Sacramento State made something of a move this week with a somewhat surprising 36-32 defeat of Nevada Reno in the Pacific West Conference.

The result dropped Nevada to 2-1, while Sac State improved to 2-1 in a very crowded league. UC Davis also made a statement this week with another big victory, vaulting the Aggies to 3-0 as they beat UC Santa Cruz 67-6. Davis trails only Chico State, a team the Aggies beat in Week 1 18-15; Chico has played one more game, and after beating San Jose State 66-0 Saturday, sits 3-1.

For Sacramento State, it’s been a wild ride, and beating previously undefeated Nevada has put others on notice. Sac State has a strong offense - they are averaging 36 points a game, but they are giving up 35 points a game, so defense is an issue.

“We are still giving up a lot of points,” said Sac State Head Coach Adam Macrae. “We lack size in our forwards, and need to work on our defense on the sides of rucks. A couple of poorly placed kicks, and playing hot potato with the ball on our own goal line, didn't help.”  

Nevada played well and the game could certainly have gone Reno’s way, but Colin Scott’s goalkicking was part of the difference - he made five of his six kicks. Scott started at outside center and moved to scrumhalf at halftime. He was strong either way, moving the ball to dangerous attacking players such as wing Khalil Owens, who scored twice. Lock Taylor Wilson, and prop Justice Crisologo led the defense, but more need to step up. 

Meanwhile, Davis hasn’t been beaten yet and club president Steve Woods said the team is betting better.

“Against Chico, we were still not used to playing with each other so we were still sorting out some kinks in our phase play,” he said. “As the weeks have progressed, we are beginning to be a strong cohesive unit and our play on the pitch has shown improvement. We always strive to improve our defense because our team prides itself on how physical we are against the opposition. Ultimately, we always focus on the fundamentals of the game since we believe it is the little things that separate the good teams from the great teams.”

There’s still plenty at stake in the Pacific West, what with only one team undefeated (Davis), and four with just one loss. Even San Jose State, at 2-2, is in the middle of the fray.

Pacific West Latest Standings