‘We want to create anxiety’: Sacramento State football aims to demoralize defenses
Troy Taylor has a plan. He schemes like a mad scientist with a sheepish grin.
The Sacramento State football coach aims to stress every defense his Hornets face, to stretch them, run on them, bomb on them, score on them. Some of it will come in fast-forward action.
This ploy has worked at all of Taylor’s stops, often at a record pace and with championship success: as a coach at Folsom High School, as a play-caller at Eastern Washington of the Big Sky Conference and as offensive coordinator at Utah of the Pac-12. Sacramento State has won the last two Big Sky championships with this model of pass protection, getting the ball to the speedy guys in open space, going, short, medium or long or powering along with the run game. Keep the D guessing and gassed.
“We try to create as much anxiety for a defense as we can, and hopefully, they’ll be exhausted by the end of the game,” Taylor said as the Hornets prepare for Saturday’s season opener at home against Utah Tech.
Sacramento State enters the campaign ranked No. 7 in the FCS, its highest preseason spot since moving to Division I in 1991. The program’s first football team was in 1954. Its first conference championships came in 1964 and 1966 under Ray Clemons with 3 yards and a cloud of cleats and chin straps. Bob Mattos won a league championship in 1986 with a balanced attack, as did John Volek in 1995, but none of those teams were as explosive or as prolific as the last two Hornets teams, which set scores of program offensive records.
Sacramento State returns a wealth of talent on offense to keep pounding away, including 23 lettermen and 14 starters. It starts at quarterback, or quarterbacks, as the Hornets last season dazzled with the 1-2 punch of Asher O’Hara and Jake Dunniway. The team tied a program record with an eight-game win streak in going 9-3 overall. Sacramento State went 8-0 in the Big Sky.
“There’s no substitute for experience,” Taylor said. “We have two quarterbacks with a ton of it. We feel great about what we have. Now we still have to go out and do it.”
O’Hara is the run threat who can pass and Dunniway is the pass threat who can run. They combined to throw for 3,475 yards and 19 touchdowns and rush for 713 and nine. Dunniway had four 300-yard passing efforts last fall, including a career-best 370 in a 12-point, high-scoring loss at Cal.
O’Hara was a first-team All-Big Sky pick in 2021 as an all-purpose player, leading the team with 667 yards rushing and nine scores, some of the vaulting and soaring highlight variety. Both quarterbacks graduated. They’re still back for another run. This 1-2 punch works because the quarterbacks believe in their coach and each other. There is plenty of ability and very little ego.
“Those two blow me away,” Taylor said. “How talented they are, how competitive they are, how unselfish they are. Playing this season shows they love football, enjoy being part of the team, love their teammates, and those are the type of guys we hope to recruit for any position here.”
The quarterbacks have a lot of receiving options. Pierre Williams is fast climbing up the school’s record books as he seeks to become a three-time All-Big Sky selection. Preseason All-American tight end Marshel Martin isn’t your typical tight end at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, but no one can guard him. He has caught 92 passes in two seasons for nearly 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns.
“He’s probably our fastest guy,” Taylor said.
If Martin isn’t the fastest guy then Kaiden Bennett just might be. The sophomore from Folsom High is the team’s third quarterback who will see time on the field because of his burst.
“I’ll be ready,” Bennett said.
Folsom High product Parker Clayton is another option at receiver.
Cameron Skattebo will play at running back after the Rio Linda High School product chugged and sprinted for 520 yards on just 57 carries with six scores, scoring in five consecutive games. Sacramento State also has Marcus Fulcher in the backfield.
“We’re ready for a big year,” Skattebo said. “We have everything here to do well, and we still have a lot to prove.”
The defense under coordinator Andy Thompson figures to again be hard-hitting. It is a unit anchored by Marte Mapu at linebacker. He is a preseason All-American.
“We’re excited, really excited about the season,” Taylor said. “We have good depth, experience and we’re prepared.”
Utah Tech (0-0) at Sacramento State (0-0)
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
On air: CW31 TV, ESPN+, ESPN1320
Quick hits: Utah Tech of St. George, Utah went by Dixie State last season. Sacramento State beat Dixie State, 19-7. ... Utah Tech is coached by former Hornets assistant coach Paul Peterson, in his fourth season with the Trailblazers. ... Former Hornets assistant coach John Hughes is an assistant at Utah Tech. ... The Trailblazers went 1-10 last season and return 11 starters on offense and 10 on defense.