FCS playoffs – VACAVILLE INSIDER

Taylor-made job for coach

Sacramento State had no business being in Friday night’s FCS quarterfinal game against Incarnate Word until the final play. Four turnovers, one being a fumble the Cardinals returned for a touchdown, should have spoiled the Hornets’ 12-0 season long before a Hail Mary pass by Jake Dunniway fell incomplete in the end zone as time expired.

The odds of the Hornets overcoming four turnovers to win were about as slim as any chance of Sacramento State persuading Troy Taylor into turning down an offer to become the coach at Stanford. The gossip Friday at Hornet Stadium was that Stanford was simply waiting for the end of Sacramento State’s season to seal the deal with Taylor.

Not only is Taylor more than qualified for the job, but Stanford landed the former Cal quarterback just a year after the Golden Bears gave Justin Wilcox a six-year contract extension. Most folks figured Taylor would only leave Sacramento State for Cal, but the Golden Bears are stuck with Wilcox for the next five years unless they buy him out.

Like most coaches on the hot seat, Wilcox let two of his assistants take the fall when this season took a turn for the worse. Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and offensive line coach Angus McClure were fired after a 38-10 loss at Oregon State on Nov. 12 left Cal at 3-7 with a six-game losing streak. The Golden Bears salvaged a modicum of pride by beating Stanford 27-20 and Cal fans need to savor that.

Taylor will see to that not happening again any time soon in the Big Game. His three-year stay at Sacramento State ended with a 66-63 loss to Incarnate Word, but Taylor kept the Hornets in the game by realizing his offense would have to keep pace with the high-powered Cardinals when his defense was incapable of stopping them.

Sacramento State lost despite a record-setting offensive show orchestrated by Taylor. The Hornets rewrote their record book with 738 yards of total offense, 109 offensive plays and 49 first downs. The four turnovers were costly as Incarnate Word turned three of them into points, including Kelechi Anyakebechi’s 55-yard return of an O’Hara fumble that stretched the Cardinals’ lead to 59-48 with 8:30 to go in the game.

The touchdown was the fourth in less than four minutes. Sacramento State trailed 45-41 with 12:30 left after running back Cameron Skattebo caught a lateral from Dunniway and lofted a 19-yard scoring pass to tight end Marshel Martin. After the Hornets gambled with an onside kick and recovered it, Martin found the end zone again by catching a 14-yard pass from Dunniway. Sacramento State led 48-45 – for all of 49 seconds.

Marcus Cooper put Incarnate Word back on top with a 67-yard touchdown dash. After Anyalebechi’s fumble return, Sacramento State answered with Dunniway’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Williams and Martin’s 4-yard scoring run with 1:43 left. The Cardinals needed just 76 seconds to go 75 yards for the final score – a 21-yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr. to Taylor Grimes. Scott has almost as many rushing yards (176) as he did passing (219).

Scott threw four touchdown passes, boosting his season total to 59, and ran for two scores. Incarnate Word will travel to North Dakota State for a semifinal showdown at 4 p.

Redshirt freshman finds role

Photos

**Elijah Tau-Tolliver ignited the Hornets by scoring on a 95-yard kickoff return.**

Returning a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown did not buy Elijah Tau-Tolliver a break. He had a few seconds on the sideline to celebrate with his Sacramento State teammates and get a squirt of water before returning to the field for the ensuing kickoff. He was still catching his breath when Kyle Sentkowski put his foot to the ball.

Such is the life of a redshirt freshman who earns his keep by playing on special teams. The Hornets do not need Tau-Tolliver to play at running back because they have sophomore Cameron Skattebo, who is the Offensive Player of the Year in the Big Sky Conference after leading the conference in rushing with 1,251 yards in the regular season.

Skattebo is fourth in the Big Sky with 178 rushing attempts. Senior quarterback Asher O’Hara is third with 189, which he has turned into 894 yards. O’Hara ranks second in the FCS with 19 rushing touchdowns. Skattebo has five. Junior Marcus Fulcher has run for 366 yards and two more touchdown runs than Skattebo on 113 fewer carries.

