2018 Sacramento State Hornets football team

The 2018 Sacramento State Hornets football team represented California State University, Sacramento in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Jody Sears and played their home games at Hornet Stadium. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 2–8, 0–7 in Big Sky play to finish in last place.

2018 Sacramento State Hornets football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
2018 record	2–8 (0–7 Big Sky)
Head coach	Jody Sears (5th season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Luke Huard (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Paul Wulff (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Samuel Lawanson (5th season)
Home stadium	Hornet Stadium (Capacity: 21,195)

2018 Big Sky Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Weber State +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 2 Eastern Washington +^		7	–	1					12	–	3
No. 7 UC Davis +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 17 Montana State ^		5	–	3					8	–	5
Idaho State		5	–	3					6	–	5
Montana		4	–	4					6	–	5
Cal Poly		4	–	4					5	–	6
Northern Arizona		3	–	4					4	–	6
Portland State		3	–	5					4	–	7
Idaho		3	–	5					4	–	7
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					2	–	9
Southern Utah		1	–	7					1	–	10
Sacramento State		0	–	7					2	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Although North Dakota was classified as an independent, games against them still counted as Big Sky Conference games. Rankings from STATS Poll

On November 26, head coach Jody Sears was fired.[1] He finished at Sacramento State with a five-year record of 20–35.

Previous season

The Hornets finished the 2017 season 7–4, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for third place.

Preseason

Big Sky Kickoff

On July 16, 2018 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Hornets were predicted to finish in fifth place in the coaches poll and seventh place in the media poll.[2]

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	134 (6)
2	Weber State	124 (3)
3	Northern Arizona	121 (3)
4	Idaho	101 (1)
5	Sacramento State	94
6	Southern Utah	91
7	Montana	82
8	Montana State	76
9	UC Davis	64
10	Cal Poly	40
11	Northern Colorado	30
12	Idaho State	29
13	Portland State	21

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	651 (27)
2	Weber State	636 (19)
3	Northern Arizona	535 (1)
4	Montana	496 (2)
5	Idaho	483 (3)
6	Southern Utah	449 (1)
7	Sacramento State	415
8	Montana State	391 (1)
9	UC Davis	331 (1)
10	Idaho State	170
11	Cal Poly	169
12	Northern Colorado	166
13	Portland State	103

Preseason All-Conference Team

The Hornets had three players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.[3]

Andre Lindsey – Sr. WR

George Obinna – Sr. DE

Mister Harriel – Sr. S

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 p.m.	St. Francis (IL)*	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	CW 31	W 55–7	6,944
September 8	6:00 p.m.	at San Diego State*	SDCCU Stadium San Diego, CA		L 14–28	45,755
September 15	1:00 p.m.	at Northern Colorado*	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ELVN	W 28–25	3,768
September 22	12:00 p.m.	at No. 19 Montana	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	RTNW	L 34–41	24,060
October 6	6:00 p.m.	Cal Poly	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	CW 31	L 27–41	8,930
October 13	5:00 p.m.	at Southern Utah	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV 236	L 27–48	10,424
October 20	6:00 p.m.	North Dakota	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	CW 31	L 15–41	10,709
October 27	6:00 p.m.	Portland State	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	CW 31	L 14–41	3,267
November 3	11:00 a.m.	at No. 4 Weber State	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	Pluto TV 235	L 14–26	7,857
November 10	6:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	CW 31	Cancelled[lower-alpha 1]	–
November 17	1:00 p.m.	vs. No. 9 UC Davis	Mackay Stadium[lower-alpha 2] Reno, NV (Causeway Classic)	ELVN	L 13–56	2,482
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

1. The game against Northern Arizona on November 10 was cancelled due to unhealthy air quality as a result of the Camp Fire in Northern California.[4]
2. The game against UC Davis on November 17 was moved to Mackay Stadium in Reno, Nevada due to unhealthy air quality as a result of the Camp Fire in Northern California.[5]

[6]

Despite also being a member of the Big Sky, the game vs. Northern Colorado will be a non-conference game and will have no effect on the Big Sky standings.

Game summaries

St. Francis (IL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Saints	0	0	7	0	7
Hornets	10	21	14	10	55

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at San Diego State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	0	7	7	0	14
Aztecs	7	6	0	15	28

See also: 2018 San Diego State Aztecs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	7	0	7	14	28
Bears	7	7	3	8	25

See also: 2018 Northern Colorado Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–2	2017	SAC, 50–21

at Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	14	14	3	3	34
No. 19 Grizzlies	14	10	7	10	41

See also: 2018 Montana Grizzlies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–19	2016	MONT, 68–7

Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	14	7	6	14	41
Hornets	14	0	3	10	27

See also: 2018 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
17–20	2017	SAC, 49–14

at Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	21	3	0	3	27
Thunderbirds	7	20	14	7	48

See also: 2018 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–8	2017	SAC, 54–27

North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Hawks	14	0	20	7	41
Hornets	3	7	5	0	15

See also: 2018 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–3	2017	SAC, 34–27

Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	3	21	3	14	41
Hornets	0	7	0	7	14

See also: 2018 Portland State Vikings football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
12–22	2016	SAC, 42–35

at Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	0	0	7	7	14
No. 4 Wildcats	3	10	13	0	26

See also: 2018 Weber State Wildcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–14	2017	WEB, 31–24

at UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	3	7	3	0	13
No. 9 Aggies	14	21	7	14	56

See also: 2018 UC Davis Aggies football team and Causeway Classic

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
20–45	2017	SAC, 52–47

References

1. Frey, Thomas (November 26, 2018). "Sac State fires head football coach Jody Sears after 2–8 season". www.statehornet.com. The State Hornet. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
2. "Eastern Washington Picked to Win the Big Sky".
3. "Doss, Buss Headline Big Sky Football Preseason All-Conference Team".
4. "Football Game Against NAU Officially Cancelled". www.hornetsports.com. Sacramento State Athletics. November 13, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
5. "Causeway Classic Relocated To Mackay Stadium In Reno". www.hornetsports.com. Sacramento State Athletics. November 16, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
6. "Football". Sacramento State Athletics. Retrieved April 30, 2018.