SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word football team dropped their 2014 season opener on Saturday evening at Benson Stadium, 49-13 to visiting Sacramento State.

A first quarter injury to Cardinals (0-1) starting quarterback Trent Brittain (Eastland/Eastland HS) seemed to have a dramatic difference upon the game.  He was hurt on a scramble with 3:24 left in the first quarter.  UIW would kick a field goal on the drive to pull to within 7-6.  After the injury, the Hornets (1-0) would score 42 consecutive points over the next 2.5 quarters.

"In this game, the air went out of us a little bit when we lost Trent," said UIW head coach Larry Kennan.  "Then we had a punt blocked and mishandled kickoff and all of a sudden the game was out of hand.  The game was closer than the score, but like I told the team, they ran it better than we did, they threw it better than we did, they defended better than we did and looked like a better team than we were tonight.  They did a lot of things well, but now we have to rally up."

Sacramento State quarterback Garrett Safron had an outstanding game going 17-of-25 for 251 yards passing with five touchdowns and one interception.  Nnamdi Agude and DeAndre Carter each hauled in a pair of touchdown passes.  Agude finished the game with six catches for 11 yards while Carter had three receptions for 56 yards.

The game started out well for the Cardinals.  They forced the Hornets to punt on the opening drive of the game and got good field position at their own 42.  Brittain completed a 14-yard pass to Casey Jennings (Fremont, CA/Washington HS) on the first play of the drive and later scrambled for a 14-yard gain when facing a third-and-10.  UIW settled for a 47-yard field goal from freshman Ramon Coto, Jr. (Houston/Westfield HS) with 10:16 left in the first quarter.

The Hornets responded with an 8-play, 65-yard drive to take a 7-3 lead.  They scored on a 4-yard pass from Safron to Jordan Robinson with 6:15 to play in the quarter.

On their ensuing possession, the Cardinals quickly moved into scoring position.  Brittain connected with Jennings for a 19-yard gain, picked up nine yards on a run and then found tight end Cole Wick (Hallettsville/Sacred Heart Catholic HS) for 13 yards.  Two plays later, Brittain picked up four yards on a scramble, but was injured on the play and would not return.  UIW pulled to within a point of the Hornets when Coto drilled a 49-yard field goal with 3:03 left in the first quarter.  It was the second longest field goal in school history.

On the second play of the next Hornet drive, Adrian Norwood (Waco/Waco HS) intercepted a pass from Safron.  The Sacramento State defense stood strong and forced a UIW punt.  Garrett Steele was able to break through and block the punt giving the Hornets the ball at the UIW 33-yard line.  Safron hit Carter on the next play for a touchdown with 1:26 to play in the first quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Brad Cornish kicked the ball relatively short and it bounced around the 15-yard line and it was recovered by Steele at the 24-yard line.  Three plays later the score was 21-6 after Safron found Agude for a 24-yard touchdown pass.

Sacramento State quickly got the ball back when they sacked Taylor Woods (Houston/Elkins HS) on fourth down near midfield.  Safron completed a 26-yard pass to Chris Broadnax to get into the red zone.  The Hornets drove down to the 1-yard line and then scored on a Brandon Kellerman plunge on fourth down with 10:15 left in the second quarter.

The score remained 21-6 until the Hornets put together a strong 2-minute drill.  Safron hit Agude for a big 38-yard gain and then Safron connected with Carter for a 24-yard touchdown pass with 14 seconds left in the half.

The Hornets kept the run going early in the third quarter.  They forced the Cardinals to punt on their first drive and then Safron led the team on an 8-play, 60-yard drive that ended with Agude's second touchdown of the game.  Sacramento State linebacker Darnell Sankey capped off the scoring for the visitors when he stepped in front of a Woods pass and raced 59 yards for a touchdown with 7:02 left in the third quarter.

The Cardinals scored their lone touchdown of the game on an impressive 8-play, 97-yard drive in the fourth quarter.  UIW picked up a pair of first downs and then Woods hit running back Joseph Sadler (Devine/Devine HS) over the top with a perfect pass that went for 49 yards and a touchdown with 10:14 left in the game.

The Cardinals rushed the ball 32 times for 98 yards with Sadler leading the way with six carries for 39 yards.  He also had three catches for 49 yards and a touchdown.  Woods finished the game 12-of-25 for 143 yards, a touchdown and an interception while Brittain was 3-for-5 for 46 yards while rushing for 25 yards on four carries.  Jennings led the team with four receptions that went for 45 yards.

The UIW defense was led by linebacker Padyn Giebler (Ivan/Stephenville HS) who made eight tackles and defensive tackle Corey Lee (Humble/La Porte HS) who picked up a pair of sacks.  Nick Ginn added five tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss.  Coto was 2-for-2 on field goal attempts and had a pair of touchbacks.  Kody Edwards (Mesquite/Mesquite Poteet HS) had three kick returns for 77 yards.

The Hornets finished the game with 386 yards of total offense and had nine more first downs than the Cardinals.  Jordan Robinson led all players with 69 yards rushing on 12 carries.  Darnell Sankey had a game high 10 tackles while Jaycee Totty had 1.5 sacks for the defense

The Cardinals are back in action next Saturday at Stephen F. Austin in a non-conference game at 6 p.m.