Those three backs have combined for 432 of the Hornets’ 532 rushing attempts. Tau-Tolliver has 23 carries for 175 yards, but most of his action has come during garbage time in lopsided victories against Utah Tech and Eastern Washington. Returning kickoffs and averaging 27.6 yards per return have made him valuable for the Hornets.

That was never more apparent than in last Saturday’s 38-31 win over Richmond in the second round of the FCS playoffs. The Hornets trailed 21-17 at halftime after scoring with 19 seconds to go in the second quarter. Tau-Tolliver said the talk in the locker room centered around receiving the second-half kickoff and getting off to a fast start.

Sacramento State came out of the break with momentum after cutting into a 21-7 deficit with a field goal and touchdown in the second quarter. The touchdown capped a nine-play, 66-yard drive that took just 95 seconds. Senior quarterback Jake Dunniway completed four of seven passes for 65 yards and Fulcher scored on a 1-yard run.

Tau-Tolliver figured he was due to break a return when the kickoff by Richmond’s Jake Larsen landed in his arms. And Sacramento State was overdue to score after winning the coin toss and deferring to receive the second-half kickoff. The Hornets deferred four times during the regular season without a single point to show for those decisions.

The fifth time was a charm and Tau-Tolliver provided it. The call was for a return to the right and Tau-Tolliver thought he could outrun two Richmond players charging from the left that the Hornets opted not to block. Those two players arrived faster than he expected, however, so he had to change course and looked to his left for room to run.

Tau-Tolliver followed Skattebo, who cleared the way with a crushing block on Tristan Wheeler. Tau-Tolliver then “turned on the jets,” put a spin move on Trae Tomlinson and skipped away from Kaiden Pritchett after Pritcheet dove at his ankles. He was escorted along the sideline and to the end zone by Darian Pollard, who cut off Larsen and then raised his arms to avoid the risk of being penalized for clipping.

His return was the Hornets’ third for a touchdown this season. The first two were unconventional with Skattebo and Martin scoring after fielding onside kicks. Tau-Tolliver’s return tied the fifth longest in the program’s history. Mario Bobino and James Ferguson had 100-yard returns in 1984 and 1985, respectively. Tau-Tolliver had a 98-yard return as a senior at Reed High in Sparks, Nev., against Damonte Ranch in 2021.

Sacramento State had a season-high 472 yards of total offense against Richmond. Dunniway finished with a season-high 317 passing yards despite having to throw a rain-soaked ball. He tied the score at 31-all early in the fourth quarter with a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Marshel Martin on third-and-19. O’Hara broke the tie with 6:28 remaining by lofting a 51-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Pierre Williams.

The pass was the longest of O’Hara’s career and tied Dunniway for the Hornets’ longest this season. Sacramento State had two 100-yard receivers in a game for the first time since 2019. Martin set career highs for receptions (10) and receiving yards (148) in the fourth 100-yard game of his career. The junior caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from O’Hara in the first quarter to give the Hornets a 7-0 lead. Williams caught four passes for 107 yards, reaching the century mark for the 10th time in four seasons.

Second-seeded Sacramento State will put its 12-0 record on the line Friday night when No. 7 Incarnate Word (11-1) visits Hornet Stadium. The teams do not have a common opponent, but there is one connection. Incarnate Word beat Nevada 55-41, Nevada lost 17-14 to Colorado State and Sacramento State routed Colorado State 41-10.

Hornets are hungry for success

Photos

**Kaden Richardson listens as his father Kris strategizes with offensive linemen.**

Kris Richardson has a good idea of how a college football player can eat. He raised two and coaches the offensive line at Sacramento State, which will face Richmond at 2 p.m. Saturday in the second round of the FCS playoffs. The big boys transform into magicians when it comes to food. They make it disappear without as much as a burp.

Richardson’s sons and several of those linemen devoured a Thanksgiving feast at the Folsom home of Richardson and his wife Kelly. And calling it a feast is putting it mildly. Seven tri tips, a turkey and a ham stood no chance against such hearty appetites. Richardson was spared from stuffing his refrigerator like a turkey with leftovers.

“A lot of meat got eaten and the damage to the pies was pretty considerable too,” Richardson said. Football talk was kept to a minimum because “when the guys come over, it’s a social setting. I let the guys be guys. The reality is they’re a bunch of big kids when you put them all in a room together. They start chuckling and laughing. When I peeked in the room, it was real quiet. They were probably making fun of me.”

