Sacramento State football returns from BYE, to face Weber State

Stingers Up: The Sacramento State Football Podcast with Jason Ross is BACK!

On this week’s edition of Stingers Up: The Sacramento State Football Podcast, Jason sits down with Sacramento State Athletic Director Mark Orr to discuss the school’s plan for its new football stadium, the football program’s progress through conference realignment, and more.

You can also listen to and watch Stingers Up: The Sacramento State Football Podcast on the Sactown Sports 1140 YouTube page.

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The following is courtesy of Sacramento State Football

A BRIEF PREVIEW

• Sacramento State football returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 11, when it plays at Weber State at 5 p.m. PT. The Hornets have not played a road game since Sept. 6 at Nevada. Since that time, the team played three consecutive home games and had its lone bye week of the season.
• Both teams are 2-3 overall and 0-1 in Big Sky Conference games. The Hornets most recently fell 32-24 to Cal Poly as Sacramento State could not overcome three first-half interceptions. Rodney Hammond, Jr., became the second player this season to cross the century mark as he had 105 rushing yards in the game.
• With its bye week in the books, the Hornets will now play seven straight conference games to end the regular season.
• This week’s game will be streamed on ESPN+. Brandon Garside and former Utah State quarterback Riley Jensen will call the action.

OPPONENT PREVIEW: WEBER STATE

• Weber State opened the season with back-to-back road losses at James Madison and Arizona. Against FCS teams, the Wildcats are 2-1 with a 42-41 win at McNeese,  a 38-24 home win against Butler and then a 34-12 defeat at UC Davis. Saturday’s game will be just the second home game for WSU this season.
• Jackson Gilkey, a transfer from UTSA, had taken over as the starting quarterback for Weber State but is expected to miss week’s game with a leg injury. Gilkey has completed 59-of-115 passes (51.3 percent) for 693 yards and four touchdowns with nine interceptions. Gilkey also ranks second on the team in rushing as he’s picked up 227 yards and a score on 51 carries. His total only trails Davion Godley who has rushed for 361 yards and three scores.
• Linebacker Mason Hitchens is the team’s leading tackler with 32 total stops. As a team, the Wildcats have created 10 sacks and 27 tackles-for-loss. Josh Hardy leads the team with two sacks while Keanist Thompson has a team-high 3.5 TFLs.
• Mickey Mental is in his third season leading WSU and owns a 12-16 record during that span. Prior to taking the job at Weber State, Mental was the head coach at NCAA Div. II Notre Dame College (Ohio) where his teams produced a 16-2 record in two seasons.

BYE, BYE, BYE

• Sacramento State has won six of its last eight games immediately following a bye. The Hornets defeated Portland State, 42-34, in 2016, topped Idaho State, 41-21, in 2017, knocked off then-No. 22 EWU 48-27 in 2019, blew out Southern Utah, 41-20, in 2021, won at UNI, 37-21, in 2023 and posted a 21-13 win at UNC in 2024.
• The team’s only losses during that stretch came in 2018 where the Hornets fell to Cal Poly, 41-27 and last season at home against Eastern Washington (35-28).
• Prior to the recent success, Sacramento State had an unbelievable 10-game losing streak coming off a bye from 2006-15. The schedule makers did no favors to the Hornets in that skid as the team faced a ranked opponent in six of those games.

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