Eastern Washington University’s football team’s 3-game win streak was brought to a halt by Sacramento State on Saturday, Nov. 1. The Eagles were unable to stop the Hornet rushing attack and lost 35-13. They are now 4-5 this season and 3-2 in Big Sky conference games.
Sacramento State’s plan became apparent early: Run the ball. On the second play of the game, senior running back Rodney Hammond Jr. found a crease and ran for 61 yards. Three plays later, junior quarterback Cardell Williams ran for a 1-yard touchdown to put the Hornets up 7-0. Sacramento State finished the game with 56 rushing attempts and just 6 attempted passes.
EWU was forced to punt after a 4-play drive, but quickly regained possession. On Sacramento State’s second drive, Williams’ first pass attempt of the game was intercepted by Eastern Washington sophomore cornerback Jonathan Landry. It was Landry’s first career interception.
Freshman running back Wilson Medina took advantage of the Sacramento State turnover. He caught a 5-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Nate Bell for the first touchdown of his college career to tie the game.
The Hornets fumbled the ball on the second play of their next drive, and after a career-best 51-yard kick from junior kicker Soren McKee, the Eagles led 10-7. However, the rest of the game was controlled by Sacramento State.
Hammond Jr. ran for a 59-yard touchdown to respond to the Eagle touchdown and give the Hornets a 14-10 lead. He finished the game with 208 yards and 2 touchdowns on 22 rushing attempts. He is now ranked fourth in the Big Sky Conference in rushing yards per game.
Sacramento State was not done scoring long touchdowns. In the second quarter, freshman running back Jaquail Smith ran for a 45-yard touchdown. He finished with 117 yards and 2 touchdowns, and has now crossed the 100-yard mark in 3 of his first 5 college games.
On Eastern Washington’s next drive, Bell appeared to injure his arm and went into the medical tent. He was replaced by freshman quarterback Jake Schakel, who played the remainder of the game. He completed 24 of his 38 pass attempts for 201 scoreless yards.
Hammond scored his second touchdown of the day later in the second quarter on a 7-yard run to the outside. Smith’s second score came in the fourth quarter and was the Hornet’s fifth rushing touchdown. In total, Sacramento State ran for 376 yards, while the Eagles had 278 yards of total offense.
The loss caused EWU to trade places with Sacramento State in the Big Sky standings. The Eagles are now ranked fifth, while the Hornets are in fourth place. Eastern Washington has three more games to move up the conference leaderboard.
The first of those chances will be in Missoula, Montana, on Nov. 8, where EWU will take on the undefeated Montana Grizzlies, who are currently ranked as the third-best FCS team in the country by the NCAA. The game will start at 12 p.m. PT and can be streamed on ESPN+.
