With an underrated star departed, Sacramento State continues to search for answers.
In his three years as a starter, quarterback Garrett Safron threw for 9,713 yards and 86 touchdowns while also rushing for 1,906 yards and 16 scores. Last season, Safron led the FCS in total offense per game, producing 291 yards per game through the air and 62.6 yards per game on the ground.
Sac State wide receiver DeAndre Carter
With Safron at the helm, Sac posted three straight 4-4 campaigns in Big Sky Conference play and an 18-17 record overall. Last season, a 59-56 loss to Montana State likely cost the Hornets a playoff bid — the Bobcats got in at 8-4. In 2013, Sac went 5-7 with a 24-21 overtime loss to Southern Utah, a 39-38 loss to Northern Arizona and a 51-48 overtime loss to Montana. In 2012, Sac went 6-5 with a 31-28 loss at No. 1 Eastern Washington and a 20-17 loss to No. 3 Montana State at home.
Safron and favorite DeAndre Carter (207 catches, 2,760 yards, 35 TDs in his career) helped Sacramento State score right alongside any team in the league — SSU averaged 38.2 points per game last season, second in the league — but a shaky defense with a prevalence for allowing big plays always kept Sac from getting over the hump. Now Safron and Carter are gone and the Hornets continue to search for answers.
Sacramento State enters Saturday’s matchup at Montana State with a 1-4 record this season, the lone victory a 41-20 win over Eastern Oregon of the NAIA Frontier Conference. Since then, Sac is averaging 13.5 points and allowing 34 during a four-game losing streak. Two weeks ago, Sac jumped out to a 20-7 lead against No. 11 EWU only to lose 28-20. Last week, the Hornets held Northern Colorado to 138 yards of total offense but two defensive touchdowns and a kick return score gave the Bears their seventh Big Sky win under fifth-year head coach Earnest Collins Jr.
The Hornets scored just four offensive touchdowns during three straight Division I losses with sophomore Daniel Kniffin at the helm. Kniffin went down with a shoulder injury against EWU. Last week, SMU transfer Kolney Cassel filled in and threw for 294 yards and two touchdowns.
Montana State head coach Rob Ash has never lost to Sacramento State, although his Bobcats have emerged from several close contests. In 2010, Sac stormed back from a 37-10 halftime deficit to send the game into overtime. Jason Cunningham’s field goal lifted MSU to a 64-61 win. In 2012, Cody Kirk’s six-yard touchdown with eight minutes to play lifted MSU to a 20-17 win in California’s capital as the captain finished with 129 yards rushing and two TDs. Last season, Dakota Prukop rolled up 488 yards of total offense and accounted for all eight Montana State touchdowns, including a four-yard scoring toss to Mitch Herbert with four seconds left to lift MSU to a 59-56 victory.
The Bobcats have lost two of their last three games in high-scoring affairs that continue to define the current group. MSU bounced back from a 55-50 loss at Eastern Washington to post a 45-28 win in Bozeman over Cal Poly. Last Saturday, Montana State went on the road and dug itself a 42-14 hole at Northern Arizona before a comeback made the final margin 49-41.
Kickoff for Saturday’s game will be at 5 p.m. at Bobcat Stadium.
QUICK HITS
Location: Sacramento, California
Nickname: Hornets
Founded: 1947. One of California’s largest universities located in the state’s capital, Sac State is designated as a “Center of Academic Excellence” by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency (NSA).
Enrollment: The student body totals 29,088 and the endowment is $33.7 million.
Stadium: Hornets Stadium. Opened in 1969, the 21,195-seat venue was less than half full last season on average. The Hornets drew 6,636 fans per game for six home games in 2013. This season in three home games, Sac is averaging 8,342 fans.
THE TEAM (0-2 in the Big Sky, 1-4 overall in 2015)
The Coach: Jody Sears, second season at Sac State. As an interim coach who took over for Marshall Sperbeck last season, Sears helped Sac to a 4-4 mark in Big Sky play, 7-5 overall. The success helped the longtime Big Sky coach earn a three-year contract extension. Sears spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons at Weber State. He is 7-19 against Big Sky competition, 12-28 overall as a head coach.
WHO TO WATCH — THE OFFENSE
Daniel Kiffin OR Kolney Cassel quarterback —
Sac State quarterback Daniel Kiffin
Kiffin, a 6-foot-2 third-year sophomore, served as Safron’s backup a season ago. In the off-season, Sears brought in Cassel, a 6-foot-2 sophomore transfer from SMU, and Alexis Robinson, a 6-foot-4 redshirt freshman transfer from Baylor.
