# 2022 Sacramento State Hornets football team

The 2022 Sacramento State Hornets football team represented California State University, Sacramento as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by third-year head coach Troy Taylor, the Hornets played their home games on campus at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California.
This season set multiple milestones for Sac State. They beat an FBS team for the first time since 2012 with a 41–10 victory over Colorado State. The Hornets claimed their best start to a season in school history when they won their seventh game against Montana 31–24 in overtime, and completed their first perfect regular season in school history following a 27–21 victory over UC Davis. They won their first ever FCS playoff game with a 38–31 win over Richmond. However, in the highest-scoring game in FCS playoff history, they were upset by Incarnate Word in the quarterfinals, 66–63.
After the season in December, Taylor left for Stanford University and defensive coordinator Andy Thompson was promoted to head coach for 2023.

## Preseason
### Polls

On July 25, 2022, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Hornets were predicted to finish second in the Big Sky by the coaches and third by the media.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Montana | 111 (3) |
| 2 | Sacramento State | 110 (4) |
| 3 | Montana State | 109 (5) |
| 4 | Weber State | 84 |
| 5 | UC Davis | 82 |
| 6 | Eastern Washington | 76 |
| 7 | Northern Arizona | 62 |
| 8 | Idaho | 45 |
| 9 | Portland State | 42 |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 33 |
| T-11 | Idaho State | 19 |
| T-11 | Northern Colorado | 19 |
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Montana | 356 (14) |
| 2 | Montana State | 352 (13) |
| 3 | Sacramento State | 335 (4) |
| 4 | Weber State | 261 |
| 5 | UC Davis | 255 (1) |
| 6 | Eastern Washington | 236 |
| 7 | Northern Arizona | 191 |
| 8 | Portland State | 146 |
| 9 | Idaho | 142 |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 85 |
| 11 | Northern Colorado | 71 |
| 12 | Idaho State | 66 |

### Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Hornets had five players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 7:30 p.m. | Utah Tech* | No. 7 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | KMAX/ESPN+ | W 56–33 | 10,257 |
| September 17 | 2:00 p.m. | at Northern Iowa* | No. 8 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | ESPN+ | W 37–21 | 8,818 |
| September 24 | 1:00 p.m. | at Colorado State* | No. 7 | Canvas StadiumFort Collins, CO | | W 41–10 | 25,445 |
| October 1 | 5:00 p.m. | at Cal Poly | No. 5 | Alex G. Spanos StadiumSan Luis Obispo, CA | ESPN+ | W 49–21 | 8,184 |
| October 8 | 6:00 p.m. | Northern Colorado | No. 5 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | KMAX/ESPN+ | W 55–7 | 11,013 |
| October 15 | 4:00 p.m. | at Eastern Washington | No. 5 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | ESPN+ | W 52–28 | 6,276 |
| October 22 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 7 Montana | No. 2 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | ESPN2 | W 31–24 $^{OT}$ | 15,927 |
| October 29 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 14 Idaho | No. 2 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | KMAX/ESPN+ | W 31–28 | 17,241 |
| November 5 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 5 Weber State | No. 2 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | ESPN+ | W 33–30 | 7,152 |
| November 11 | 7:00 p.m. | at Portland State | No. 2 | Hillsboro StadiumHillsboro, OR | ESPN+ | W 45–17 | 2,891 |
| November 19 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 24 UC Davis | No. 2 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA (Causeway Classic) | KMAX/ESPN+ | W 27–21 | 23,073 |
| December 3 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 13 Richmond | No. 2 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN+ | W 38–31 | 9,136 |
| December 9 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 5 Incarnate Word | No. 2 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | ESPN+ | L 63–66 | 13,722 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Pacific time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Utah Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Trailblazers | 0 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 33 |
| No. 7 Hornets | 21 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 56 |

### At Northern Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 8 Hornets | 7 | 17 | 3 | 10 | 37 |
| Panthers | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |

### At Colorado State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 7 Hornets | 7 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 41 |
| Rams | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### At Cal Poly

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Hornets | 7 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 49 |
| Mustangs | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |

### Northern Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 5 Hornets | 7 | 17 | 21 | 10 | 55 |

### At Eastern Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Hornets | 21 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 52 |
| Eagles | 0 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 28 |

### No. 7 Montana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| No. 7 Grizzlies | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
| No. 2 Hornets | 0 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 31 |

### No. 14 Idaho

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 14 Vandals | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| No. 2 Hornets | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 31 |

### At No. 5 Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 2 Hornets | 7 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 33 |
| No. 5 Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 30 |

### At Portland State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 2 Hornets | 7 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 45 |
| Vikings | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 17 |

### No. 24 UC Davis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 24 Aggies | 3 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 21 |
| No. 2 Hornets | 10 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 27 |

