Northern Colorado Bears @ Sacramento State Hornets
Sacramento St. holds off Northern Colorado 40-35 behind Hammond Jr., Smith and 4 Meadors field goals
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- — Rodney Hammond Jr. and JaQuail Smith each ran for more than 100 yards, Grant Meadors kicked a pair of fourth-quarter field goals and Sacramento State beat Northern Colorado 40-35 on Saturday night.
Following Meadors' fourth field goal, a 42-yarder with 2:01 to play, Eric Gibson Jr. drove Northern Colorado to the Sacramento State 3 with 30 seconds left but threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-1.
Meadors' 34-yard field goal gave Sacramento State (4-3, 2-1 Big Sky Conference) a 37-35 lead with 9:30 remaining. He also made field goals from 37 and 28 yards in the first half.
Ricky Lee III's 34-yard pick-6 to start the fourth quarter gave Sacramento State a 34-28 lead. Northern Colorado answered with Gibson's 62-yard touchdown pass to Carver Cheeks for a 35-34 advantage.
Hammond had 134 yards rushing on 21 carries that included a 46-yard touchdown. Smith carried 17 times for 103 yards. The Hornets ran for 323 of their 434 yards of offense.
Gibson was 21-of-33 passing for 321 yards and threw three touchdowns but four interceptions for Northern Colorado (3-4, 1-2). He also threw a 75-yard TD pass to Cheeks in the second quarter. Cheeks finished with nine catches for 223 yards and three touchdowns.
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Game Information
Sacramento, CA
2025 Standings
| Big Sky ConferenceBig Sky Conference | CONF | OVR |
|---|---|---|
| Montana State | 8-0 | 14-2 |
| Montana | 7-1 | 13-2 |
| UC Davis | 6-2 | 9-4 |
| Sacramento State | 5-3 | 7-5 |
| Idaho State | 5-3 | 6-6 |
| Northern Arizona | 4-4 | 7-5 |
| Eastern Washington | 4-4 | 5-7 |
| Northern Colorado | 2-6 | 4-8 |
| Cal Poly | 2-6 | 4-8 |
| Idaho | 2-6 | 4-8 |
| Weber State | 2-6 | 4-8 |
| Portland State | 1-7 | 1-11 |
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