Sacramento St. Shuts Down CSUN

The last time Sacramento State Coach Bob Mattos attempted to slow down a run-and-shoot offense was in 1978 against Portland State. Last week, as Mattos prepared his team for the run-and-shoot offense of Cal State Northridge, he relived the nightmares that resulted from that 63-7 walloping by Portland State seven years ago.

He worried needlessly.

As it had done in losses to UC Davis and Santa Clara, the Matadors piled up bunches of yards. Unfortunately, CSUN’s trend of turning to mush when it neared the goalline also continued.

The result was a 34-10 Sacramento State victory before 3,500 fans at Hornet Field. CSUN dropped to 1-3 in the Western Football Conference, 4-6 overall, and squashed any chance of finishing with a .500 season. The Matadors finish with Portland State next week.

The solid performance of Parker, who completed 29 of 46 passes for 307 yards and endured a pass rush that sacked him six times, was undermined by a running game that should have come equipped with backup lights. With the school’s all-time leading rusher, Mike Kane, playing sparingly because of a foot injury that kept him out of the last three games, the Matadors rushed 18 times for a minus-24 yards.

The Hornet defense, ranked No. 1 in the WFC, even slammed the door on two CSUN “Refrigerator” plays in helping the team to its sixth straight victory. Sacramento State is 4-1 in the WFC and clinched at least a tie for second place in the conference.

Northridge grabbed a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Chris Moore turned a quick-slant pass into a 24-yard touchdown following an interception by Pat Cerruti. Parker hit Kenny Garrett for 12 yards before connecting with Moore on the touchdown.

A minor knee injury kept Garrett out most of the rest of the game, and from then on the CSUN offense treated the end zone as if there was a “No Trespassing” sign hanging from the goalpost.

“We’ve had trouble scoring the last few weeks, and it was the same old story,” said CSUN Coach Tom Keele. “We haven’t been playing that badly, but something always seems to happen when we get close to the 20.”

Sacramento State struck back with three second-quarter touchdown passes from Greg Knapp to take a 21-7 halftime lead. He hit Lynn Klinkhammer with a 31-yard touchdown pass early in the quarter after cornerback Steve Benjamin fell down. Knapp connected with James Ferguson on a 22-yard touchdown pass 4:30 later when Ferguson outjumped cornerback Jonathan Bradshaw at the goalline and victimized Bradshaw again with a seven-yard scoring pass to Walter Evans just before halftime.

In the third quarter, CSUN drove to a third-and-goal at the Sacramento State four, and Keele unveiled his version of the Chicago Bears’ William “The Refrigerator” Perry. He inserted 240-pound defensive end Darrell McIntyre as a fullback and Parker handed him the ball on third down. He was stopped after a two-yard gain. Gambling on fourth down, Keele again ordered Parker to hand the ball to McIntyre, and this time the Hornet defense flattened him for a one-yard loss.

“They went into their Refrigerator Offense,” said Mike Clemons, the Sacramento State defensive coordinator, “but we went into our Freezer Defense to stop it.”

Doan cut the deficit to 21-10 with a 33-yard field goal with 10:26 left in the game, but Sacramento State put the game out of reach with two quick touchdowns--a one-yard run by Don Hair and the most spectacular score of the day, a 43-yard interception return by Angelo James.