Back on track: Sacramento State loses star running back, rolls past Southern Utah
Sacramento State lost a key player this week and regrouped in quick order because there was no other option. Now the Hornets enter the biggest game of the Big Sky Conference season next week having suddenly found their offensive footing.
In rushing for a season-high 251 yards behind eight ball carriers, and with Jake Dunniway providing balance with two touchdown passes, Sac State belted Southern Utah 41-20 on Saturday night at Hornet Stadium.
Sac State moved to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the Big Sky, where every victory is cherished because it’s a wide-open conference in which upsets happen, such as No. 7 UC Davis falling at previously winless Idaho State on Saturday. Southern Utah came in at a dangerous 1-4. Next for Sac State is a trip to decades-long powerhouse Montana, ranked sixth in the FCS with an opening win at Washington of the Pac-12 Conference serving notice the FCS has some bruisers as well.
Sac State came into this weekend averaging 22.0 points, having scored a then-season high 30 in a 12-point loss at Cal. The Hornets led 24-7 at the half. Depth was the key here with a bevy of speedy, skilled running backs, which softened the blow of the loss of preseason All-American Elijah Dotson. The senior left the team Thursday for family reasons, with the blessing of his coaches and players who care about the affable Antelope High School graduate.
“Football isn’t a priority for him right now, and we support him, and he’ll graduate this semester,” Sac State coach Troy Taylor said. “He doesn’t want to play football right now. We love Dot. We wish him nothing but success.”
Upon landing the Hornets gig before the 2019 season, Taylor vowed to build a team with depth, with the mantra that everyone has to be ready because you never know when it’ll be your turn. On Saturday, it was B.J. Perkinson’s turn, and the shifty, strong and versatile senior from Los Angeles County took off for a 56-yard gain on his team’s first possession. He rushed for 85 yards on nine carries, Asher O’Hara went for 83 on 11, Marcus Fulcher had 51 on eight, and right on down the line.
Reserve quarterback Kaiden Bennett had a 20-yard gain on his first carry when the game was decided, and Cameron Skattebo had 19 on two carries. Isaiah Gamble had one carry, but the blur-quick 5-foot-4 receiver made it count, a 4-yard carry for a touchdown to open the scoring. Sac State rushed for 171 yards on 21 carries in the first half behind a motivated offensive line under position coach Kris Richardson that came to compete.
“The emphasis was on running the ball, of being more balanced,” Taylor said. “We challenged the offensive line to play better, to be more consistent, because it is a good group. And you’ve got to have depth at running back. It’s a by committee deal. We knew our team was capable of playing like this.”
The coach added about Perkinson, “He’s so smooth when he runs the ball. He’s a great pass protector, a great runner and a great receiver, and he’s very smart. We ask a lot of our running backs. We didn’t do a good enough job earlier this season of getting him the ball. He’s very uniquely talented.”
So are the Hornets’ quarterbacks. Dunniway is the team’s top passer, and he was a key member of the 2019 team that won the program’s first Big Sky championship. O’Hara came aboard in the offseason via transfer from Middle Tennessee State, and he provides the run element that makes any spread offense work.
Taylor goes with both, a two QB strategy that he hasn’t done in all his years of coaching, but it’s working. It works because the quarterbacks like each other, believe in the process, and winning is fun for all when everything clicks.
Dunniway passed for 105 yards and had scoring tosses to Pierre Williams and Devin Gandy. He’s not a runner like O’Hara, who isn’t the passer that Dunniway is. But they’re leaders and competitors. O’Hara dazzled with jumping, soaring touchdown dive of three yards for a 31-7 lead in the third quarter. He had a similar scoring effort at Cal.
Dunniway, for all his gifts, can’t run or jump or soar like that.
“He’s my evil twin,” Dunniway said of O’Hara with a laugh, rubbing his hand across his chin, the best beard on the roster. “My jaw drops at what he can do running. He’s fun to watch. Neither one of us came here for statistics. We’re two guys leading the offense. I pick him up, he picks me up. He’s a great dude. It’s a good feeling.”
Added Taylor, “If it didn’t work, it’d divide the team. It wouldn’t work if they weren’t unbelievable people and team players. I mean that. They root for each other. There’s no animosity. They root for each other. It’s awesome. I’m proud to coach them.”
He also enjoys watching Marte Mapu play defense. The junior had two interceptions to stall Southern Utah drives, a first in his football life, he said. He also sealed Sac State’s 23-21 Big Sky opening win at Idaho State on Sept. 25 with a late interception.
“Our emphasis is to stick together,” he said as a defensive unit, knowing teams will gain yards and will score touchdowns. “We try to get the energy going on defense.”