2022 Sacramento State Hornets football team

2022 Sacramento State Hornets football
Big Sky co-champion
NCAA Division I Quarterfinal, L 63–66 vs. Incarnate Word
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 5
FCS Coaches	No. 4
Record	12–1 (8–0 Big Sky)
Head coach	Troy Taylor (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Kris Richardson (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast
Defensive coordinator	Andy Thompson (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Hornet Stadium
Seasons ←  2021 2023  →

2022 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Montana State +^		8	–	0					12	–	2
No. 5 Sacramento State +^		8	–	0					12	–	1
No. 9 Weber State ^		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 18 Idaho ^		6	–	2					7	–	5
No. 25 UC Davis		5	–	3					6	–	5
No. 14 Montana ^		4	–	4					8	–	5
Portland State		3	–	5					4	–	7
Eastern Washington		2	–	6					3	–	8
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					3	–	8
Northern Arizona		2	–	6					3	–	8
Idaho State		1	–	7					1	–	10
Cal Poly		1	–	7					2	–	9
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2022 Sacramento State Hornets football team represented California State University, Sacramento as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by third-year head coach Troy Taylor, the Hornets played their home games on campus at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California.

This season set multiple milestones for Sac State. They beat an FBS team for the first time since 2012 with a 41–10 victory over Colorado State. ^[1] The Hornets claimed their best start to a season in school history when they won their seventh game against Montana 31–24 in overtime, and completed their first perfect regular season in school history following a 27–21 victory over UC Davis. ^[2] They won their first ever FCS playoff game with a 38–31 win over Richmond. ^[3] However, in the highest-scoring game in FCS playoff history, they were upset by Incarnate Word in the quarterfinals, 66–63. ^[4]

After the season in December, Taylor left for Stanford University and defensive coordinator Andy Thompson was promoted to head coach for 2023. ^[5]

Preseason

Polls

On July 25, 2022, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Hornets were predicted to finish second in the Big Sky by the coaches and third by the media. ^[6]

Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Hornets had five players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team. ^[7]

Offense Marshel Martin – TE Pierre Williams – WR Brandon Weldon – OL Asher O'Hara – QB

Special teams Kyle Sentkowski – K

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:30 p.m.	Utah Tech *	No. 7	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	KMAX/ESPN+	W 56–33	10,257
September 17	2:00 p.m.	at Northern Iowa *	No. 8	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN+	W 37–21	8,818
September 24	1:00 p.m.	at Colorado State *	No. 7	Canvas Stadium Fort Collins, CO		W 41–10	25,445
October 1	5:00 p.m.	at Cal Poly	No. 5	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	ESPN+	W 49–21	8,184
October 8	6:00 p.m.	Northern Colorado	No. 5	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	KMAX/ESPN+	W 55–7	11,013
October 15	4:00 p.m.	at Eastern Washington	No. 5	Roos Field Cheney, WA	ESPN+	W 52–28	6,276
October 22	8:00 p.m.	No. 7 Montana	No. 2	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	ESPN2	W 31–24 OT	15,927
October 29	6:00 p.m.	No. 14 Idaho	No. 2	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	KMAX/ESPN+	W 31–28	17,241
November 5	12:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Weber State	No. 2	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	ESPN+	W 33–30	7,152
November 11	7:00 p.m.	at Portland State	No. 2	Hillsboro Stadium Hillsboro, OR	ESPN+	W 45–17	2,891
November 19	2:00 p.m.	No. 24 UC Davis	No. 2	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA (Causeway Classic)	KMAX/ESPN+	W 27–21	23,073
December 3	2:00 p.m.	No. 13 Richmond	No. 2	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN+	W 38–31	9,136
December 9	7:30 p.m.	No. 5 Incarnate Word	No. 2	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN+	L 63–66	13,722
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

^[8]

Game summaries

Utah Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Trailblazers	0	10	9	14	33
No. 7 Hornets	21	14	14	7	56

See also: 2022 Utah Tech Trailblazers football team

At Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Hornets	7	17	3	10	37
Panthers	7	0	14	0	21

See also: 2022 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

At Colorado State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Hornets	7	17	7	10	41
Rams	0	10	0	0	10

See also: 2022 Colorado State Rams football team

At Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Hornets	7	14	14	14	49
Mustangs	0	0	7	14	21

See also: 2022 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	7	0	7
No. 5 Hornets	7	17	21	10	55

See also: 2022 Northern Colorado Bears football team

At Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Hornets	21	14	10	7	52
Eagles	0	21	7	0	28

See also: 2022 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

No. 7 Montana

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 7 Grizzlies	7	3	7	7	0	24
No. 2 Hornets	0	7	0	17	7	31

See also: 2022 Montana Grizzlies football team

No. 14 Idaho

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Vandals	0	7	7	14	28
No. 2 Hornets	7	10	7	7	31

See also: 2022 Idaho Vandals football team

At No. 5 Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Hornets	7	9	7	10	33
No. 5 Wildcats	7	0	7	16	30

See also: 2022 Weber State Wildcats football team

At Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Hornets	7	17	14	7	45
Vikings	0	0	3	14	17

See also: 2022 Portland State Vikings football team

No. 24 UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Aggies	3	7	3	8	21
No. 2 Hornets	10	7	0	10	27

See also: 2022 UC Davis Aggies football team and Causeway Classic

FCS Playoffs

No. 13 Richmond – Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Spiders	14	7	10	0	31
No. 2 Hornets	7	10	7	14	38

See also: 2022 Richmond Spiders football team and 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season

No. 5 Incarnate Word – Quarterfinal

See also: 2022 Incarnate Word Cardinals football team and 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season

No. 5 Incarnate Word Cardinals at No. 2 Sacramento State Hornets - NCAA Division I Quarterfinal

