Stingers down: Cal Poly stuns Sac State as Hornets are crushed by own mistakes
The opening drive was a piece of work, the “Go-Go” offense in full gear as the FCS-ranked No. 21 Sacramento State Hornets effortlessly marched 75 yards on seven plays for a touchdown.
And then it was a struggle from there on out.
The glow of a two-game winning streak came to a crashing halt on Saturday night as unranked Cal Poly of San Luis Obispo pounced on myriad Sac State mistakes to seize a 32-24 upset at Hornet Stadium in a Big Sky Conference opener in front of 15,016 chilled fans on an overcast, breezy evening.
The fireworks that lit up the sky afterward brightened an otherwise dreary night as the Mustangs turned three first-half Hornets turnovers into 11 points, punctuated by a 23-yard interception return into the end zone by Brian Dukes Jr. The Mustangs punched it in for a two-point conversion as if to suggest that they did not bus some six hours north on Friday just to hang around, giving Cal Poly coach and Yolo County native Paul Wulff his second consecutive triumph over a Hornets program in which he once served as assistant head coach.
In a series that started in 1967, Cal Poly now leads 23-21, including an 11-10 showing at Hornet Stadium. The teams split their last 10 meetings entering Saturday, so it’s been a back-and-forth affair, fitting for any rivalry series.
Why, then, do the Hornets collectively feel as if their helmets got kicked in? Because of how they lost after impressing in victories over Mercyhurst of Pennsylvania on Sept. 13 and last week over Central Arkansas when the offense electrified with more than 600 yards of offense behind Tulsa transfer quarterback Cardell Williams.
Williams had his moments against Cal Poly, good and brutal, in passing for 164 yards and hitting Ernest Campbell for a 62-yard scoring strike to pull to within 18-14 early in the second quarter.
Williams also ran for a touchdown, but the junior was intercepted three times in the first half and was not able to get his team into the end zone late in the game.
That’s football, coaches and players will say, and sometimes it stings. Rodney Hammond Jr. rushed for 105 yards for Sac State, and Damian Henderson II went for 93 as the Hornets churned out 230 yards, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the passing game.
“Honestly, our quarterback had a rough game,” Hornets coach Brennan Marion said after his team dropped to 2-3, adding that 10 penalties stalled too many drives. “You can’t overcome that. So we’ll have to continue to get our guys better to play, and we can’t turn the ball over. We can’t have it. We couldn’t overcome the turnovers. We have to play error-free football to have a chance to win the Big Sky.”
In addition, Sac State players dropped passes and missed tackles, fundamental things that coaches stress cannot happen.
Still, Marion expressed confidence in Williams, who took over for opening-night starter Jaden Rashada after the Georgia transfer was knocked out of the 20-17 loss at FBS-level Nevada on Sept. 6. Williams nearly won that game for the Hornets, and he started the last two games, though Rashada, like any backup, is on standby.
Hornets will stick with QB
Rashada was inserted in the final, frantic seconds against Cal Poly in hopes of a big break that did not happen. Marion said his team will continue to back Williams with a bye week coming for everyone, to reassess and regroup in a sport big on hard knocks and bounce backs.
“It’s unfortunate for a kid who works so hard and gives his absolute all every day,” Marion said of Williams. “I can’t remember the last time he had a turnover in practice. I mean, he does the right thing every day. He shows up every day. He’s a 5 a.m. guy who stays late, does everything that he’s coached to do, so it was unfortunate that he had a rough game. We’ll rally around him, and it’s just part of the game sometimes.”
Bo Kelly passed for 203 yards and two touchdowns to Jordan Garrison, and Tyrei Washington rushed 22 times for 113 yards and a touchdown for Cal Poly. The Mustangs moved to 3-2 in matching their victory total in 2023 and 2024 with a chance to stun another Big Sky heavy next week in FCS No. 9 UC Davis.
Junior linebacker Mikey D’Amato had 19 tackles for Cal Poly. Starting Mustangs defensive tackle Bobby Piland of Rocklin High School in Placer County had four tackles.
Sac State outgained Cal Poly in yards 426-381, and the Hornets had more first downs (20-16), but Cal Poly had no turnovers and had half as many penalties as the Hornets.
The cut-throat nature of football includes a what-have-you-done-lately mantra. The Hornets now face that. The Hornets return to action Oct. 11 at Weber State in Utah and next have a home game Oct. 16 against Northern Colorado, which is homecoming night.
“In our sport, there’s just a short amount of games,” Marion said. “In every other sport, basketball and baseball, failure is allowed (because of the amount of games played). It’s learning lessons. In football, it’s the world ending if you don’t win every single game. For (Williams), we just have to go back to work. He’ll show up, and he’ll do what he needs to do, and we’ll give him another opportunity to go out and prove himself.”
Sac State safety Koa Akui said his team has to get back to the basics of fundamentals, including tackling, and that the team’s goal still remain, including competing for the Big Sky crown.
“Football is football, you win and you lose,” he said. “We didn’t give enough. We’re keeping our heads up. There’s a lot more games to play. It’s a learning curve right now.”
He added, “We have full faith in what the coaches do, what they want. They know more than us. We put our trust in them. We lost our first two games and responded. This team is big on overcoming adversity. This is a bump in the road.”
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 10:57 PM.