## FCS Playoffs
### No. 13 Richmond – Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 13 Spiders | 14 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 31 |
| No. 2 Hornets | 7 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 38 |

### No. 5 Incarnate Word – Quarterfinal

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Cardinals | 7 | 21 | 10 | 28 | 66 |
| No. 2 Hornets | 14 | 3 | 17 | 29 | 63 |
at Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, CA
* Date: December 9
* Game time: 7:30 p.m.
* Game weather: Temperature: 48 • Wind: None • Weather: Sunny
* Game attendance: 13,722
* Referee: Bruce Austin
* TV announcers (ESPN+): Connor Onion (play-by-play) and Charles Arbuckle (analyst)
* Box Score
Game information :
First Quarter
SACST – 8:53 Cameron Skattebo 1 yard run, Kyle Sentkowski kick SACST 7–0 Drive: 10 plays, 81 yards, 3:12
UIW – 5:12 Marcus Cooper 20 yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr., Carson Mohr kick Tied 7–7 Drive: 11 plays, 86 yards, 3:34
SACST – 2:28 Marcus Fulcher 35 yard run, Kyle Sentkowski kick SACST 14–7 Drive: 6 plays, 65 yards, 2:44
Second Quarter
UIW – 12:37 Lindsey Scott Jr. 1 yard run, Carson Mohr kick Tied 14–14 Drive: 15 plays, 79 yards, 4:45
SACST – 7:25 Kyle Sentkowski 30 yard field goal SACST 17–14 Drive: 13 plays, 66 yards, 5:07
UIW – 2:56 Roger McCuller 2 yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr., Carson Mohr kick UIW 21–17 Drive: 6 plays, 29 yards, 1:43
UIW – 0:11 Marcus Cooper, 4 yard run, Carson Mohr kick UIW 28–17 Drive: 9 plays, 39 yards, 1:23
Third Quarter
SACST – 11:04 Cameron Skattebo 2 yard run, Kyle Sentkowski kick UIW 28–24 Drive: 12 plays, 75 yards, 3:56
UIW - 8:26 Carson Mohr 27 yard field goal UIW 31–24 Drive: 8 plays, 73 yards, 2:31
SACST – 4:16 Pierre Williams 16 yard pass from Asher O'Hara, Kyle Sentkowski kick Tied 31–31 Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 4:04
UIW – 2:29 Darion Chafin 47 yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr., Carson Mohr kick UIW 38–31 Drive: 5 plays, 74 yards, 1:42
SACST – 0:04 Kyle Sentkowski 26 yard field goal UIW 38–34 Drive: 9 plays, 49 yards, 2:17
Fourth Quarter
UIW – 14:50 Lindsey Scott Jr. 64 yard run, Carson Mohr kick UIW 45–34 Drive: 1 play, 64 yards, 0:10
SACST – 12:08 Marshel Martin 19 yard pass from Cameron Skattebo, Kyle Sentkowski kick UIW 45–41 Drive: 7 plays, 67 yards, 2:37
SACST – 10:12 Marshel Martin 14 yard pass from Jake Dunniway, Kyle Sentkowski kick SACST 48–45 Drive: 6 plays, 55 yards, 1:53
UIW – 9:23 Marcus Cooper yard run, Carson Mohr kick UIW 52–48 Drive: 3 plays, 75 yards, 0:49
UIW – 8:30 Kelechi Anyalebechi 55 yard fumble recovery, Carson Mohr kick UIW 59–48
SACST – 4:57 Pierre Williams 10 yard pass from Jake Dunniway, Marcus Fulcher pass from Jake Dunniway UIW 59–56 Drive: 9 plays, 70 yards, 3:27
SACST – 1:43 Marshel Martin 4 yard run, Kyle Sentkowski kick SACST 63–59 Drive: 8 plays, 57 yards, 3:14
UIW – 0:27 Taylor Grimes 21 yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr., Carson Mohr kick UIW 66–63 Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 1:16
Passing
UIW – Lindsey Scott Jr. 19/31, 219 YDS, 4 TD
SACST – Jake Dunniway 19/32, 228 YDS, 2 TD, 2 INT
Rushing
UIW – Marcus Cooper 22 ATT, 176 YDS, 2 TD
SACST – Marcus Fulcher 9 ATT, 108 YDS, 1 TD
Receiving
UIW – Taylor Grimes 6 REC, 53 YDS, 1 TD
SACST – Marshel Martin 12 REC, 144 YDS, 2 TD :

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 (1) | 2 (2) | 2 (1) | 2 (6) | 2 (7) | 2 (9) | 5 |
| Coaches | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 (2) | 2 (6) | 2 (5) | 2 (4) | 4 |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL team |
| 3 | 76 | Marte Mapu | LB | New England Patriots |