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Cardinals	7	21	10	28	66
No. 2 Hornets	14	3	17	29	63

at Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, CA

• Date: December 9
• Game time: 7:30 p.m.
• Game weather: Temperature: 48 • Wind: None • Weather: Sunny
• Game attendance: 13,722
• Referee: Bruce Austin
• TV announcers (ESPN+): Connor Onion (play-by-play) and Charles Arbuckle (analyst)
• Box Score

Game information

First Quarter SACST – 8:53 Cameron Skattebo 1 yard run, Kyle Sentkowski kick SACST 7–0 Drive: 10 plays, 81 yards, 3:12 UIW – 5:12 Marcus Cooper 20 yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr., Carson Mohr kick Tied 7–7 Drive: 11 plays, 86 yards, 3:34 SACST – 2:28 Marcus Fulcher 35 yard run, Kyle Sentkowski kick SACST 14–7 Drive: 6 plays, 65 yards, 2:44 Second Quarter UIW – 12:37 Lindsey Scott Jr. 1 yard run, Carson Mohr kick Tied 14–14 Drive: 15 plays, 79 yards, 4:45 SACST – 7:25 Kyle Sentkowski 30 yard field goal SACST 17–14 Drive: 13 plays, 66 yards, 5:07 UIW – 2:56 Roger McCuller 2 yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr., Carson Mohr kick UIW 21–17 Drive: 6 plays, 29 yards, 1:43 UIW – 0:11 Marcus Cooper, 4 yard run, Carson Mohr kick UIW 28–17 Drive: 9 plays, 39 yards, 1:23 Third Quarter SACST – 11:04 Cameron Skattebo 2 yard run, Kyle Sentkowski kick UIW 28–24 Drive: 12 plays, 75 yards, 3:56 UIW - 8:26 Carson Mohr 27 yard field goal UIW 31–24 Drive: 8 plays, 73 yards, 2:31 SACST – 4:16 Pierre Williams 16 yard pass from Asher O'Hara, Kyle Sentkowski kick Tied 31–31 Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 4:04 UIW – 2:29 Darion Chafin 47 yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr., Carson Mohr kick UIW 38–31 Drive: 5 plays, 74 yards, 1:42 SACST – 0:04 Kyle Sentkowski 26 yard field goal UIW 38–34 Drive: 9 plays, 49 yards, 2:17 Fourth Quarter UIW – 14:50 Lindsey Scott Jr. 64 yard run, Carson Mohr kick UIW 45–34 Drive: 1 play, 64 yards, 0:10 SACST – 12:08 Marshel Martin 19 yard pass from Cameron Skattebo, Kyle Sentkowski kick UIW 45–41 Drive: 7 plays, 67 yards, 2:37 SACST – 10:12 Marshel Martin 14 yard pass from Jake Dunniway, Kyle Sentkowski kick SACST 48–45 Drive: 6 plays, 55 yards, 1:53 UIW – 9:23 Marcus Cooper yard run, Carson Mohr kick UIW 52–48 Drive: 3 plays, 75 yards, 0:49 UIW – 8:30 Kelechi Anyalebechi 55 yard fumble recovery, Carson Mohr kick UIW 59–48 SACST – 4:57 Pierre Williams 10 yard pass from Jake Dunniway, Marcus Fulcher pass from Jake Dunniway UIW 59–56 Drive: 9 plays, 70 yards, 3:27 SACST – 1:43 Marshel Martin 4 yard run, Kyle Sentkowski kick SACST 63–59 Drive: 8 plays, 57 yards, 3:14 UIW – 0:27 Taylor Grimes 21 yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr., Carson Mohr kick UIW 66–63 Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 1:16 Passing UIW – Lindsey Scott Jr. 19/31, 219 YDS, 4 TD SACST – Jake Dunniway 19/32, 228 YDS, 2 TD, 2 INT Rushing UIW – Marcus Cooper 22 ATT, 176 YDS, 2 TD SACST – Marcus Fulcher 9 ATT, 108 YDS, 1 TD Receiving UIW – Taylor Grimes 6 REC, 53 YDS, 1 TD SACST – Marshel Martin 12 REC, 144 YDS, 2 TD

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	7	7	8	7	5	5	5	2 (1)	2 (2)	2 (1)	2 (6)	2 (7)	2 (9)	5
Coaches	7	6	7	6	5	4	5	3	3	3 (2)	2 (6)	2 (5)	2 (4)	4

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2023 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL team
3	76	Marte Mapu	LB	New England Patriots

References

1. Davidson, Joe (September 25, 2022). "'That was fun': Sacramento State blasts upper-division Colorado State". The Sacramento Bee . Retrieved December 6, 2022.
2. Martinez, Jeremiah (November 29, 2022). "Sac State Hornets to host playoff game, here's a look back at their undefeated season". KTXL . Retrieved December 6, 2022.
3. Davidson, Joe (December 4, 2022). "Slingin' in the rain: Sacramento State airs it out vs. Richmond for first FCS playoff win". The Sacramento Bee . Retrieved December 6, 2022.
4. Davidson, Joe (December 10, 2022). "Incarnate Word QB Lindsey Scott Jr. ends Sac State's dream season in FCS playoff classic". The Sacramento Bee . Retrieved December 10, 2022.
5. Dapper, Michelle (December 16, 2022). "Sacramento State football welcomes Andy Thompson as new head coach". KCRA. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
6. "Montana Tabbed Big Sky Preseason Favorites by Coaches & Media". July 25, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
7. "FOOTBALL PICKED SECOND BY COACHES, THIRD BY MEDIA; FIVE EARN PRESEASON HONORS". hornetsports.com. July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
8. "2022 Football Schedule". Sacramento State Athletics. Retrieved May 16, 2021.