All those years of feeding their sons, Kooper and Kaden, was like a walk in the park compared with the kitchen marathon last Thursday. Kooper and Kaden played for their father at Folsom High. Sacramento State coach Troy Taylor and Richardson coached together at Folsom, so a sideline reunion was by no means a surprise after Taylor was hired in 2019.

Kaden immediately transferred to Sacramento State from UC Davis to play again for his father. Kooper followed in 2021 as a graduate transfer from UC Davis after being a three-year starter at right tackle for the Aggies. They did not switch sides in the rivalry to spite the Aggies, but it would be safe to say there were no parting gifts.

Kooper started at right tackle for the Hornets last season and now plays in the Canadian Football League with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Kaden is a redshirt sophomore who is paying his dues this season as a backup center.

Sacramento State has a young offensive line with right guard Brandon Weldon being the only senior starter. Center Nathan Mejia is a redshirt freshman, right tackle Ivan Garza is a redshirt sophomore, left guard Jackson Slater is a true sophomore and left tackle Troy Stiefel is a junior who was injured most of last season. Garza started 10 games in his place.

Kaden and Kooper share an apartment in Sacramento, so they can drive home whenever they want to mooch a meal or talk their mother into doing their laundry. Some of Kaden’s teammates are not as fortunate, and Thanksgiving might be just the first holiday they will not spend with their families. The season could stretch into the new year if the Hornets can make it to the FCS championship game on Jan. 8 in Frisco, Texas.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. A victory Saturday will the first for the Hornets in three playoff games since Taylor’s arrival. Sacramento State is 23-1 in the Big Sky Conference since 2019, but all those victories have not translated into success in the playoffs. The 11-0 Hornets are the No. 2 seed and earned a first-round bye for the third time in as many playoff appearances – not that the first two did them much good

Richardson could have remained at Folsom if success was all that mattered. He led the Bulldogs to state Division I-AA championships in 2017 and 2018. In fact, the Bulldogs were on their way to Norwalk for the 2018 title game when Richardson received a call from Taylor. The opportunity to coach at Sacramento State was too good to refuse.

“It was pretty simple,” Richardson said. “We always talked about Sac State being the perfect place. We always felt it was a diamond in the rough. We felt we could turn this place around and win a lot of football games. And I get to coach with one of my best friends.”

Aggies deserved nothing more

Features

Five losses did not stop Gardner-Webb from making the FCS playoffs. The Runnin’ Bulldogs earned an automatic bid by overcoming a four-game losing streak to go 5-0 in the Big South Conference. Eleven conference champions earned automatic bids. Sacramento State earned one by finishing 8-0 in the Big Sky for the second consecutive year.

Five Big Sky teams made the 24-team playoff field. Sacramento State is the No. 2 seed after finishing 11-0 in the regular season for the first time. The Hornets will have a bye in the first round and will host the Davidson-Richmond winner on Dec. 3. Montana State also finished 8-0 in the Big Sky and earned the No. 4 seed with a 10-1 overall record.

Also representing the Big Sky will be Weber State (9-2), Idaho (7-4) and Montana (7-4) after each team was awarded an at-large berth. Weber State and Idaho both finished 6-2 to share third place. Montana got a berth despite finishing sixth in the Big Sky at 4-4.

**C.J. Hutton catches a pass for UC Davis with Sacramento State’s Caleb Nelson** **covering**.

Montana’s four victories were against teams with a combined conference record of 7-25. The Grizzlies apparently made a case for a berth with a 31-24 overtime loss at Sacramento State and a 24-21 loss at Weber State. Montana’s last shot for a significant Big Sky victory was at Montana State on Saturday and the Grizzlies lost 55-21.

UC Davis finished ahead of Montana at 5-3 and had one significant victory. The Aggies traveled to Idaho and won 44-26 in a game that was not as close as the final score. Like Montana, UC Davis stood toe to toe with Weber State in a 17-12 loss and lost 27-21 in the Causeway Classic on Saturday after taking Sacramento State down to the wire.

