There’s been a lot of talk in Sacramento about the Sac State Hornets making the jump into FBS football. Boosters have promised millions to renovate the football stadium, build an NIL fund and the bandbox basketball gym is already on track to be replaced.

For now, the Mountain West has reached its needed eight football members without them while the on-field Hornets have struggled to find wins.

So Saturday’s matchup pits Weber State and Sacramento State, two teams in a similar boat, against each other in what basically amounts to a playoff elimination game. The Wildcats could grab a breath of life with a win heading into a bye week.

Both teams fell out of the Top 25 after last week’s performances.

Bob Solorio, Sacramento State Athletics

Weber State (3-4, 2-1 Big Sky) suffered its third loss this season full of mistakes and what-ifs — this time, two Richie Muñoz lost fumbles at the goal line in a four-point defeat to Northern Colorado.

Sacramento State (2-4, 0-2) is looking for its first Big Sky win this season under second-year head coach Andy Thompson. The Hornets fell at home to Eastern Washington 35-28 (EWU is also 2-4) the week after getting blasted at Northern Arizona 34-16.

MEET THE HORNETS

Still known to line up in power run packages, the Hornets give the ball to junior Elijah Tau-Tolliver (No. 4) 18.5 times per game for an average of 97.5 yards.

Redshirt freshman Carson Conklin (No. 17) keys the offense at quarterback; he throws for 183 yards per game on 56.4% completion, totaling 13 touchdowns and four interceptions. Kaiden Bennett (No. 1) has sometimes been used in QB run packages.

Conklin spreads the wealth but senior Jared Gipson (No. 8) is the go-to guy, grabbing 24 catches for 428 yards (71.3 per game) and four touchdowns. Slot receiver Danny Scudero (No. 10) has 25 catches for 270 yards and three touchdowns. Anderson Grover (No. 26), Coleman Kuntz (No. 82) and Tau-Tolliver each have between 15-18 receptions. That group of five accounts for 86% of Sac State’s receiving yards.

Defensively, linebacker Will Leota (No. 21, Salt Lake City native) leads Sac State with 30 tackles. Senior defensive lineman Josh Cashiola (No. 19) has four of his team’s 20 sacks (the team gets 3.3 per game) and has forced three fumbles. The Hornets pick off one pass per game, with Murvin Kenion III (No. 1) and Elias Mullican (No. 22) each grabbing two.

TEAM VS. TEAM METRICS

Through seven games, Weber State has scored 28.4 points per game, averaging 416 yards on 6 yards per play. Defensively, WSU has allowed an average of 23.6 points on 362 yards per game, with an average of 5.3 per play.

The Wildcats have seven defensive takeaways (five fumbles, two interceptions) and eight offensive turnovers (two interceptions, six fumbles) for a minus-one turnover margin.

In six games for Sacramento State, the Hornets average 27.7 points on 374 yards per game and 5.3 yards per play. Defensively, Sac State has allowed 27.3 points on 345 yards per game, with an average of 5.2 yards per play.

The Hornets have a negative-two turnover margin and tend to play turnover-filled contests. Sac State has turned it over 15 times (eight interceptions, seven fumbles) while forcing 13 turnovers (six interceptions, seven fumbles).

ODDS & PREDICTIONS

Jeff Sagarin ranks Weber State at No. 147 (down 18 from last week) in all of Division I (FBS and FCS, 263 total teams). Sacramento State is No. 144. With home-field advantage accounting for the entire spread, his formula favors Sacramento State by three points.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranks Weber State at No. 24 (down 12 from last week) in FCS (129 teams) and Sacramento State at No. 21. His formula predicts a Sac State victory 29-26.

D Ratings predicts a Sacramento State victory of 32-28 at 65% probability.

WEATHER

A sunny day with a high of 80 degrees in Sacramento, Saturday’s temperature should sit at 75 at the 6 p.m. local (7 p.m. MDT) kickoff and will fall as the sun sets at 6:21 p.m., moving to about 63 degrees when the game ends.

TV & RADIO

The game broadcast streams on the ESPN+ subscription service, available on the ESPN app or WatchESPN.com, with Jason Ross and Darren Arbet on the Sacramento State-produced call. Weber State’s radio call, with Carl Arky and Jerry Graybeal, airs in Utah on 103.1 FM and online at 1031thewave.com.

ALL-TIME SERIES

Weber State leads the all-time series 16-9 but the Wildcats are 4-7 in Sacramento. The teams last played in 2022 in Ogden, a 33-30 Hornets win that snapped a five-game win streak for WSU. It’s been five years since the two teams played in Sacramento, a 2019 game Weber won 36-17.