Local college football: Sacramento State hosts Northern Iowa; UC Davis visits San Diego
Off and running after impressive opening victories, No. 14 UC Davis visits San Diego on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sacramento State plays its home opener against No. 21 Northern Iowa at 6 p.m. at Hornet Stadium.
A moment of silence before each game will recognize the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
UCD arrived in Oklahoma as 23.5-point underdogs but departed with a 19-17 victory over FBS-member Tulsa.
UCD faces San Diego of the Pioneer Football League for the ninth time with the Aggies expecting their eighth victory over the Toreros. Sac State beat Dixie State in Utah 19-7 for its first victory since 2019, having not played in 2020 and in the spring due to the pandemic. The Hornets outgained the Trailblazers 401-213 and dominated time of possession. They now prepare for a Northern Iowa team that is coming off a 16-10 setback to Big 12 member Iowa State on the road.
Hunter Rodrigues of UCD continued his hot spring at Tulsa by passing for a career-best 311 yards and a touchdown to Jared Harrell, who had a personal Aggies best 136 yards receiving. UCD kicker Isaiah Gomez tied a school record with four made field goals. Rodrigues and Gomez, both American River College products, earned Big Sky Conference Offensive and Special teams Player of the Week honors, respectively.
UCD coach Dan Hawkins called Saturday’s effort, “A great win for us.” He led a spirited sing-song chant of the school’s fight song in the locker room after it was over.
A day before kickoff, UCD players and coaches visited the Tulsa community known as Black Wall Street. A century ago, it thrived as a Black economic region before a 1921 white-led mob devastated 35 blocks of the community, burning and looting shops, schools, churches, homes, a library and newspaper offices. It left more than 10,000 homeless and dozens dead.
“It was really an amazing experience going to Black Wall Street, meaningful for our crew, and then to play so well on ESPN and get a win,” Hawkins said this week. “It was unique and special to be uniquely UC Davis.”
San Diego lost its opener to Big Sky member Cal Poly 28-17, though the Toreros outgained Cal Poly 171-44 on the ground. UCD will look to pass against San Diego, which yielded 318 yards and two touchdowns to Cal transfer Spencer Brasch.
Sac State entered its opener with a 3-way battle at quarterback with Middle Tennessee transfer Asher O’Hara earning the nod. He passed for 119 yards and hit All-American tight end Marshel Martin for two touchdowns. O’Hara rushed for 65 yards, and backup Jake Dunniway passed for 74 yards.
Northern Iowa is led by Will McElvain, who passed for 230 yards and a touchdown against Iowa State. The team is coached by Mark Farley, in his 21st season, and an alum of the school. The Panthers have finished in the top five of the FCS seven times and have produced 15 top-25 finishes to go with seven Missouri Valley Football Conference championships.
First downs
▪ UCD’s win at Tulsa was the program’s fourth against a larger FBS opponent in the school’s Division I era, which started in 2007, and seventh all-time. The most-recent wins were over San Jose State in 2010 (14-13) and 2018 (44-38), and there was the 2017 stunner at Stanford in 2005.
▪ UCD’s final game at famed Toomey Field in 2006 was against San Diego, then coached by Jim Harbaugh.
▪ Sac State, playing football since 1954, faces a program for the first time in successive weeks in Northern Iowa.
▪ Sac State entered the weekend unranked but received 40 points in the FCS Stats poll.
▪ Sac State allowed the fewest points in an opener since beating Saint Mary’s 13-6 in overtime on Sept. 1, 2001.
▪ Troy Taylor became the fastest coach in Sac State history to win his 10th game, needing 14 games to do so. Ray Clemons needed 22 games to achieve the feat, doing so in the early 1960s.
No. 14 UC Davis (1-0) at San Diego (0-1)
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
Radio: Sports 1140 KHTK
TV: ESPN+
No. 21 Northern Iowa (0-1) at Sacramento State (1-0)
When: Saturday, 6 p.m.
Radio: ESPN 1320
TV: CW 31, ESPN+
This story was originally published September 10, 2021 at 5:00 AM.