Sacramento State facing Fresno State in first back-to-back FBS games in program history
For all of the benefits of college football, the game can be equal parts elation, frustration and hurt. The Sacramento State Hornets understand this.
A ranked FCS program for most every week since its breakthrough season of 2019, Sacramento State is rated No. 8 in two FCS polls this week. The Hornets are a contender to win the program’s fourth Big Sky Conference championship in six seasons. FCS polls do not drop teams much if at all when facing upper-division FBS programs, particularly if they show well.
The Hornets led at San Jose State after three quarters last week in a season opener before the wheels fell off, allowing the Spartans to score the final 21 points of a game they would win, 42-24. There isn’t much time to lick the wounds as Sacramento State prepares for another FBS team with Saturday night’s visit to Fresno State.
This marks the first time in the 70-year history of the Sacramento State program that the Hornets play FBS teams in successive weeks.
The hurt was two-fold for the Hornets from last week. Michael Johnson was flattened on an early fourth-quarter kickoff return on a brutal but legal hit. He was on the turf for several long, tense moments as trainers and medical personnel tended to him. The junior from Oxnard was taken away by stretcher to a waiting ambulance, though he was able to talk to Hornets coach Andy Thompson and move his arms.
Johnson was released from a San Jose hospital later that night. The injury gut-punched the Hornets, who lost all their momentum as the Spartans owned the final quarter.
“Michael’s doing well, walking around, and he’ll make a full recovery,” Thompson told The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday. “It was a scary thing, and they did a great job with all the precautions to make sure his neck was OK. With that big of a delay in the game, all of us worried about a teammate, it was hard. I talked to Mike, but for the rest of the guys for awhile, it was unknown how he was. We’re glad he’s feeling better.”
Thompson said the Hornets against San Jose State learned they could run the ball and stop the run, that turnovers crippled them and that the correctable mistakes have to be corrected or Fresno State could have a field day.
“We look back and we had a lot of execution errs, which we can improve on,” Thompson said. “We saw glimpses of what we can do. The fourth quarter was not our best. We have to play four quarters, and that’s a huge emphasis this week.”
Tau-Tolliver ran with ‘attitude’
Elijah Tau-Tolliver earned the starting running back spot after a competitive fall camp that included Erza Moleni, Zeke Burnett of Elk Grove High School and Curron Borders of Antelope High. The leading rusher last season was graduated senior Marcus Fulcher.
A 6-foot-1, 205-pound junior from Sparks, Nevada., Tau-Tolliver was already an all-purpose standout for the Hornets with 1,719 combined yards rushing, receiving and on kick returns entering this season. He rushed for a Hornets’ career-best 110 yards and two first-half touchdowns against San Jose State.
Last season, Tau-Tolliver rushed for 100 yards against Montana State, including a 53-yard score. He scored a rushing touchdown in Sacramento State’s 30-23 win at Stanford. As a redshirt freshman in a 2022 playoff game against Richmond, Tau-Tolliver had a 95-yard kickoff return touchdown in a 38-31 victory.
Tau-Tolliver after the San Jose State game said he was pleased with his effort but was quick to remind that he could have been better, including blocking. He already sounded like a leader.
“He did a great job running the ball (at San Jose State), running with aggressiveness, and he broke tackles and really willed our team in the first half,” Thompson said. “He’s really worked hard. He did a great job running with attitude and effort.”
Sacramento State (0-1) at Fresno State (0-1)
When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
On air: ESPN 1320 AM, KMAX 31 TV
Of note: Fresno State was within a score for much of its opener at defending national champion and preseason No. 8 Michigan, which pulled away for a 30-10 home victory. ... Mikey Keene passed for 235 yards and a touchdown for Fresno State. He is a preseason All-Mountain West selection, having passed for 2,976 yards and 24 TDs in 2023. ... Tim Skipper is Fresno State’s first-year head coach, taking over for longtime coach Jeff Tedford. Skipper was the program’s defensive coordinator before the sudden, health-related retirement of Tedford over the summer. ... Sac State limited San Jose State to 63 yards rushing despite being shorthanded due to injuries. ... Hornets starting quarterback Kaiden Bennett left the San Jose State game for a series after taking a hard hit to his left, non-throwing shoulder but will play this week. ... Fresno State leads the all-time series 4-0. ... Fresno State beat Sacramento State 24-7 in 1972, 24-3 in 2007, 31-3 in 2016 and 30-24 in 2019. ... Sac State had its 24-game winning streak when leading at the half halted at San Jose State. ... The Hornets also had a streak of 30 consecutive games won when leading after three quarters end against the Spartans.