A reversed decision by the officials with less then two minutes in the game set up Cal State Sacramento for the victory-sealing touchdown against Southern Utah. The Hornets won the teams' American West Conference opener 27-16.
The Thunderbirds thought they were back in the game when Anthony Brown stripped the ball from Sacramento's Demetryst Cornish on the 16-yard line. With 1:51 left to play and trailing by just four points, The Thunderbird offense was set up on the field when officials reversed their call that the turnover was valid.T-Bird head coach Jack Bishop was docked with unsportsmanlike conduct after a confrontation on the field with officials, and the Hornets took over possession on the 9-yard line. Troy Gassaway charged from there to the 2-yard line and a holding call against SUU put them a yard away from the goal line, where Gassaway punched in the final score.
"It was bad officiating. There was no whistle before the ball was stripped and we had almost run a play before they changed it," Bishop said. "But it really shouldn't have come down to that. That was one of the poorest coached football games we've played. It was just poor football on our part. Our offense had a lot of chances to score, but they just didn't punch it in. Our defense was solid, but susceptibility to the big play killed us."
Had things gone differently for SUU, the T-Birds still would have had their hands full with Sacramento. Hornet Quarterback Joe Garofolo hit 21 of 28 passes for 279 yards and no interceptions. Add to that 109 yards and two touchdowns from Gassaway.
Things looked okay for the T-Birds after driving 83 yards in nine plays finished by a two-yard touchdown run by Curtis Lindsey. A blocked extra point left them leading 6-0.
After Sacramento State tied the score 6-6, SUU's Anthony Brown's 100-yard kickoff return gave the T-Birds a 13-6 lead. Benji Nelson's 23-yard field goal gave SUU a 16-6 lead, but after that Sacramento State made all the plays.