2022 Sacramento State Hornets football team

2022 Sacramento State Hornets football
Big Sky co-champion
NCAA Division I FCS Quarterfinal, L 63–66 vs. Incarnate Word
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 5
FCS Coaches	No. 4
Record	12–1 (8–0 Big Sky)
Head coach	Troy Taylor (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Kris Richardson (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Andy Thompson (3rd season)
Home stadium	Hornet Stadium
Seasons ← 2021 2023 →

2022 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Montana State +^		8	–	0					12	–	2
No. 5 Sacramento State +^		8	–	0					12	–	1
No. 9 Weber State ^		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 18 Idaho ^		6	–	2					7	–	5
No. 25 UC Davis		5	–	3					6	–	5
No. 14 Montana ^		4	–	4					8	–	5
Portland State		3	–	5					4	–	7
Eastern Washington		2	–	6					3	–	8
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					3	–	8
Northern Arizona		2	–	6					3	–	8
Idaho State		1	–	7					1	–	10
Cal Poly		1	–	7					2	–	9
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2022 Sacramento State Hornets football team represented California State University, Sacramento as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by third-year head coach Troy Taylor, the Hornets played their home games on campus at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California.

This season set multiple milestones for Sac State. They beat an FBS team for the first time since 2012 with a 41–10 victory over Colorado State.^[1] The Hornets claimed their best start to a season in school history when they won their seventh game against Montana 31–24 in overtime, and completed their first perfect regular season in school history following a 27–21 victory over UC Davis.^[2] They won their first ever FCS playoff game with a 38–31 win over Richmond.^[3] However, in the highest-scoring game in FCS playoff history, they were upset by Incarnate Word in the quarterfinals, 66–63.^[4]

After the season in December, Taylor left for Stanford University and defensive coordinator Andy Thompson was promoted to head coach for 2023.^[5]

Preseason

Polls

On July 25, 2022, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Hornets were predicted to finish second in the Big Sky by the coaches and third by the media.^[6]

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana	111 (3)
2	Sacramento State	110 (4)
3	Montana State	109 (5)
4	Weber State	84
5	UC Davis	82
6	Eastern Washington	76
7	Northern Arizona	62
8	Idaho	45
9	Portland State	42
10	Cal Poly	33
T-11	Idaho State	19
T-11	Northern Colorado	19

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana	356 (14)
2	Montana State	352 (13)
3	Sacramento State	335 (4)
4	Weber State	261
5	UC Davis	255 (1)
6	Eastern Washington	236
7	Northern Arizona	191
8	Portland State	146
9	Idaho	142
10	Cal Poly	85
11	Northern Colorado	71
12	Idaho State	66

Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Hornets had five players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.^[7]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:30 p.m.	Utah Tech*	No. 7	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	KMAX/ESPN+	W 56–33	10,257
September 17	2:00 p.m.	at Northern Iowa*	No. 8	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN+	W 37–21	8,818
September 24	1:00 p.m.	at Colorado State*	No. 7	Canvas Stadium Fort Collins, CO		W 41–10	25,445
October 1	5:00 p.m.	at Cal Poly	No. 5	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	ESPN+	W 49–21	8,184
October 8	6:00 p.m.	Northern Colorado	No. 5	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	KMAX/ESPN+	W 55–7	11,013
October 15	4:00 p.m.	at Eastern Washington	No. 5	Roos Field Cheney, WA	ESPN+	W 52–28	6,276
October 22	8:00 p.m.	No. 7 Montana	No. 2	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	ESPN2	W 31–24 OT	15,927
October 29	6:00 p.m.	No. 14 Idaho	No. 2	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	KMAX/ESPN+	W 31–28	17,241
November 5	12:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Weber State	No. 2	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	ESPN+	W 33–30	7,152
November 11	7:00 p.m.	at Portland State	No. 2	Hillsboro Stadium Hillsboro, OR	ESPN+	W 45–17	2,891
November 19	2:00 p.m.	No. 24 UC Davis	No. 2	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA (Causeway Classic)	KMAX/ESPN+	W 27–21	23,073
December 3	2:00 p.m.	No. 13 Richmond	No. 2	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN+	W 38–31	9,136
December 9	7:30 p.m.	No. 5 Incarnate Word	No. 2	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN+	L 63–66	13,722
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

^[8]

Game summaries

Utah Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Trailblazers	0	10	9	14	33
No. 7 Hornets	21	14	14	7	56

At Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Hornets	7	17	3	10	37
Panthers	7	0	14	0	21

At Colorado State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Hornets	7	17	7	10	41
Rams	0	10	0	0	10

At Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Hornets	7	14	14	14	49
Mustangs	0	0	7	14	21

Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	7	0	7
No. 5 Hornets	7	17	21	10	55

At Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Hornets	21	14	10	7	52
Eagles	0	21	7	0	28

No. 7 Montana

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 7 Grizzlies	7	3	7	7	0	24
No. 2 Hornets	0	7	0	17	7	31

No. 14 Idaho

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Vandals	0	7	7	14	28
No. 2 Hornets	7	10	7	7	31

At No. 5 Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Hornets	7	9	7	10	33
No. 5 Wildcats	7	0	7	16	30

At Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Hornets	7	17	14	7	45
Vikings	0	0	3	14	17

No. 24 UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Aggies	3	7	3	8	21
No. 2 Hornets	10	7	0	10	27

FCS Playoffs

No. 13 Richmond – Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Spiders	14	7	10	0	31
No. 2 Hornets	7	10	7	14	38

No. 5 Incarnate Word – Quarterfinals

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	7	7	8	7	5	5	5	2 (1)	2 (2)	2 (1)	2 (6)	2 (7)	2 (9)	5
Coaches	7	6	7	6	5	4	5	3	3	3 (2)	2 (6)	2 (5)	2 (4)	4

Players drafted into the NFL

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL team
3	76	Marte Mapu	LB	New England Patriots

References