Sacramento State relies on running game to beat Eastern Washington 35-13

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Nov. 1—On a rainy, windy Saturday afternoon at Roos Field in Cheney, the Sacramento State Hornets did nothing to obscure their single-minded gameplan.

To beat the Eastern Washington Eagles, the Hornets were going to run the football.

And run it they did.

Throwing the ball just six times all game and just once in the second half, the Hornets (5-4, 3-2 Big Sky) broke enough big runs to compensate for the many times they were stopped in their tracks or gave the ball away entirely, and they handed the Eagles (4-5, 3-2) a costly 35-13 defeat.

"We let up a lot of explosive plays today, and that's something we can't afford, especially in this type of game and the situation that we're in," EWU redshirt sophomore defensive end Tylin Jackson said. "Stopping those plays would have made a real big difference in the game."

Eastern's run defense this year has become a relative strength, but the Hornets attempted 56 attempts — 16 more than Eastern's opponents had averaged this season — and gained 376 yards on them. Of those, 194 yards came on just four plays, three of which went for touchdowns. The other, a 61-yard gain by Rodney Hammond Jr., set up Sacramento State's opening-drive touchdown.

Hammond finished with 208 yards on 22 carries, and JaQuail Smith added 117, becoming the third and fourth players to rush for more than 100 yards against the Eagles this season. Each of them scored twice.

Cardell Williams, the Hornets' quarterback who went 25-for-32 passing in a 49-35 loss last week to Montana, finished 3-for-6 against the Eagles, gaining just 15 yards. One of those incompletions was caught by EWU redshirt sophomore Jonathan Landry for his first-career interception.

On that turnover, the Eagles capitalized when redshirt sophomore quarterback Nate Bell completed a five-yard touchdown pass to true freshman Wilson Medina for the running back's first-career touchdown. That tied the game at 7.

Twice more in the first half, the Hornets gave the ball away on fumbles forced by Read Sunn and Jackson. Sunn finished with a team-high 11 tackles, the third time this season that the grad senior has finished a game with that many.

But on each of the subsequent drives, the Eagles were only able to kick field goals. And that proved crucial as the Hornets continued to get the ball into the end zone.

At halftime, the Hornets were ahead 28-13.

"We're probably not a 35- to 40-point operation," EWU head coach Aaron Best said, lamenting the missed opportunities after the turnovers. "The defense did a great job of putting us in situations (to score). Outside of the explosives, defensively I thought we played a really sound game."

In the second half, with redshirt freshman Jake Schakel at quarterback following a first-half injury to Bell, the Eagles twice advanced the ball inside the Hornets' 5-yard line. But on both occasions they failed to convert on fourth-and-goal plays.

Schakel finished the game 24-of-38 for 201 yards. But for the second time in as many weeks, the Eagles failed to score after halftime.

Their rushing line — 30 carries for 38 yards — didn't look much different than it did last week, either, when the Eagles ran 40 times for 30 yards in a 23-20 victory over Weber State.

"It's been feast or famine in the run game," Best said.

Indeed, in victories over Western Illinois and Portland State, the Eagles ran for 325 yards and 333 yards, respectively. But in their other seven games — five of them losses — the Eagles have averaged 88.7 yards per game.

"We need to be able to run the ball better," said EWU redshirt senior tight end Landon Cooper, who finished with a season-high four catches for 33 yards. "Thirty rushes for 38 yards is never going to get it done, especially not in this league."

That will remain a challenge for the Eagles next week, when they travel to Missoula for a matchup against second-ranked Montana (9-0, 5-0). Eastern's slim playoff hopes now fully rely on victories in the Eagles' final three games: at Montana, home against Northern Colorado, and then at Cal Poly.

Jackson said the team will recap the game and keep doing what they've done all season: turn its focus to the next game.

"We believe in the guys that we have," he said, "and we have a common goal: to beat Montana."

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