Associated Press September 17, 2023, 1:15 p.m. 3 minutes read
Landing! Kaiden Bennett scores against Stanford
Landing! Kaiden Bennett scores against Stanford
STANFORD, Calif. – Kaiden Bennett narrowly avoided a sack and threw a 49-yard touchdown pass with 1:32 to play, and Sacramento State defeated former coach Troy Taylor’s Stanford team 30-23 on Saturday night to take the the Hornets’ third win ever over a Pac-12 school.
“It’s great that we got this opportunity,” said first-year Hornets coach Andy Thompson, who was promoted from defensive coordinator after Taylor took the job at Stanford. “We have to come here, I think we also raised a bit of money and got a win. … They should be very proud of how they played against a really good opponent.”
It took a big play late to get the win.
Bennett threw a short pass to Marcus Fulcher just before his knee hit the ground, and Fulcher did the rest from there to score for the Hornets (3-0) and spoil his former coach’s home debut at Stanford.
“He did what he was supposed to do in turn and he was where he needed to be on that play,” Bennett said. “I looked up and saw him. Good job from him. … I knew when he broke the first tackle he was off target. He’s got the juice.”
Taylor took over the Cardinals (1-2) after going 30-8 in four seasons and led the Hornets to their first FCS quarterfinal berth in school history last season.
Many of his former players are still at Sacramento State, including Bennett, who threw for 279 yards, ran for 100 yards and had a pass and run touchdown.
“I have great love and respect for Coach T,” Bennett said. “For what he was able to do for my career and stuff. Just for me as a person, I give him a lot of love and respect for that.”
Sacramento State won its 22nd straight regular season game at Taylor’s expense, handing Stanford its second loss ever to a school at the FCS level. The Cardinal lost to UC Davis in 2005.
“It’s very familiar faces and good coaches and really good players,” Taylor said of his former team. “Once the game starts, you really start competing.”
The Cardinal took a 23-20 lead early in the fourth quarter when Joshua Karty made his third field goal of the game after an interception by Collin Wright.
The Hornets responded with a 44-yarder from Zach Schreiner to tie the game at 4:13. They then forced a punt to set up the game-winning goal.
Stanford scored touchdowns on its first two possessions, took a 14-3 lead and appeared poised to take control after recovering a surprise onside kick. The Cardinal drove into the red zone before Daniels threw a deflected pass that Caleb Nelson intercepted in the end zone.
The Hornets then scored back-to-back long touchdowns to take a 17-14 lead by beating Bennett’s 1-yard keeper with 35 seconds left in the half.
“We obviously still have a lot to improve on and we have a long year ahead of us to do that,” Taylor said. “We’ll get back to work, keep mining and keep building.”