Cal Poly football blown out on homecoming by Sacramento State in Big Sky opener
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Jake Dunniway and Asher O'Hara combined for 337 yards and three touchdowns passing to lead No. 5 Sacramento State to a 49-21 Big Sky Conference football victory over Cal Poly on Saturday afternoon inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
Dunniway connected on 16 of 22 passes for 246 yards and two scores while O'Hara completed seven of 11 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown for the visiting Hornets (4-0, 1-0 Big Sky).
Cal Poly, which fell to 1-3 and 0-1, had the ball for seven more minutes than Sacramento State and the Hornets were called for nine more penalties than the Mustangs, but earned their third straight win in the series to pull within one game of the Mustangs, 21-20.
Cameron Skattebo rushed for two touchdowns and caught another scoring pass for Sacramento State. His scoring runs were four and 35 yards and he caught a 16-yard scoring pass from Dunniway, finishing with 84 rushing yards on 10 carries.
O'Hara added 68 yards on the ground, scoring once on a one-yard run.
Marshel Martin and Pierre Williams both caught five passes to lead the Hornet receivers. Williams, Jared Gipson and Scattebo were on the receiving end of the three touchdown passes throrn by the Hornet quarterbacks.
Held scoreless in the first half, Cal Poly trailed 28-0 before getting on the scoreboard in the third period as Shakobe Harper ran four yards for a touchdown.
The Mustangs added two more scores in the final period on a 26-yard pass from Spencer Brasch to Logan Booher in the left corner of the end zone and a two-yard run by Adam Garwood moments after Brasch hit Chris Coleman with a 32-yard pass.
Brasch completed 27 of 46 passes for 281 yards and one score. His 27 completions are a career high. Tight end Josh Cuevas was Brasch's favorite target with seven receptions for 41 yards while Coleman and Zedakiah Centers each caught five passes, Coleman missing the 100-yard mark by three yards.
Sacramento State compiled a 564-387 advantage in total offense and was seven of 13 on third-down plays.
Mustang leaders defensively were linebacker Laipeli Palu with six tackles and six others notched five stops. David Meyer recorded a sack while Donovan Saunders and Connor Heffler earned interceptions.
Sacramento State's Armon Bailey made nine tackles, one of them a sack, and Dylan Jorge returned an interception 80 yards with two minutes to play in the game.
Cal Poly Plays its next two Big Sky games on the road, visiting Northern Arizona next Saturday and Idaho State on Oct. 15.
