Sacramento State kept Cal McGough busy in the first half at Fresno State last Saturday. Five of the Hornets’ first seven possessions ended with punts, so the Australian had plenty of opportunities to show what he can do. And the junior did that by averaging 45.6 yards on seven punts in the game.
McGough tied his career high for punts in a game. He also had seven last year in a 31-7 loss at Montana, which won the Big Sky Conference and reached the FCS championship game. His seven last week were against an FBS team in a 46-30 loss. Fresno State is 4-0 against Sacramento State.
At least one player was pleased with himself at halftime. Sacramento State was lucky to trail 25-10 after committing three turnovers and allowing two touchdowns of 75 or more yards in the first half. The Hornets, meanwhile, did not gain more than 20 yards on a possession until the 10th.
That possession lasted all of two plays. A 2-yard run by Elijah Tau-Tolliver was followed by Kaiden Bennett tossing a 78-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jared Gipson. McGough returned to the field after Gipson scored to fulfill his duty as the holder for Zach Schreiner’s extra-point kick.
Momentum was on Sacramento State’s side for the first time and the Hornets took advantage of it on their ensuing possession. Bennett completed two passes for 45 yards and had an 11-yard run as the Hornets covered 60 yards in just four plays for a first down at the Fresno State 19-yard line.
The drive was for naught, however, when Tau-Tolliver fumbled after a 12-yard run. Even though the Hornets trailed by 15 points at the break, their offense seemed to have figured out how to move the ball against the Bulldogs. That continued after Sacramento State received the second-half kickoff.
Carson Conklin spelled Bennett and directed a 75-yard touchdown drive by completing all five of his passes for 72 yards. The redshirt freshman capped it with a 13-yard scoring pass to running back Ezra Moleni. The Bulldogs had a game on their hands after leading by as many as 22 points.
Fresno State then went three and out to give the ball back to Sacramento State with 10:49 to go in the third quarter. The Bulldogs were on their heels with the Hornets having gone at least 72 yards in three of their last four possessions. Sacramento State needed to do it one more time to get even.
That time did not come until it was too late, however. Sacramento State suddenly ran out of gas on offense, punting after managing 5 yards on three plays. Fresno State spelled relief for a stadium of frustrated fans by going 75 yards in 13 plays to score and restore the halftime margin of 15 points.
Curron Borders muffed the ensuing kickoff at the 3-yard line, but Moleni prevented a catastrophe by recovering the ball at the 11. The Hornets could not escape the bad field position, however. Tau-Tolliver was stopped for a 1-yard loss and two incompletions prompted a call for McCough to punt.
Fresno State got the ball at the 50 and did not stay there for long. Mac Dalena caught a 41-yard pass from Mikey Keene on first down and the Bulldogs scored three plays later to lead again by 22 points. All two touchdowns by Sacramento State in the fourth quarter did was make the statistics look better.
Sacramento State has lost the first two games of a season for the first time since 2016, when the second loss was also to Fresno State. Another test awaits the Hornets against Nicholls in a battle of 0-2 teams Saturday night. The Hornets are No. 11 in the latest FCS rankings. The Colonels are No. 24.
