll come down to the Lumberjacks’ and Hornets’ respective schedules.
Neither team secured a win against a ranked opponent, so the distinction may come down to who has the best or worst losses. Northern Arizona dropped the finale to a weak Weber State and lost an overtime game with Idaho earlier in the season. Sac State managed to beat both teams.
The Hornets lost to Cal Poly, whom the Lumberjacks managed to beat last week.
Sac State will find out whether their season is over or if they have playoff football to look forward to on Selection Sunday on Nov. 23.
“I pray that the Big Sky fights for us,” Marion said. “I believe that our football team will go to the playoffs and make a run.”