Kniffin won the starting job in fall but has been lackluster so far in four starts. He is completing just 53 percent of his passes for 205.8 yards per game. He has thrown four touchdowns but five interceptions and his passer efficiency rating is 106.1. He has had a hard time finding Nnamdi Agude, a senior who earned second-team All-Big Sky honors last season by catching 10 touchdowns.
Sac State quarterback Konel Cassel
Kniffin went down with a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter of SSU’s 28-20 loss to Eastern Washington. Cassel finished that game and played the duration of Sac’s home loss to Northern Colorado.
Cassel spent two seasons at SMU. After redshirting in 2013, the Yakima, Washington native appeared in five games and started one last season. He completed 15 of 37 attempts for 156 yards and a touchdown. In his first start at Sac, he completed 28-of-44 passes for 294 yards and threw touchdown passes of two yards to Stone Sander and 14 yards to John McGill.
Robinson spent last fall as a redshirt at Baylor. As a senior at Eureka High School, Eureka, California native passed for 13 touchdowns, rushed for 12 and caught two touchdown passes. He placed second in the 400 meters at the CIF state track and field championships as a junior.
Nnamdi Agude, wide receiver, 6-3, 195, senior — Carter’s dominant senior season — he caught 17 touchdowns — overshadowed an otherwise breakout year for the long, lanky Agude last fall.
Sac State wide receiver Nnamdi Agude
Last season, Agude averaged 16.5 yards per catch on 70 grabs, piling up 1,156 yards in the process. He averaged nearly 100 yards per outing and caught 10 touchdowns as Safron threw for nearly 3,500 yards and led the nation in total offense.
“Having a 1,000-yard receiver back gives you some comfort, but how can you possibly hope to replace DeAndre?” Sears said. “We can’t expect anyone to be that.”
This season, Agude hasn’t been the big-play threat many thought he would be. He has 16 catches for 204 yards and no touchdowns. He’s averaging just shy of 13 yards per catch and just 40 yards per game.
With Agude’s lack of production, senior Shane Harrison and sophomore Isiah Hennie have tried to pick up the slack. Harrison, a 6-foot-2 fifth-year senior who earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors in 2013 but missed last season because of academic issues, has 24 catches for 308 yards but no touchdowns. Hennie, a 5-foot-7 speedy true sophomore, has 24 catches for 263 yards and two of Sac’s six scoring receptions.
Jordan Robinson, running back, 5-11, 195, junior — Coming into the season, Sears knew Robinson would have to be a workhorse as the Hornets worked in a new quarterback.
“Heavily,” Sears said when asked how much his team will rely on the junior. “He was extremely productive last year. He has to be again this year.”
Robinson became the full-time starter during conference play last fall and thrived. He carried the ball 158 times for 863 yards all told, averaging 5.5 yards per carry. He scored five touchdowns.
This season, he’s been the brightest spot on an otherwise struggling offense. He has 450 yards rushing and has scored three touchdowns. Robinson rushed for 106 yards on just 12 carries, including a 69-yard touchdown in Sac’s 32-14 non-conference loss to Weber State. Robinson rushed for 104 yards on 19 carries and scored a touchdown in the loss to EWU. Last week, Robinson rushed for 149 yards on 28 carries in the loss to UNC.
THE DEFENSE
Darnell Sankey, linebacker, 6-2, 250, senior — The bruising converted defensive end might be the most hyperactive, high-motor linebacker in the league.
Darnell Sankey
Sankey was a tackling machine his first season playing in the middle of Sears’ defense. The aggressive, hard hitter used his sideline-to-sideline skills to pile up 100 tackles in just eight full games of action before suffering a season-ending knee injury. The converted defensive end notched nine tackles for loss, two sacks, forced three fumbles and snared an interception he returned 59 yards for a touchdown.
Sankey found himself as a preseason All-America and a member of the watch list for the FCS Defensive Most Outstanding Player and so far, he’s produced. He leads the Big Sky and the FCS with 71 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.
Sac State defensive back Joey Banks
Joey Banks, defensive back, 5-10, 190, redshirt freshman — Banks played in four games as a true freshman before an elbow injury caused him to redshirt. This season, he’s been in and out of the lineup again but when he’s played, he’s been productive.
The highly recruited converted linebacker has 22 tackles (third on the team), 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack in three games of action.
Elijah Wallace, defensive back, 6-0, 190, true freshman — In a defensive back field that starts three freshmen, including two true freshmen, Wallace has been a standout, as has fellow true freshman Manny Scott-Anderson.
Wallace has 22 tackles, including four tackles for loss. Scott-Anderson has 28 tackles, including one tackle for loss.
Photos courtesy of Sac State athletics. All Rights Reserved.
