Smith fires 3 touchdown passes as Sacramento State defeats Portland State 31-14

Sacramento State defeats Portland State 31-14

PORTLAND, Ore. — Jason Smith passed for 256 yards and three touchdowns as Sacramento State rolled to a convincing 31-14 victory over Portland State on Saturday.

Sacramento State (1-3, 1-1 Big Sky) had lost its first three games by a combined 80 points. Portland State (1-4, 0-3) is still looking for its first win over an FCS opponent.

Terrance Dailey wound up with 111 yards on 34 carries for Sacramento State. John Hendershott was the Hornets’ top receiver with five catches for 117 yards.

Portland State’s Drew Hubel finished 31 of 50 for 370 yards, giving him his fourth consecutive 300-yard game. Lavonte Kirven had a career-high 13 receptions for 188 yards.

On their first possession, the Hornets put together a 13-play drive before Smith found Brett Willis in the corner of the end zone on a fade route. The 15-yard touchdown gave the Hornets the lead for good.

Portland State followed with a pair of first-half field goals by Zach Brown to cut the deficit to 7-6. But the Hornets responded by scoring the next 24 points.

The first two scores in that string came on passes from Smith to Dylan Lane. The first, a 9-yard toss, gave Sacramento State a 14-6 lead at halftime. Lane then added a 5-yard scoring reception early in the third quarter to put his team ahead 21-6.

The lead was 28-6 after Dailey ran for a 2-yard touchdown with four minutes left in the third. A field goal by Chris Diniz pushed that lead to 31-6 midway through the final period.

Portland State finally broke through again when Nevin Lewis hauled in a 22-yard scoring pass from Hubel with 2:30 left.