Jacob Edmonds was on the field Saturday night at the bitter end for Weber State. The 2023 Vacaville High graduate plays on the field-goal and PAT units for the Wildcats, so he was blocking when Kyle Thompson missed a 27-yard field goal in the second overtime to give the Hornets a wild 51-48 win.
Thompson’s 21-yard field goal with four seconds left in regulation sen the game into overtime. Each scored a touchdown in the first overtime. Zach Schreiber’s 36-yard field goal put the Hornets ahead in the second overtime, so the Wildcats could have won with a touchdown or tied it with a field goal.
Sacramento State salvaged its season with its first Big Sky Conference victory after an 0-2 start. The Hornets appeared to have the game in hand with a 41-24 lead in the third quarter. And they had an opportunity to put the Wildcats away after driving to Weber State’s 8-yard line early in the fourth.
Elijah Tau-Tolliver had already run for three touchdowns, so it was not surprising that he got the ball on first-and goal. He ran right and stopped to throw the first pass of his career. Hopefully it will be the last. His throw across the field to quarterback Carson Conklin had more hang time than a punt.
Weber State cornerback Frankie Edwards welcomed the ball with open arms and dashed 95 yards to score. A holding penalty against the Hornets on the ensuing kickoff negated Michael Johnson’s 40-yard return and put Sacramento State at the 14. They only reached the 18 before having to punt.
The Wildcats were back in business after Bird Butler’s 20-yard punt return. They scored two plays later when wide receiver Jacob Sharp caught his third touchdown pass of the night. The senior from Bethel High in Vallejo finished with nine catches for 119 yards and the second hat trick of his career.
Sharp has a career-high eight touchdown receptions this season and is tied for the Big Sky lead with Efton Chism III of Eastern Washington. Chism had 15 receptions for 170 yards and a touchdown in the Eagles’on 48-38 loss to UC Davis. The senior is the Big Sky leader in receptions (69) and receiving yards (750).
UC Davis celebrated on the red turf in Cheney after beating Eastern Washington for the first time in 12 meetings. The Aggies are tied with Montana State atop the Big Sky at 4-0 and are riding a seven-game winning streak. The Bobcats are 7-1 against the Aggies and will travel to UC Davis on Nov. 19.
The difference between UC Davis beating Eastern Washington and Sacramento State losing 35-28 on Oct. 12 was rushing yards allowed. The Aggies limited the Eagles to 127 yards, well below Eastern Washington’s average of 194.4. The Hornets yielded 286 to the Eagles and then 316 to Weber State.
Damon Bankston ran for a career-high 234 yards and a touchdown for Weber State. Tau-Tolliver also set a career high with 141 yards. On all three of his touchdowns, including a 70-yard dash in the second quarter, Tau-Tolliver took a direct snap after quarterback Carson Conklin went in motion.
Sacramento State had not allowed a total of 600 or more rushing yards in consecutive games since 2018 against Montana (351) and Cal Poly (462). The Hornets allowed an average of 56.5 yards per game in the first six games and Fresno State was the only opponent to gain more than 100 with 155.
The Hornets will travel to Idaho State this week. Conklin made his debut as a true freshman against the Bengals in 2023, throwing for 235 yards and three touchdowns in a 51-16 win. He threw for three scores Saturday night and set career highs for attempts (47), completions (32) and yards (357).
Conklin has 16 touchdown passes to rank third in the Big Sky. UC Davis senior Miles Hastings is the leader in touchdowns with 20 and passing yards (2,515). With four games remaining and an average of 314.4 yards per game, Hastings is on pace to eclipse his career high of 3,048 yards in 2022.
