2018 College Football Team Previews: Sacramento State Hornets

Sacramento State Hornets
Location: Sacramento, CA
Coach: Jody Sears (18-27 at Sac St., 22-46 overall) 5th Season
Stadium: Hornet Stadium (Capacity: 21,195)

CSJ Projections:
6th: Big Sky
7th: California
30th: FCS
145th: Division I

2017 In A Sentence: The Hornets had one of its best seasons in the Division I era for a team that moved up from DII in 1993–just narrowly missing out on a playoff berth despite a 7-4 overall record.

Biggest Shoes to Fill: DE Ben Sorensen was a third team All-American performer last year as well as an All-Big Sky first teamer. He led the Big Sky and tied for fifth in the FCS with 10.0 sacks (1.00 per game). He spearheaded a Hornet defense which set the school Div. I-era record with 43 sacks and led the FCS in sacks per game.

Key Player: QB Kevin Thomson is back for his senior season after a remarkable 2017 season. He was a big part of changing an offense that went from tying for last in scoring in the Big Sky in 2016 to averaging 37.6 points (5th best in FCS) a year ago. Thomson, who was injured in and forced to sit the last three games, set a Hornet school record with a 171.80 passing efficiency rating. He totaled 26 touchdowns with just three interceptions.

Fearless Prediction: The Hornets have all the ingredients to make a run at a playoff berth this year. The key will be keeping Thomson healthy and to keep the defense at its high performing self as well as overcoming a schedule that includes NAIA St. Francis of Illinois, which likely means the Hornets will need an 8-win campaign.

Kent Schmidt

Originally from LaMoure, North Dakota, Kent is a 1996 graduate of North Dakota State University. His prior writing experience is over 15 years having previously worked with D2football.com, I-AA.org, and College Sporting News before coming to College Sports Journal in 2016. His main focus is college football in the western half of the United States– the Big Sky Conference and Missouri Valley Football Conference within the Division I FCS. And in 2017, he began also to look at the FBS Group of Five conferences of the American Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sun Belt.

Reach him at this email or click below: