College football: Sacramento State aims to rattle South Dakota State in FCS playoffs

The best offensive minds tend to have the most devious thoughts when it comes to attacking a defense.

Take Troy Taylor. He does devious quite well. Sacramento State’s third-year football coach delights in the idea of scheming a plan to stretch a defense to the breaking point. Destination: End zone. This sport becomes a chess match of sorts, and Saturday’s game board will play out at Hornet Stadium, where the No. 4-seeded Hornets will host South Dakota State in a second-round NCAA FCS playoff game.

Sacramento State (9-2) has won eight consecutive games, its longest such streak since 1966, in part because of preparation, execution and a dizzying offense that keeps defenses backpedaling. That’s the plan every week, and especially this one as the Hornets seek their first FCS postseason victory in just their second playoff appearance. Taylor’s aim is to create unease, doubt and fear on a defense by having his quarterbacks — Jake Dunniway and Asher O’Hara — attack soft spots, to dictate tempo, to peck away at a defense at all angles with balance and purpose.

“Preparation and playing fast with confidence,” Taylor said of his approach. “We want to have enough stuff to create some anxiety or trepidation for the defense.”

Taylor earned his second Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year honor this season for his program by going 8-0 in the Big Sky. Since he’s taken over the program, Sac State from going winless in the Big Sky in 2018 to going 16-1 against Big Sky teams since 2019. Offense is a big reason for the improvement.

Dunniway this season has passed for 2,245 yards and 11 touchdowns. O’Hara has rotated in with impact, passing for 855 yards and six scores and rushing for a team-high 655 yards and nine touchdowns. Cameron Skattebo has come on strong and has 497 yards rushing and six scores; Pierre Williams and Marshel Martin have been Sac State’s top receivers.

“The athletes they have, the schemes they run, it’s an impressive football program, and in order to have that success that early in a really good league, I think speaks for itself,” said South Dakota State coach John Stiegelmeier, who has his Jackrabbits in the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season. “They’re going to run a lot of plays. Speaking of marathons, our defense is going to be up for a marathon.”

Sac State also fields a fierce defense under coordinator Andy Thompson, and the Hornets will be tasked with slowing down a rushing attack that generated 446 yards on the ground in eliminating UC Davis 56-24 last week, a week after Sac State beat UCD 27-7 to clinch the Big Sky title.

Isaiah Davis and Pierre Strong combined to rush for 402 yards against UCD, averaging nearly 12 yards a carry for SDSU (9-3).

“If I was defending them, I would say ‘Holy nutmeg, these guys are good!’ and we’d better play really good run defense and be able to get off of blocks,” Stiegelmeier said of the chore of slowing down the Jackrabbits.

Another playoff shot

Taylor said he likes the mindset and approach of his team. Two years ago, the Hornets were in this same situation but were eliminated by Austin Peay. This time around, the Hornets are healthier, wiser, more fit and more aware of how hard it is to get to this point and how difficult it is to win.

Taylor praised his quarterbacks for how they have played and handled the rotation. He likes the running ability of O’Hara and his drive.

On Dunniway, the coach said, “He’s really consistent. He throws a great ball, makes good decisions and he’s always the same guy. He never flinches. We’re counting on him. We’re counting on the quarterback to steer the ship. When things go a little haywire, and they’re going to be ebbs and flows of every single game, you have to stay even-keel.”

Taylor added, “This is the ultimate team sport. In basketball, a guy can take over on his own. In football, that rarely happens. You have to have most of the parts working. That’s why it’s so beautiful when it all works.”

Dunniway said he appreciates Taylor for his leadership and the offensive guru that he is.

“He’s been a huge mentor for me, outside football and within the game,” he said. “He’s super intelligent in football. He’s an offensive mind so we speak the same language. We do appreciate when the coaches are brutally honest with us, about what we need to do. With Taylor, you feel so much confidence when he’s trusting you with so much responsibility. You trust one of the best coaches in the industry.”

He added, “We’re a really good team. We know they’re a great team. We want to pack the house. We want to keep this going.”