FARMINGTON, Utah (Nov. 26, 2023) — Sacramento State defeated North Dakota 42-35 on the road, as the Hornets advance to the second round of the FCS playoffs and give the Big Sky Conference four of the 16 remaining teams left in the field.
Sacramento State, who improved to 8-4 on the season, will travel to No. 3 South Dakota next Saturday in the second round of the FCS playoffs.
Kaiden Bennett led the Hornets on the road, throwing for 207 yards and a touchdown, while adding 126 yards and two scores on the ground.
The Hornets were nearly perfect in the first half, scoring touchdowns on their first four drives and amassing over 300 yards in the opening 30 minutes of the game.
North Dakota rallied from a 28-14 halftime deficit to tie the game at 35-35 in the fourth quarter, but Bennett would slam the door shut on any comeback as he ran in the go-ahead score with 4:54 remaining in the game.
The home loss was North Dakota's first of the season, and just the 30th ever for the Fighting Hawks at the Alerus Center in the last 21 years. Sacramento State accounts for three of those defeats, with wins coming in 2013, 2017 and this past Saturday.
The trio of Montana, Idaho and Montana State will join the Hornets in the second round of the FCS playoffs next Saturday, after the three national seeds had a first-round bye.
Montana will host Delaware, Idaho will welcome Southern Illinois and Montana State will defend its 26-game home winning streak against North Dakota State next Saturday.
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Big Sky Football First Round Scores/Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, Nov. 25
Sacramento State 42, North Dakota 35
Read Full Sac State Recap
Saturday, Dec. 2
North Dakota State at #6 Montana State // 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sacramento State at #3 South Dakota // 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Delaware at #2 Montana // 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southern Illinois at #4 Idaho // 8:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Rankings are National Seeds
All game times formatted in Mountain Time (MT)