A season ago, Sacramento State had no problem scoring. But a penchant for surrendering big plays spoiled the senior years of two All-America playmakers as the Hornets narrowly missed the playoffs.
This season, Sacramento State’s defense is young but head coach Jody Sears’ emphasis on limiting big plays seems to be paying off. Sac gave up just 28 points to an Eastern Washington team that scored 42 on FBS Oregon, 38 on No. 10 Northern Iowa on the road and 55 on No.13 Montana State the next week. The young unit is coming together but the offense has not found any traction.
Former Sac State quarterback Garrett Safron
In 2014, Sacramento State averaged nearly 40 points per game as quarterback Garrett Safron earned All-Big Sky and All-America honors by leading the FCS in total offense with more than 350 yards per game. De’Andre Carter pulled in nearly 100 passes for more than 1,300 yards and 17 touchdowns en route to first-team All-America honors and a spot on the Baltimore Ravens preseason roster. Each graduated in the off-season, as did three of five starters along the offensive line and tight end Chris Broadnax.
With NFL prospect left tackle Lars Hanson returning for his senior year and tailback Jordan Robinson returning after a standout sophomore season, this season’s Hornets have put more of an emphasis on running the football. The offense has also experienced some growing pains with sophomores Daniel Kniffin and Kolney Cassel under center. Kniffin started the first four games of 2015 before injurying his shoulder. Cassel started last week against Northern Colorado.
Sacramento State has held three of its four Division I opponents to 32 points or less, an accomplishment in itself in today’s wide-open college football. Sac held Weber State without a touchdown until the fourth quarter but three Kniffin interceptions resulted in a 32-14 non-conference loss.
Against EWU, Sac forced two fumbles and Nick Crouch snared an interception but Sac’s offense mounted one drive of more than three plays in the second half after taking a 20-7 lead into intermission.
Last week against Northern Colorado, Sac State did not allow an offensive touchdown and held UNC to 179 yards of total offense. Yet the Bears scored twice on fumble recovery returns for touchdowns as turnovers bit the offense again in a 27-20 loss.
The Hornets (1-4) enter Saturday’s matchup with No. 18 Montana State searching for their first Division I win and their first total team effort.
“We haven’t been playing four quarters,” said Robinson, who has rushed for more than 100 yards in three straight games, including 149 last week against UNC. “We will have a great first half or a great second half. You can’t win football games only playing one half. We have to put one full game together and we will be good.”
Nndamdi Agunag
Last season, Nnamdi Agude earned second-team All-Big Sky honors by piling up 70 receptions for 1,156 yards and 10 touchdowns as Safron consistently took shots down the field. This season, Sacramento State is throwing for 230 yards per game as Kniffin and Cassel have combined for six passing touchdowns in five games a season after Safron connected on 34 passing scores.
Agude, a preseason All-Big Sky selection, is third on the team with 16 receptions. He is averaging just 12.8 yards per catch and his 204 yards equate to 40 yards per game. He has yet to reach the end zone.
“We are more focused on establishing the run for most of the game and so far our shots haven’t been connecting,” Agude said. “It’s a correlation of not being on the same wave length with the quarterbacks and a new feel to the offense.
“We just need to take care of the ball. We are moving the ball for the most part. But when we don’t take care of the ball, we shoot ourselves. And our penalties have to be better. We can’t go backward on offense.”
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Kniffin is completing 53 percent of his passes for 205 yards per game and has throw four touchdowns compared to five interceptions. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Cassel, a former SMU transfer originally from Yakima, Washington, threw completed 28-of-44 passes for 294 yards and two scores in his first start. The duo have combined to post an efficiency rating of 111.4, 12th in the 13-team Big Sky.
It is unclear who will start against Montana State on Saturday. Kniffin suffered a shoulder injury late in the EWU loss. Robinson said it doesn’t matter.
“We are not going to change our offense at all,” Robinson said. “Whatever quarterback we have, they are more than capable so any quarterback that is in there, we are ready to go.”
Montana State head coach Rob Ash said MSU will prepare for one type of player and not worry about who starts because Kniffin and Cassel are so similar in build, style and experience.
“They are pretty much the same guy,” Ash said. “They are about the same size, they both have good arms. They are pretty mobile. The offense doesn’t call them to run a lot but they can if called upon. I think they are both equally good so to us, it doesn’t matter which one plays.”
EWU quarterback Jordan West throws a deep pass under the pressure of MSU defensive tackle Connor Thomas
Sears, Sac’s second-year head coach, agrees that Kniffin and Cassel are very similar other than the fact that Cassel started several games at SMU, including his first start last fall against Texas A&M. He has “taken more lumps and is more calloused up,” Sears said.
The Montana State defense has been a quarterback’s best friend so far this fall. In two Division I games against teams that throw the ball down the field — Cal Poly runs the triple option and throws only about 10 percent of the time — Montana State has surrendered more touchdowns (10) than incompletions (9). Eastern Washington’s Jordan West threw for 410 yards and six touchdowns in a 55-50 win over MSU. Last week, Northern Arizona freshman Case Cookus threw for 254 yards and four touchdowns in a 49-41 win. Montana State is dead last among 123 FCS teams by allowing an opponent passer efficiency of 212.5.
“We have a new quarterback so we have to do a good job of taking what they give you and not get too caught up in how many points or how many yards Montana State has been giving up,” Sears said. “If we are not focused on executing at a consistently high level, it’s not going to matter. The statistics are going to take care of themselves.
“(MSU first-year defensive coordinator) Kane (Ioane) does a great job with that defense. They are very aggressive. They play extremely hard. We’ve got to focus on us and be sound.”
Although the Hornets are green at quarterback, the offense does have some dangerous pieces outside of Agude. The 6-foot-8, 305-pound Hanson is largely regarded as the best senior offensive line prospect outside of Montana State senior John Weidenaar in the Big Sky. He’s become even more of an anchor after the graduation of left guard Derek Nielsen and center John Wallace plus the dismissal of right tackle Aleksandar Milanovic from the team during the off-season.
Hanson is a prospect both for his formidable frame and his durability — he enters Saturday’s matchup with 34 consecutive starts. Sears said none of the attention has gone to Hanson’s head.
Jordan Robinson
“Coach (Bill) Laveroni is an old, seasoned, weathered o-line coach and he keeps him very humble to say the least,” Sears said with a laugh, referring to his offensive line coach who spent five seasons in the same position with the Seattle Seahawks. “He’s a humble kid. We don’t talk too much about (NFL) stuff. If you are doing the right things, putting forth the work and playing at a consistently high level, those guys are going to come around and show an interest.”
Ioane calls Robinson a “dynamic running back that can score any time he touches the ball.” He likens sophomore slot receiver Isiah Hennie to MSU speedster Jayshawn Gates. And Ioane certainly remembers Agude’s six-catch, 197-yard, two-touchdown performance in MSU’s 59-56 win in Sacramento last season. In other words, Ioane and the Bobcat defense are not taking Sac State lightly despite their early struggles.
“They haven’t had their breakout day yet but at any moment that can happen,” Ioane said. “We are going to prepare as if we are playing the best offense in the conference every single week. That’s how you have to do it. This conference, every offense we face is a challenge and every offense has a chance of going off any give week.”
Photos courtesy of Sacramento State athletics. All Rights Reserved.
