HERO Sports had high expectations for Sacramento State entering the 2020 season, ranking them No. 4. With All-Americans like quarterback Kevin Thomson, running back Elijah Dotson and wide receiver Pierre Williams leading the offense, we thought the Hornets could build off of last season's tremendous turnaround.
There were some concerns with Sac State, though. One was the defense losing key players up front. The other was the health of Thomson. If Thomson stayed healthy, the Hornets showed in 2019 they can be one of the best teams in the FCS. But when he was not 100 percent, the team struggled.
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Well, now it appears Thomson won't be on Sac State's roster at all. He entered the transfer portal last week. While there's always the chance he returns to Sac State, there are plenty of FBS schools that would love to have a QB like Thomson. And the FBS is where Thomson wants to return to. He began his collegiate career all the way back in 2014 as a redshirt at UNLV.
That's right, Thomson will be a seventh-year senior in 2020 due to several injuries he's gone through.
He played his best ball last year. And he was a big reason why we viewed the Hornets so highly this preseason. Without him, Sac State's season outlook completely changes. His play is that important for the team.
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Let's take a look at last season's timeline:
Thomson got hurt in the second quarter on Nov. 2 against Weber. Sac State, who was 5-0 against FCS opponents at the time, went on to lose 36-17. Backup QB Jake Dunniway stepped in and went 12-24 passing for 154 yards, one TD and two INT.
Dunniway, who will be a junior this year, started the next week at Northern Arizona. Sac State trailed 34-24 with five minutes remaining before Dunniway threw two late TDs to win 38-34. Dunniway finished 27-44 for 384 yards, four TDs and 1 INT. Still, the close game against NAU, who finished 4-8 overall, was a concern.
Thomson returned the next week against Idaho but didn't look 100 percent the rest of the season. Sac State beat the Vandals 31-7 as Thomson went 17-36 for 187 yards, zero TDs and one INT.
In the regular-season finale, Sac State edged UC Davis, who finished 5-7 overall, 27-17 thanks to 14 fourth-quarter points. Thomson: 28-55 passing for 300 yards, one TD, one INT.
Sac State earned the No. 4 playoff seed and got a much-needed bye week after squeezing out wins against non-playoff opponents down the stretch.
In the program's first-ever FCS playoff game, Sac State lost to unseeded Austin Peay 42-28. The Hornets trailed 35-7 at one point in the third quarter. Thomson: 21-53 for 306 yards and two TDs.
Overall, Thomson was electric last year. He threw for 3,216 yards, 27 TDs and eight interceptions while rushing for 619 yards and 12 TDs. He was the Big Sky's Offensive Player of the Year and finished third in the Walter Payton Award voting.
But when he wasn't fully healthy, Sac State looked like a different team.
In 2018, the Hornets went 2-8 overall and 0-7 in the Big Sky. In Troy Taylor's first season as head coach last year, the Hornets became one of the hottest teams in the FCS, defeating No. 6 Montana State and No. 5 Montana in back-to-back October weeks. But the team fell flat late in the season after Thomson got hurt.
A lot of standout talent is back from that team, even without the star QB. The Hornets still have a decent chance at the playoffs. In the unbalanced Big Sky scheduling, they avoid Weber State, Montana State and Eastern Washington. Their toughest game is at Montana, but the remaining conference games come against teams that had losing records last season. Excluding the Griz, their seven Big Sky opponents had a combined 2019 conference record of 16-40.
With Thomson, the Hornets are in the discussion for making a deep playoff run as a seeded team. Without Thomson, the Hornets are in the discussion for making the playoffs.
There's a big difference between fringe playoff seed and fringe playoff team.