A 44-yard field goal by Kyle Sentkowski stretched Sacramento State’s lead to six points with 43 seconds to play. UC Davis was out of timeouts with 92 yards to go. Miles Hastings completed three consecutive passes to C.J. Hutton for 50 yards to give the Aggies a first down at the Hornets’ 42-yard line as the record crowd of 23,073 went bananas.

The clock stopped long enough for the ball to be placed. Once the clock restarted, UC Davis could have spiked the ball to save enough time for a Hail Mary pass to the end zone, The Aggies instead opted to run a play, but Trent Tompkins could not get out of bounds after catching a pass from Hastings. The clock expired and so did the Aggies’ season.

**Rex Connors (4) and Jayce Smalley team up to stop Cameron Skattebo.**

That was hardly the first bad decision this season by coach Dan Hawkins and his son Cody, the offensive coordinator. In the second quarter of the 41-24 loss at Montana State, UC Davis had Matteo Perez carry the ball instead of Ulonzo Gilliam on third-and-1 at the Bobcats’ 19-yard line. Perez lost 2 yards and the Aggies settled for a 38-yard field goal by Isaiah Gomez. Montana State answered with a field goal of its own to lead 24-13 at halftime.

Gilliam had 24 carries for 127 yards and a touchdown against the Bobcats, but the Aggies’ all-time leading rusher was on the sideline when UC Davis gave the ball to an untested sophomore rather than a proven senior with so much at stake.

A victory against Weber State would have likely sent UC Davis into the playoffs, but the Aggies paid the price for playing it safe. UC Davis was a yard away from a touchdown on the final play of the first half when Hawkins called for Gomez to try a 18-yard field goal. The kick was deflected and went wide right, leaving the Aggies with a 14-6 deficit.

Gomez set a UC Davis record for most field-goal attempts in a game with five. And they were all in the first half. Gomez made two. At least the Aggies did not have Perez attempt a field goal or ask him to throw a pass instead of spiking the ball to stop the clock.

Perez will return in 2023. Gilliam and Gomez will not. Thanks for coming and drive home safely.

Hornets tackle FCS playoff test

Photos

**Junior linebacker Marcus Hawkins leads the Hornets in tackles with 72.**

Marcus Hawkins’ practice jersey has had better days. There is barely enough of it remaining after four months to cover the Sacramento State linebacker’s shoulder pads. At least the junior will not be wearing it Saturday when the Hornets make their debut in the FCS playoffs by hosting Austin Peay at 6 p.m.

Sacramento State (9-3) earned a first-round bye as co-champion of the Big Sky Conference. Austin Peay (9-3) advanced by beating Furman 42-6. The winner will face either Albany (N.Y.) or Montana. Sacramento State jumped to No. 7 in the FCS rankings after mauling then-No. 5 Montana 49-27 on Oct. 19.

This was just two weeks after Sacramento State upset then-No. 22 Eastern Washington 48-27 to end a 16-game losing streak against Top 25 opponents. The Hornets followed with a 34-21 win at then-No. 6 Montana State to crack the rankings for the first time at No. 15. They are seeded fourth in the playoffs.

A win will send Sacramento State into the quarterfinals, so Hawkins had better hope his practice jersey can survive another week. That will not be his only concern. He has played with a cast on his right hand since dislocating his little finger Nov. 9 in the Hornets’ 38-24 win at Northern Arizona.

Hawkins left that game without a tackle, the only time the Fresno City College transfer has been shut out this season. He had one tackle Nov. 16 at Idaho in his first game with the cast on his hand. Hawkins laughed when asked if being one-handed had anything to do with his low tackle total in the 31-7 win. The Hornets had come to expect more from Hawkins, who had seven or more tackles in six of the first nine games. One tackle was enough for the 5-foot-11, 225-pound Hawkins as long as the team prevailed.

“It had nothing to do with the hand,” Hawkins said of his performance against the Vandals. “I think they scored seven (points), It was almost a shutout for us, so I was happy. The win is more important.”

Any doubts about Hawkins were erased Nov. 23 when he had a team-high 10 tackles and a sack against UC Davis in the 66th annual Causeway Classic. Sacramento State won 27-17 in front of 19,000 fans at Hornet Stadium to clinch a share of the Big Sky championship and an automatic playoff bid.

