Game 1 Recap

By Chase Guida

Sacramento, CA - Welp, Sac State went into South Dakota with a bunch of hype and left with… I don’t know what they left with, but oh my god, that was not good. 

It should be mentioned that South Dakota State is one of, if not THE toughest opponent, the Hornets will face this regular season, and their defensive-minded head coach was put on this earth to cripple offenses like Sac State’s, but still it would’ve been nice to see SOMETHING from the offense.

The run game was non-existent, routinely forcing the Hornet offense to 2nd/3rd and longs, which unfortunately put the ball in the hands of Jaden Rashada. Rashada finished 11/27 for 107 yards and an interception, and that wouldn’t have been enough even against my 0-8 14u football team. 

As an offense, they finished with 131 total yards, going 2-13 on 3rd downs and 0-4 on 4th downs. It was difficult to see if it was poor execution from the players or just poor coaching, but to be honest, it was probably both. The offense seemed to have no plan to begin the game, no plan to get Rashada more comfortable, and no plan to establish a true run game. The play calling honestly reminded me of myself playing EA’s CFB26 after a Twisted Tea and Coors Light. The GoGo is now the StopStop until further notice.

On the bright side of things, I thought Sac State's defense was extremely opportunistic and made some big plays in the first half to keep it reasonable, and then, for the most part, locked down in the 2nd half, leaving the door swinging wide open several times for the Sac State offense to take advantage. The defense finished the game with 7 sacks and 11 tackles for loss, and an impressive performance from their captain, inside linebacker Derek Houston, who finished with a career high 14 tackles. 

Offense wasn’t a total wash as Jordan Anderson was the lone bright spot of that side of the ball. In a game that only had 11 completed passes by the Hornet offense, he received 4 of them for 49 yards, including an impressive diving reception on the sideline, a shoestring catch, and a hospital ball that he was able to hold onto while absorbing an absolute blow from one of South Dakota State's linebackers.

There’s no denying this Sac State team has talent; it’s now the coach's duty to figure out a way to optimize that talent before it is too late. They will have a big test next week versus FBS team Nevada, who will be determined to make a statement after their 11-46 loss to #2 seed Penn State.