College football: Fourth-ranked Sacramento State nabs record-setting start with win

The longest Division l football streak in the country lives.

Despite a slow start on offense which included two early four-and-outs, No. 4 Sacramento State beat Northern Colorado 55-7 to improve to 5-0 Saturday night. The Hornets are enjoying their best start in the Division-l era. The 1991 team started 6-0 while playing in Division ll.

And there’s this: Sacramento State hasn’t trailed in a game this season, the only team in Division I that can say that.

“That was our defense,” coach Troy Taylor said. “We didn’t play well the first two times we got the ball. ... Our defense was unbelievable at controlling the game. Playing with the lead is a big deal. At some point you’re going to be behind, I think we are pretty good when we get a lead.”

Quarterback Jake Dunniway threw for 258 yards and had a 45-yard strike to Marshel Martin and an 11-yard touchdown to Parker Clayton. Martin finished with six catches for 103 yards and Clayton added 75 yards receiving. Kyle Sentkowski connected on both of his field goals from 41 and 48 yards.

“I love the offense,” Martin said. “It’s a system and if you stick to the system you will (succeed).”

All offensive starters were taken out in the third quarter. That opened the door for backup quarterback Kaiden Bennett to get extended snaps. Bennett finished with 59 yards rushing and the Hornets’ other backup quarterback, Dorian Hale, scored a 6-yard touchdown late in the fourth.

Hornets running back Cameron Skattebo continued his remarkable season, rushing for 124 yards and added a 17-yard touchdown. It marked Skattebo’s third 100-yard game of the season and fifth of his career. Marcus Fulcher rushed for two scores and Asher O’Hara added a 5-yard touchdown.

The Hornets’ defense is on a remarkable run. The group held Northern Colorado scoreless in the first half and have now pitched a shutout in 34 different quarters since the start of last season. Sac State outgained UNC 312-32 in the first half and finished with 622 yards of offense.

Sacramento State has trailed for a total 14 seconds in the regular season dating back to Nov. 13 of last year. The Hornets went down 7-6 on the night before returning the ensuing kickoff for six.

Cameron Broussard, from Folsom, had his first career interception and Marte Mapu and Armon Bailey led the team in tackles with four each. Northern Colorado finished with only 175 yards of offense.

“It was pretty special,” Broussard said. “Just have to keep going after that. We are doing good on defense right now.”

Northern Colorado running back Elijah Dotson, who started his career at Sacramento State, returned to the capital city. Dotson graduated from Antelope High School in 2017 and spent the first four seasons of his career with the Hornets. He left the school ranked seventh in school career history in rushing yards with 2,466.

Dotson rushed 14 times for 52 yards and had a 2-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He also added four catches for 23 yards. He left the Sac State program after four games last season, which allowed him to redshirt and play his final season for the Bears.

“We love Dot and we never wanted him to leave,” Taylor said. “Once the game starts, they’re just regular players. ... We wish just like we did before Dot nothing but success.”

Sac State plays in Cheney, Washington, next Saturday against No. 21 Eastern Washington. It will be the first ranked opponent the Hornets have played this season. The Hornets follow that with home games against Montana and Idaho the following two weeks.

“Our guys have played those stretches,” Taylor said. “You can only play one at a time. We don’t look ahead. We know we have Eastern Washington next and they’re a really good football team. Really well-coached and a great environment to play in. We are really excited.”

This story was originally published October 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.