Those 10 tackles increased Hawkins’ season total to a team-leading 72. He was a second-team selection to the All-Big Sky team. Sacramento State had a school-record 15 players selected, with junior Kevin Thomson becoming the first Hornets quarterback to be named the Offensive Player of the Year.

Thomson and Hawkins have nothing in common except their jersey numbers. Both wear No. 5, which was Hawkins’ number at Sunnyside High and and in his sophomore season at Fresno City. Hawkins thought he would have to settle for No. 9, which is the number he wears in practice, until learning a second No. 5 jersey had come into being.

Hawkins could not resist despite the risk of being mistaken as Thomson. There is little chance of that happening, however, unless Thomson grows his hair out and dyes it blonde. And then there is the matter of the cast on Hawkins’ right hand. Thomson is right-handed. He will gladly leave that to Hawkins.

Aggies want King to have a ball

Photos

Devon King thought he had scored against Stanford after receovering what he believed to be a latera, but the play was eventually ruled a forward pass.

UC Davis has lost its past five games against Pacific 12 Conference opponents by an average of 34 points.The closest was a 30-10 loss at Stanford in 2018, and that game could have been much closer. The Aggies led 3-0 for nearly seven minutes, and it could have been 10-0 by the time Stanford got on the scoreboard.

Stanford quarter back K.J. Costello had already thrown one interception when UC Davis linebacker Mason Moe pressured him into a wobbly pass midway through the first quarter. Freshman cornerback Devon King alertly scooped the ball on a bounce behind the line of scrimmage and dashed 18 yards to the end zone.

King was immediately mobbed by his teammates, but the celebration did not last long. The referees huddled and ruled Costello’s arm was going forward when the ball left his right hand. That turned what King thought was a lateral into an incomplete pass. The Aggies have been wondering “what if” for nearly a year..

“I always think about it,” said King, who was not only referring to his touchdown return being erased. He also bemoaned the opportunity UC Davis squandered to join FCS teams that have upset ranked FBS squads (Stanford was ranked ninth at the time). UC Davis opens Saturday at Cal, but the Bears are not ranked.

FBS schools pay FCS opponents thousands of dollars to supposedly be easy prey. FCS teams take the money and treat the game as a measuring stick against a supposedly superior opponent. King is not buying that. He believes with every braid in his long hair that the Aggies can beat any team on any given Saturday.

“We’re not just going to show up,” King replied when asked how the Aggies can benefit from facing FBS teams. “Our coaches have told us we can win every game we play, so we’re going to play every game to win.”

The 2019 edition of the Aggies is far different from the teams that lost by 52-3 to Cal in 2010, 48-14 to Arizona State in 2011, 45-0 to Stanford and 53-28 to Oregon in 2016. UC Davis is coming off a 10-3 season in which it shared the Big Sky Conference championship and advanced to the FCS playoffs for the first time.

Although it did not count, King’s fumble return against Stanford revealed his ball-hawking ability. His quick thinking was honed in practice by defensive backs coach Cha’pelle Brown, who was a three-year starter in the secondary for UC Davis coach Dan Hawkins when Hawkins was running the show at Colorado.

“Our coach always preaches to us that whenever we see the ball on the ground, pick it up and run with it,” King explained. “It’s something we work on every day in practice – scoop and score. When it happened in the game, it was like repetition.”

King struck again last Oct. 27 at Montana with two fourth-quarter interceptions to seal the Aggies’ comeback from an 18-point deficit for a 49-21 victory. Two weeks later at Eastern Washington, King stripped the ball from wide receiver Terence Grady at the UC Davis 17-yard-line to prevent the Eagles from scoring.

Isaiah Thomas was bailed out by King against Sacramento State in the Causeway Classic a week later. Thomas fumbled on a punt return, and the ball bounced backward to the UC Davis 24-yard line. King somehow navigated through four Sacramento State players to locate the ball and pounce on it. Instead of a turnover, UC Davis took possession and drove 76 yards for a touchdown to lead 35-10 at halftime.

“It’s just awareness and always trying to be around the ball,” King said. “Whenever you run to the ball, good things happen.”