When ASU’s 2019 schedule was announced this contest arguably featured the weakest opponent of the Sun Devils’ schedule. Yet following Sacramento State’s 77-19 win last week over Southern Oregon, the Hornets could be a more challenging test than first believed. Let’s take a close look at Arizona State’s foe Friday night in Tempe.
Sacramento State Offense
A member of the UNLV roster from 2014-15, quarterback Kevin Thomson, a highly efficient passer with notable mobility in his third year as a starter looked quite sharp to begin the 2019 season for Sacramento State.
Thomson had a monster outing last week against Southern Oregon, completing 14-of-20 passes for 303 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions while also rushing for 90 yards on merely four carries with a touchdown score.
Last season, Thomson was limited and missed three games, throwing for 1,380 yards with eight touchdowns and just one interception while rushing for 134 net yards in seven games. For his career at Sacramento State (including last week), Thomson has appeared in 16 career games with 3,511 passing yards (55.9%) with 29 touchdowns and only four interceptions and has rushed 134 times for 718 yards with 10 touchdowns.
The most highly-acclaimed player on the entire team last season was Elijah Dotson, a First-Team All-Big Sky Conference honoree in 2018, was the only player for Sacramento State on offense, defense or special teams to earn first-team, second-team or third-team all-conference accolades last year. He rushed 185 times for 1,154 yards with nine touchdowns in 10 games and added 14 receptions for 160 yards.
Last week, Dotson had 110 combined rushing and receiving yards with three total touchdowns – seven carries for 38 yards with two scores and four receptions for 72 yards with a touchdown.
Dotson is backed on the depth chart by BJ Perkinson, who rushed for 117 yards on 46 carries with three touchdowns – all second on the team behind Dotson – in 2018. Perkinson had 39 yards on five carries with a touchdown last week.
Though not listed on this week’s two-deep at running back, Marcus Fulcher had a team-high 11 carries last week, adding up to 60 rushing yards with two touchdowns, while Ja’Narrick James had nine carries for 78 yards with a score as well.
Wide receiver Pierre Williams started the 2019 season where he left off last year, leading Sacramento State in week one with five receptions for 140 yards with three touchdowns. As a freshman last year, Williams paced the team with 31 receptions for 553 yards with five touchdowns.
Elsewhere at wide receiver, diminutive athlete Isaiah Gable (5-4, 150) is slated to start along with freshman Parker Clayton. Gable was listed as a running back in 2018 and rushed for 50 yards on the year but did not register a reception. Last week, Gable had two receptions for 53 yards while Clayton had a 16-yard reception in his college debut.
At tight end, yet another freshman is featured in the starting lineup in Marshel Martin, who caught two passes for 46 yards last week.
The Sacramento State offensive line figures to feature tackle Troy Stiefel and guard Nick Bianco on the left side, guard Thomas Parker and tackle Brandon Weldon on the right side with Wyatt Ming at center.
Ming (28) and Bianco (22) have the most career starts among all Sacramento State offensive players, while Parker has 11 career starts. Stiefel and Weldon are first-year starters in 2019, making their collegiate starting debuts last week.
Sacramento State Offense Summary
Sacramento State brings a talented backfield including Thomson at quarterback, who will not make many mistakes and is a threat to run, along with all-purpose standout Dotson and running back – in addition to big-play pass-catcher Williams at receiver.
Last year, Sacramento State averaged 24.1 points per game, 404.9 yards of total offense per game (215.2 passing, 189.7 rushing).
ASU’s talent advantage across the board should enable its defense to claim consistent matchup victories, but the Hornets have enough talent and experience to make the Sun Devils pay if lethargic play surfaces at any points.
Sacramento State Defense
Lining up in a 4-2-5 defense, Sacramento State plans to start Elijah Chambers and Dariyn Choates at defensive tackle.
Last season, Chambers posted a team-best 4.5 sacks as part of his 15 tackles and 5.5 total tackles-for-loss while starting the 2019 season with a sack in his only tackle last week. Choates chipped in 11 tackles with half-a-sack and had two tackles including one for loss last week.
The two defensive end positions – titled “Anchor” and “Rush” – appear to be entirely up for grabs, as three players on either side are listed with the ever-popular “or” beside their name in this week’s depth chart.
For what it’s worth, Wyatt Hjelm is listed as the top-ranking “or” player at “Anchor” defensive end with Killian Rosko at the top of the list at “Rush” end.
Rosko totaled 14 tackles including 3.5 for loss in 2018 while Hjelm posted seven tackles in nine games last year. Hjelm had one solo tackle last week and Rosko and two.
George Obinna is listed as a possible starter at “Anchor” and has a team-high on defense with 25 career starts.
Marcus Hawkins starts at middle linebacker with Miguel Garcia at SAM. Garcia had three tackles in two games last year, while Hawkins is in his debut season with the Hornets after transferring in from the junior college level. Hawkins had three tackles and an interception last week while Garcia had two tackles.
In the secondary, Davion Ross or Robert Lewis will start at cornerback opposite Daron Bland, with Caelan Barnes at free safety, Allen Perryman at strong safety and Marcus Bruce at nickel back.
Barnes is Sacramento State’s leading returning tackler for 2018 (71), while Bland had 44 tackles with an interception, while Perryman had 38 tackles and an interception last year and Bruce had 28 tackles.
Both Ross (redshirt freshman) and Lewis (transfer from Boise State) are seeing their first career action for Sacramento State in 2019.
Last week, Perryman had a team-high six tackles including one for loss with an interception, while Bruce had five tackles. Lewis had three tackles, Barnes had two, as did Bland along with an interception and Ross posted one.
