Mississippi Valley State never reached the end zone against Sacramento State
The scoreboard says rout. The interesting part is HOW — and whether it means anything.
Mississippi Valley State never had a foothold. Sacramento State (0-1) runs away from Mississippi Valley State, 52-0 at Hornet Stadium. Sacramento State led from start to finish and never let Mississippi Valley State within striking distance. Jackson Sharman threw for 247 yards on 28 attempts with four touchdowns.
Sacramento State threw on 77% of plays on early downs all season; in this game, 39% (n=56 such plays) — a sharp in-game departure from the norm.
One team finished its drives
Sacramento State scored on 53% of its drives to Mississippi Valley State's 0%, chiefly Jackson Sharman (24 pts), Matthew Coleman (18 pts) and Jace Wilson (6 pts). Sacramento State produced 9 plays of 15+ yards to Mississippi Valley State's 3: Jackson Sharman (involved in 4), Matthew Coleman (involved in 2) and Jace Wilson (involved in 2). Stacked together, it was never close.
How the two sides actually played on the night.
The names on it
Jackson Sharman threw for 247 yards on 28 attempts with four touchdowns — two of them from inside the 20, three third-down conversions and a hand in four plays of 15 yards or more. Matthew Coleman caught six passes for 141 yards, three of them for touchdowns — two of them from inside the 20. Jace Wilson caught three passes for 48 yards, one of them for a touchdown. For Mississippi Valley State, Carter James ran 10 times for 23 yards and caught one pass for 5 yards. Dezmond Ray ran three times for 36 yards and caught one pass for 8 yards. Chakai Scott was the disruptive one for Sacramento State: 1 blocked kick.
What Mississippi Valley State has to fix
The problems had names: Jordan Davis (1 lost fumble).
Who got home
Three names to keep: Jamari Stokes (1 INT, 4.5 tackles) for Mississippi Valley State, Diego Davis (1 sack, 1 TFL, 1.5 tackles) for Sacramento State and Collin Kallhoff (1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 fumble rec, 1.5 tackles) for Sacramento State. 3 of Sacramento State's 3 sacks came from the defensive line.
The order of events
Sacramento State struck first through Jackson Sharman, led 31-0 at the half and Sacramento State got the final points on a late touchdown by Daniel Swinney.
What it means
Historically similar games since 2019 — close margin, both offenses held far below norm — and how often that offense outperformed this level the following week.
Business handled for Sacramento State. The question now is whether the opponent told us anything.
Discussion
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