- For information on all California State University, Sacramento sports, see Sacramento State Hornets
The Sacramento State Hornets football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the California State University, Sacramento located in the U.S. state of California. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Big Sky Conference. The school's first football team was fielded in 1954. The team plays its home games at the 21,195 seat Hornet Stadium. They are currently coached by Interim Head Coach Jody Sears.
History
In 1954, Dave Strong was named the first football coach for the Hornets football program. The program's first victory came in the second season, during the 1955 season, where the Hornets defeated Southern Oregon by a point, which was also their only win of the season (they failed to win a game in their inaugural season in which they went 0-7). Sacramento State Football was first affiliated with the Northern California Athletic Conference from 1954 through 1984 (formerly the Far Western Conference until 1982). It later joined the Western Football Conference from 1985 through 1992. In 1993, it was part of the American West Conference, but would later accept an invitation to the Big Sky Conference along with conference member Cal State Northridge in 1996.[1] Hornet Stadium has been home to the football team since 1969. The program's all time football record is (252-339-8).[2]
The history of Sac State football classifications
- 1954-1960 No Classification
- 1961-1972 NCAA College Division (Small College)
- 1973-1992 NCAA Division II
- 1993–present NCAA Division I-AA.
The history of Sac State football conferences
- 1954-1984 Northern California Athletic Conference (NCAC, formerly Far Western Conference until 1982)
- 1985-1992 Western Football Conference (WFC)
- 1993-1995 American West Conference (AWC)
- 1996–present Big Sky Conference (BSC)
Hornet's coaching history
- 1954-1956 Dave Strong, (4-18-1, head coaching record)
- 1957-1960 John W. Baker,(15-22-0)
- 1961-1975 Ray Clemons, (72-75-3)
- 1976-1977 Glenn Brad, (2-18-1)
- 1978-1992 Bob Mattos, (84-73-2)
- 1993-1994 Mike Clemons, (9-11-0)
- 1995-2002 John Volek, (31-57-1)
- 2003-2006 Steve Mooshagian, (11-33-0)
- 2007-2014 Marshall Sperbeck, (24-32-0)
- 2014-2015 Jody Sears (7-5-0)
Past success and notable games
The team were never ranked in any major polls by the end of all their past seasons, but have won a total of 4 conference titles since 1954. The Hornets football team participated in 2 bowls, The Pasadena Bowl in 1968 against Grambling State, where the Hornets lost 7-34, and The Camellia Bowl in 1964 ( 1964 College Division National Runner-up), where Montana State Bobcats defeated the Hornets 28-7.
One of Sac State's most notable wins came on September 3, 2011 in the season opener for both Sac State and Oregon State Beavers of the Pac-12 conference at Reser Stadium. The Hornets upset the Beavers in OT 29-28 with a 2-point conversion pass from QB Jeff Flemming to WR Brandyn Reed, beating an AQ (or BCS) Conference team for the first time in school history in front of an announced crowd of 41,581. The Beavers were a 23 point favorite coming into the game. Just four weeks after the win over Oregon State, the Hornets defeated FCS national power Montana for the program's first ever win over the Montana Grizzlies on September 24, 2011. Hornets defeated the then #10 ranked Grizzlies by a score of 42-28 in Hornet Stadium.
On September 8, 2012, Sac State defeated Colorado Buffaloes of the Pac-12 conference, at Folsom Field as 20 point underdogs.[3] Colorado jumped to an early 14-0 start but the Hornets quickly answered back with a pair of touchdown passes from Hornets QB Garrett Safron and a 2-yard rushing touchdown by A.J. Ellis to lead 21-14 over the Buffaloes.[4] Sac State led 24-21 during intermission. With less than a minute left in the fourth quarter and down 28-27, Hornet's walk-on kicker, Edgar Castenada, made the 31-yard field goal winning kick for a final score of 30-28. After the game, Hornets Head Coach Marshall Sperbeck announced in the locker room that Sacramento State has offered Castendada a scholarship.[5] This marked a consecutive year in which Sac State faced an AQ conference school (both in the Pac-12 conference) as heavy underdogs on the road and walked out with victories.
Rivalries
Sacramento State Football team plays against their arch rivals, UC Davis Aggies, annually and usually the last game of the regular season. This rivalry game is known as The Causeway Classic, and each team competes for the Causeway Carriage, referring to the fact that the schools are connected by the long Yolo Causeway bridge over Yolo Bypass flood way. UC Davis leads the series 40 to 18 with no ties. This game has drawn crowds up to 18,000 in the Hornet Stadium, and is widely popular in the local area. Other notable rivalries includes Portland State, Eastern Washington, Weber State, the Montana schools and Big Sky conference foes.
Bowl history
Past Hornets drafted in the NFL
Notable former players
Most notable alumni include:
References
External links
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- 1954
- 1955
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