Victory at last: After 637 days without a game, Sacramento State wins opener
.jpg "Sac State head coach Troy Taylor greets his team as they come off the field Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019, during the game against Weber State at Hornet Stadium.")
A tidy 637 days later, a victory.
Sacramento State opened its season Saturday night with a 19-7 victory over Dixie State in St. George, Utah after not having the 2020 season wiped out by the pandemic and opting out of a shortened spring campaign.
After winning the quarterback battle in a neck-and-neck battle with Jake Dunniway and Kaiden Bennett, Asher O’Hara delivered in his first contest in Hornets green. The Middle Tennessee State transfer hit All-America tight end for touchdown strikes of 2 and 11 yards, the second of which gave the Hornets the final score with 2:13 left in the third quarter.
A junior, O’Hara completed 13 of 21 passes for 119 yards, and he rushed 17 times for 84 yards as the Hornets dominated time of possession: 37 minutes, 56 seconds to 22:04.
Sac State knew it would be fine on offense with a wealth of players back for third-year coach Troy Taylor, but the defense was a curiosity. Not here. Under coordinator Andy Thompson, Sac State allowed just 55 yards rushing, allowing just 2.3 yards per carry, and Dixie State passed for 158.
Dixie State is coached by former Sac State assistant coach Paul Peterson.
Sac State’s home opener is Saturday against Northern Iowa. An FCS school like the Hornets, Northern Iowa lost to Iowa State 16-10 in its opener.