Goliath thing, and their offensive line is a microcosm for that,” Lamb said. The key for the UNC defense will be to turn Sacramento State into a one-dimensional offense.

Richardson played high school football in Folsom, California, with Bennett and seven other Sacramento State players including starters Cameron Broussard (safety), DeShawn Lynch and Tyler Hardeman (defensive line). They played a lot of games over the last few years. Ivan Garza (6-foot-5 junior), Nathan Mejia (6-3, sophomore), Jackson Slater (6-4 junior and AP 3rd team All American in ‘22), Kaden Richardson (6-3 junior) and Troy Stiefel (6-5 senior) have been stalwarts on the offensive line this year. He’s second in passing yards per game (233) and sixth in rushing yards per game (64.8). He’s accumulated 1,491 yards in five games. That balance keeps a defense off guard because the Hornets might run on what appears to be a passing down and vice versa.īennett leads the conference in total offense at 298 yards a game. Sacramento State will be the most balanced offense the Bears have seen this season. Quarterback Kaiden Bennett contributes to the run game in what’s known as a plus one because the QB adds an extra body to the rush.īennett is a dual threat as a runner and passer behind an experienced offensive line. Sacramento State is a run-first team on offense, Lamb said. Bailey was a preseason All-Big Sky pick this year, and he was a first-team selection at the end of last season. One player for whom the Bears will have to account is linebacker Armon Bailey, a 6-foot-1, 231-pound senior who leads the team in tackles (43, 19 solo, 24 assisted). Bailey has 43 tackles with a team-best 19 solo tackles and tied for team high with 24 assisted tackles. Sacramento State senior linebacker Armon Bailey is the Hornets’ leading tackler heading into a Big Sky Conference game at the University of Northern Colorado on Saturday, Oct. “Simple, sound, solid and playing hard,” Lamb said. The Hornets’ defensive unit might not do anything complicated, he said, but they are good as a group. Lamb said Sacramento State is “pretty straightforward” on defense. The Bears have won 28 conference games, and their best is 4-4 (in 20). UNC has never won more than four conference games since it joined the Big Sky in 2006.

8 Football Championship Subdivision polls. Sacramento State is ranked fourth and fifth in two Oct. Sacramento State’s only loss is to BSC opponent and now third-ranked Idaho 36-27 on Sept. The Hornets come into the game with a 1-1 record in the Big Sky and 4-1 overall. UNC is 0-2 in the Big Sky and 0-5 overall. Saturday at Nottingham Field as part of UNC’s homecoming and family and friends weekend. The game against Sacramento State kicks off at 1 p.m. Weber State won 28-21 on the go-ahead score with 1:46 to play. Weber State was ranked 14th when the Wildcats played in Greeley last month and found themselves trailing 21-7 with under seven minutes to play. Lamb, the UNC coaches and players have another chance to earn “that elusive win,” as the head coach called it, at home this week against nationally ranked Sacramento State. Weber State) where the opponent felt like they were going to win, even though nothing was going their way for a long period of time.” “I think you could feel the momentum turn in our last game (Sept. “I still think there is a lack of confidence and necessary breakthroughs we need to have in order to feel like we’re going to win,” Lamb said this week. And to feel it in a way they might not have felt even when leading Weber State by two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter two weeks ago. Now it’s time for the UNC players to believe they can win. Northern Colorado football coach Ed Lamb said he thinks the Bears, though winless, have shown they can compete with opponents in the Big Sky Conference.

Sacramento rainfall totals 2021