Sacramento State Defense Summary
A year ago, Sacramento State was often obliterated on the ground by allowing 266.3 rushing yards per game with 31 touchdown runs in just 10 games – music to the ears of All-America back Eno Benjamin, his backups as well as quarterback Jayden Daniels.
In a Power Five versus FCS matchup such as this, not much diversity should be needed on offense so the Sun Devils could be in for a big day on the ground against the Hornets.
Overall, Sacramento State loses four of its top five tacklers from the 2018 season – a year that the Hornets did not show much of a playmaking side as the team totaled 13.0 sacks and five interceptions.
Last week, Sacramento State showed some playmaking life when it caused four interceptions and posted four sacks among 11 total tackles-for-loss against Southern Oregon.
Look for ASU’s offensive line to work toward collectively redeeming itself after a five-sack, seven-TFL effort allowed by Kent State last week in the opener.
Sacramento State Special Teams
Sacramento State features Devon Medeiros at kicker and Sam Clark. Last season, Medeiros connected on 10-of-15 field goals with a long of 39 yards and was perfect on his 26 PAT tries. He did not attempt a field goal last week but was perfect on his nine PATs.
Clark, an Australian, is in his first season as Sacramento State’s punter and had one 44-yard punt last week.
Scottsdale Saguaro alum Marqui Johnson and Marcus Fulcher are slated as the team’s top kickoff returners with Pierre Williams at punt returner. Johnson averaged 22.7 yards on three kick returns last week and Williams had one eight-yard punt return.
Both true freshmen in 2019, naturally neither Fulcher nor Johnson returned kicks for Sacramento State last year, while Williams only had two punt returns totaling six yards.
Overall Summary
Sacramento State and Arizona State have met just once, a 55-0 victory by the Sun Devils to open the 2013 season that ultimately resulted in ASU claiming the south division title.
ASU is 38-14-4 all-time against current members of the Big Sky Conference but have not suffered a defeat or endured a tie to such an opponent in more than 70 years. All 14 losses and four ties have come against Northern Arizona, but the most recent non-win for Arizona State in the series occurred in a 13-13 tie in 1946.
The Sun Devils are scheduled against the Big Sky with a measure of regularity, as ASU had 12 matchups with current Big Sky Conference teams from 2002-16, most recently against Northern Arizona in 2016.
Last year, Sacramento State mustered just two wins and was winless in conference play. Though the Hornets had an impressive box score in its opener with a 77-19 victory, it must be remembered that Sacramento State’s week one opponent, Southern Oregon, comes from the NAIA level. That is not to fully discredit Sacramento State’s opening effort by any means, but a slight brake-check to allow reasonable perspective to prevail.
After a 23-point opening week victory, there are points of definite confidence as well as areas for immediate opportunity for ASU, giving this week’s game a bit more intrigue than a typical early season matchup with an FCS squad.
Undoubtedly, objective number one is to iron wrinkles along the offensive line, a unit that endured an eleventh-hour shakeup last week due to the injury suffered by would-be starting center Cade Cote not long before game day.
All considered, Friday should result in a minimum four to five touchdown win for ASU, depending on how aggressive the staff opts to be with its late-game personnel with a trip to East Lansing against Michigan State up ahead.
Keys to a Sun Devil Victory
Don’t Look Ahead: The classic concern against an FCS level team, especially with a trip to Big Ten country on deck. ASU cannot sleepwalk through this game and have a finish similar to California’s last week with UC Davis – a tie game deep into the third quarter and just a 27-13 win for the Golden Bears – without stirring up a slew of concern among the fans.
Get Offensive on the Line: The midweek shakeup that took would-be starting center Cade Cote out of the lineup and thrust true freshman into his starting role caused a ripple effect that created a shaky day for the Sun Devil line, resulting in five sacks and seven tackles-for-loss surrendered to the Kent State defense and a subpar average of 3.7 yards-per-carry for ASU’s run game. The entire line should look at Sacramento State as an opportunity for immediate redemption and aim to silence those who scoff at the outlook for the offensive line in 2019.
Get In, Get Out: After playing essentially the entire game against Kent State, one would hope that quarterback Jayden Daniels and running back Eno Benjamin can enjoy some time on the sidelines this Friday. Perhaps just for a quarter or so, but it strikes as a wise idea not to have either or both players go the distance for ASU against Sacramento State as to be physically fresh against a violent defense such as Michigan State’s.
Familiar Faces
· DB Isaiah Butler (Mountain Pointe HS/Phoenix College), WR Marqui Johnson and DB Josiah Jacobs (both Scottsdale Saguaro HS) are all Arizona natives
· Sacramento State QB Roman Ale attended Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne High School, as did ASU LB Darien Butler
· Sacramento State OL Brysen Klinefelter attended El Dorado (Calif.) Oak Ridge High School, as did ASU LS Gage King
· Sacramento State LB Jack Lacy III attended Pittsburg (Calif.) High School, as did ASU DB Willie Harts
· Sacramento State DB Cedric McAfee attended the City College of San Francisco (Calif.), as did ASU RB Isaiah Floyd
· Sacramento State WR Johnnie Rucker attended Long Beach (Calif.) Poly High School, as did ASU DB Aashari Crosswell, DB Jack Jones, LB/FB Elijah Juarez, DL Jermayne Lole, DB Kejuan Markham, DB Keon Markham, and DB Kobe Williams. Rucker was coached as a high school senior in 2014 by ASU assistant coach Antonio Pierce.
· Sacramento State DB Dominic Sanders attended Rocklin (Calif.) Sierra College, as did ASU WR Brandon Aiyuk.
