Little thought is required for defensive coordinators in the Big Sky Conference to plot a strategy to stop Sacramento State. The Hornets run. Three Big Sky teams have 100 or more rushing attempts than passes.The Hornets are alone in having run the ball 250 more times than they have thrown it.
Sacramento State’s ground game accounts for 70 percent of the 640 offensive calls in 10 games. The Hornets have run the ball 445 times and thrown it 195. Montana State is the only other Big Sky team with 400 rushing attempts. No other Big Sky team has thrown the ball fewer than 250 times.
Such an imbalance would make defensive coordinators and anyone else conclude the Hornets will run the ball whenever and wherever they want. No Big Sky team and just five in the FCS have gambled more on fourth down than first-year head coach Brennan Marion, who has converted 14 of 25 tries.
Sacramento State is averaging 254.3 rushing yards a game to rank first in the Big Sky and third in the FCS. The Hornets have 34 rushing touchdowns and should surpass the 36 scored by the 2022 team. They need 620 rushing yards in their last two games to eclipse the 3,162 by the 2022 team.
Running the ball is music to the ears of offensive linemen. They do not take a step back as they do on passing plays and try to fight off a defensive tackle or end. A running play lets them charge ahead and block whoever is in their way. They initiate the contact instead of waiting for it to arrive.
Nothing makes senior tackle Aidan Meek happier than “running the ball, just hammering it and shoving it down our opponents’ throats. The last few games toward the end of the game, defenses have been calling out our plays like ‘Power Right’ or ‘Inside Zone Left’ and they still can’t stop it. That’s classic.”
First-year head coach Brennan Marion understands why opposing defenses will stack the box with nine players to try to discourage the Hornets from running. All that does is make Marion stick with the ground game because “putting nine guys in the box actually makes our runs more explosive.”
Rodney Hammond Jr. leads the Big Sky with 953 rushing yards. The senior transfer from Pittsburgh should easily become the Hornets’ fourth 1,000-yard rusher since 2018. The 2022 team had two with Cam Skattebo (1,382) and Asher O’Hara (1,003) Elijah Dotson rushed for 1,198 yards in 2018.
This season is the first since 2017 in which the Hornets will have four players finish with at least 350 rushing yards. Running back Damian Henderson II has 536, quarterback Cardell Williams 450 and running back Jaquail Smith 398. Sacramento State had five players with 350 or more in 2017.
Sacramento State has been held to fewer than 200 rushing yards in just three games this season. The Hornets have had 300 or more in three games, including a season-high 397 in a 55-27 victory at Weber State on Oct. 11. They had 376 against Eastern Washington and 349 against Mercyhurst.
Portland State could not stop Sacramento State from running or Williams from throwing in a 52-24 loss last Saturday. Hammond had 191 of the Hornets’ 295 rushing yards and scored two of the five touchdowns on the ground. The Hornets have had four or more rushing touchdowns in six games.
Hammond was named the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. He broke loose for an 87-yard run in the third quarter to put the Hornets in position to score for an 28-14 lead. Hammond scored on a 41-yard run later in the quarter to make it 35-14. He averaged 11.2 yards on 17 carries.
Williams was 8-of-11 for 188 yards and had two touchdown passes in a game for the second time this season. The junior transfer from Tulsa has more rushing touchdowns (10) than passing (nine). That is reminiscent of O’Hara rushing for a team-high 19 touchdowns and throwing for 11 in 2022.
Both of Williams’ scoring passes went to Ernest Campbell, who transferred from Texas A&M as a redshirt freshman. The scores covered 22 and 65 yards. Campbell is averaging 22.8 yards per catch to lead Big Sky players who have at least 20 receptions. Hammond has 30 for 683 yards.
Campbell has a shot at becoming the first Big Sky receiver to average 22 or more yards per catch since Eastern Washington’s Tall Limu-Jones averaged 24.0 in 2019. Cal Poly’s Michael Briscoe led the Big Sky in 2024 by averaging 21.5. The Vacaville High graduate is averaging 18.1 this season.
