One-two punch at quarterback

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Jake Dunniway has no problem sharing the quarterback job for the Hornets.

Sacramento State coach Troy Taylor had no idea how quarterback Jake Dunniway would react when Asher O’Hara joined the Hornets. Dunniway had the inside track to be the starter after backing up Kevin Thomson in 2019. When an injury forced Thomson to miss one game two years ago, Dunniway passed for 384 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-34 victory at Northern Arizona.

Dunniway rallied the Hornets by tossing two touchdown passes in the final two minutes and kept Sacramento State in contention for the Big Sky Conference championship. The Hornets earned a share of the title in Taylor’s first season at the helm by defeating UC Davis 27-17 in the 66th Causeway Classic.

The scenario will be the same for Taylor’s team on Saturday at UC Davis. Sacramento State is tied with Montana State atop the Big Sky at 7-0, so a victory would guarantee the Hornets at least a co-championship. It will be the third consecutive Causeway clash in which a piece of the Big Sky title will be at stake.

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Asher O’Hara

UC Davis earned a third of the title by routing Sacramento State 56-13 in the 2018 Causeway Classic when the game was moved from Davis to the University of Nevada because of poor air quality caused by the Camp Fire. The Aggies finished 7-1 in the Big Sky to share the championship with Weber State and Eastern Washington.

Taylor believes the Hornets have a shot to win their second title in as many seasons (they chose not to play after the 2020 season was moved to last spring) because Dunniway and O’Hara have put aside their egos for the greater good.

“I remember when I called (Dunniway) and told him there’s a guy coming in,” Taylor said. “He said, ‘Coach, I get it. We’re trying to get better as a team.’ He’s been so solid the entire time. In this age when for a lot of people and players it’s all about you, (Dunniway and O’Hara) are not like that at all. And honestly if those two guys weren’t like that, I don’t know if we would be having the success we’re having. You can divide a team with two quarterbacks.”

O’Hara transferred to Sacramento State after the Ilinois native started for two years at Middle Tennessee State. Dunniway joined the Hornets in 2019 after playing at San Diego Mesa College in 2018. He walked on at UC Davis in 2017 after graduating from St. Mary’s High School in Stockton, but the Aggies were not in need of a quarterback with sophomore Jake Maier as the starter.

Dunniway never assumed he would start after Thomson packed his bags and moved to Washington in 2020 as a graduate transfer. An injury prevented Thomson, the 2019 Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year, from playing for the Huskies. He is now on the BC Lions practice squad in the Canadian Football League.

“Ever since (Thomson) left, I’ve always been in the mindset that they weren’t going to just hand me the job,” Dunniway explained. “I wanted to earn it. I just embraced the competition. I wasn’t going to run away from the challenge.”

Running is O’Hara’s forte. He has rushed for a team-high 593 yards and eight touchdowns. The 6-foot, 195-pound junior is fearless and often attempts to leap over defenders because he figures he has no chance of running them over. O’Hara had his first 100-yard game last Saturday, gaining 102 yards on just 13 carries and scoring on a 9-yard run in a 49-20 victory over Portland State.

Dunniway did his part by throwing for 281 yards and a touchdown. “After seeing what (O’Hara) could do in camp and I thought I was playing well,” Dunniway said, “I kind of agreed with the coaches that would be a good idea to play both of us.”



Hornets tackle FCS playoff test

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.