2021 Sacramento State Hornets football team

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2021 Sacramento State Hornets football
Big Sky champion
FCS Playoffs Second Round, L 19–24 vs. South Dakota State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 10
FCS Coaches	No. 11
2021 record	9–3 (8–0 Big Sky)
Head coach	Troy Taylor (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Kris Richardson (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Andy Thompson (2nd season)
Home stadium	Hornet Stadium (capacity: 21,195)
Seasons ← 2019 2022 →

2021 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 10 Sacramento State $^		8	–	0					9	–	3
No. 2 Montana State ^		7	–	1					11	–	3
No. 7 Eastern Washington ^		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 6 Montana ^		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 17 UC Davis ^		5	–	3					8	–	4
Weber State		5	–	3					6	–	5
Northern Arizona		4	–	4					5	–	6
Portland State		4	–	4					5	–	6
Idaho		3	–	5					4	–	7
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					3	–	8
Cal Poly		1	–	7					2	–	9
Idaho State		1	–	7					1	–	10
Southern Utah		0	–	8					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2021 Sacramento State Hornets football team represented California State University, Sacramento in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Troy Taylor and played their home games at Hornet Stadium. They competed as a member of the Big Sky Conference.

Previous season[]

The Hornets finished the 2019 season 9–4, 7–1 in Big Sky play to finish in a two-way tie for the Big Sky championship with Weber State. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where, after a first round bye, they lost to Austin Peay in the second round. The Hornets opted out in the 2020 fall season and 2021 spring season.

Preseason[]

Big Sky preseason poll[]

On July 26, 2021, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Hornets were predicted to finish fifth in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.^[1]

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Weber State	(7)
2	Montana	(3)
3	Eastern Washington	(2)
4	Montana State	(1)
5	Sacramento State	(1)
6	UC Davis
7	Northern Arizona
8	Idaho
9	Idaho State
10	Portland State
11	Southern Utah
12	Cal Poly
13	Northern Colorado

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Weber State	(14)
2	Montana	(4)
3	Eastern Washington	(3)
4	Montana State	(3)
5	Sacramento State
6	UC Davis
7	Northern Arizona
8	Idaho
9	Idaho State
10	Portland State
11	Southern Utah
12	Northern Colorado
13	Cal Poly

Preseason All–Big Sky team[]

The Hornets had two players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.^[2]

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	6:00 p.m.	at Dixie State*		Greater Zion Stadium St. George, UT	ESPN+	W 19–7	6,656
September 11	6:00 p.m.	No. 21 Northern Iowa*		Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	KMAX-TV	L 16–34	8,067
September 18	1:00 p.m.	at California*		California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	P12N	L 30–42	31,982
September 25	12:00 p.m.	at Idaho State		Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	ESPN+	W 23–21	5,997
October 9	6:00 p.m.	Southern Utah		Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	KMAX-TV	W 41–20	6,244
October 16	12:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Montana		Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	ESPN+	W 28–21	24,305
October 23	6:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona	No. 19	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	KMAX-TV	W 44–0	8,210
October 30	12:00 p.m.	at Northern Colorado	No. 15	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	W 27–24	4,068
November 6	6:00 p.m.	Cal Poly	No. 16	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	KMAX-TV	W 41–9	7,287
November 13	6:00 p.m.	Portland State	No. 12	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	KMAX-TV	W 49–20	5,848
November 20	1:00 p.m.	at No. 10 UC Davis	No. 11	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA (Causeway Classic)	ESPN+	W 27–7	12,315
December 4	6:00 p.m.	No. 11 South Dakota State*	No. 8	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN+	L 19–24	10,031
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

^[3]

Roster[]

2021 Sacramento State Hornets football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 6 Jordan Chin Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Troy Taylor Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Game summaries[]

at Dixie State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	5	7	7	0	19
Trailblazers	0	7	0	0	7

No. 21 Northern Iowa[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Panthers	7	0	27	0	34
Hornets	3	6	0	7	16

at California[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	6	0	14	10	30
Golden Bears	14	7	14	7	42

at Idaho State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	7	7	6	3	23
Bengals	7	14	0	0	21

Southern Utah[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	0	7	6	7	20
Hornets	17	7	7	10	41

at Montana[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	7	7	14	0	28
No. 5 Grizzlies	0	6	15	0	21

Northern Arizona[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	0	0	0	0	0
No. 19 Hornets	3	34	0	7	44

at Northern Colorado[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 15 Hornets	10	7	3	7	27
Bears	0	7	10	7	24

Cal Poly[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	9	0	0	9
No. 16 Hornets	14	10	10	7	41

Portland State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	0	7	7	6	20
No. 12 Hornets	3	18	14	14	49

at No. 10 UC Davis[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Hornets	7	17	3	0	27
No. 10 Aggies	0	0	0	7	7

Ranking movements[]

Ranking movements
Legend: RV = Received votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
STATS FCS	RV	RV
Coaches	RV

References[]