Elijah Tau-Tolliver ran for 51 yards, caught an 8-yard pass and scored two touchdowns for Sacramento State in the first five minutes of last Thursday’s game at San Jose State. The senior had 92 yards on 16 carries at halftime with the Hornets leading 17-14. That was a good night’s work in all of two quarters.
And Tau-Tolliver should have called it a night before the teams returned to the field at CEFCU Stadium. He was of little use to the Hornets in the second half because the coaches apparently forgot he carried the offense in the first. His contribution after halftime was six carries for 18 yards and a 13-yard catch.
One player cannot shoulder the load, but there has to be one or two on a team who have their numbers called continually. Tau-Tolliver has to be that player this season for the Hornets to stand any chance of being Big Sky Conference contenders and making the FCS playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.
Whoever says defense wins championships needs to be introduced to Troy Taylor. The 1986 Cordova High star came home in 2019 to become Sacramento State’s head coach after being the offensive coordinator at Eastern Washington and Utah. He is regarded as one of the most innovative coaches in the country.
Taylor knows every offensive trick in the book and his 30-8 record in three seasons with the Hornets is a reflection of that. He inherited a team that averaged 24 points per game in 2018 and improved that average to 36 in 2019. The Hornets averaged 30 points in 2021 and 43 in Taylor’s final season in 2022. As the scoring averages climbed, the number of pass attempts per season dropped from 524 in 2019 to 433 two years ago. Rushing attempts skyrocketed from 471 in 2019 to a school-record 585 in 2022 because Taylor had a running back whom he believed was capable of carrying the offense.
Cameron Skattebo did just that in 2022, rushing for 1,373 yards on his way to being honored as the Big Sky’s Offensive Player of the Year. Skattebo had yet to win the award when he was featured on a digital billboard along Highway 50 instead of players such as Marte Mapu, Marshel Martin and Pierre Williams.
A superb season made Skattebo a hot commodity in the transfer portal and he went to Arizona State, where he led the Sun Devils in rushing last season with 788 yards. He had nine touchdowns rushing, three receiving and one passing. Skattebo even punted eight times and averaged 42.3 yards per kick.
The 2020 Rio Linda High graduate was also a honorable mention selection to the last All-Pac 12 team.
Taylor’s move to Stanford did not alter Sacramento State’s offensive philosophy. With Bobby Fresques in his first year of calling plays, the Hornets had 498 running attempts to 416 passing. Senior Marcus Fulcher rushed for 590 yards, junior Kaiden Bennett followed with 577 and Tau-Tolliver contributed 387.
Fulcher scored a team-high eight rushing touchdowns. Tau-Tolliver had seven with half as many carries (64) as Fulcher (121). He averaged 23 yards on 18 kickoff returns. His return average in 2022 was 26.6 yards, but that was inflated by a 95-yard return for a touchdown against Richmond in the FCS playoffs.
Tau-Tolliver’s value was discounted in the third quarter with Sacramento State trailing 21-17. Three running plays gave the Hornets a first down at the San Jose State 33-yard line. Three incomplete passes then left Zach Schreiner with the longest field-goal attempt of his career at 51 yards. He missed it.
Sacramento State’s next possession was an 80-yard touchdown drive with the ball going to Tau-Tolliver on three of the first four plays. He gained 14 yards on two runs and had a 13-yard reception. Outside of that, Tau-Tolliver had just four carries for 4 yards in the second half. He could have done much more.
Hopefully the Hornets have learned the lesson and will put it to use at Fresno State on Saturday.
