Sac State football coach fined, warned after criticizing refs over penalties By Joe Davidson
The appeal of Brennan Marion includes the first-year Sacramento State football coach speaking his mind. If he applauds a player, he’ll tell that student-athlete, the entire team and media about it. If Marion is irked, or worse, about a player’s effort, or with the team in general, he will share his thoughts on that, too. And if Marion has concerns with officiating, he will share and vent, like he did this week in wondering why the Hornets have had eight touchdowns called back. He went far enough this week that the Big Sky Conference issued him a $10,000 fine and a warning.
The Hornets have all sorts of moving parts going on these days — fixing a suddenly leaking defense and cutting down penalties — as they prepare to visit Eastern Washington in Cheney for a Big Sky Conference game on Saturday afternoon, where a victory would improve Sac State to 5-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big Sky.
Sac State needs to win its final games this season, against Eastern Washington, Portland State, Idaho and UC Davis, to have a shot at reaching the FCS playoffs for the fifth time since 2019. It’s doable. The only juggernaut of the lot is UC Davis, which is FCS-ranked No. 6 and is 6-1.
In sizing up his team’s 49-35 loss to FCS powerhouse Montana last week that was aired in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPN2, Marion did not hold back his angst. He barked at his team and coaches for defensive breakdowns, during and after the game while also taking his share of the blame as the captain of the ship.
“Gross. Gross. The defensive performance was absolutely atrocious,” Marion said after the loss. “I think we’re still patting ourselves on the back for how we played defense in the first half of the season, and we haven’t played great defense now for a couple of weeks. These guys need to close it out, finish it, change up the scheme, do something different. I think it starts with the coaches, and I have to do a better job of making sure the coaches are being creative, doing something new. I have to get with the defensive staff and figure out what the hell they’re doing over there.”
What especially galls Marion is having eight touchdowns called back this season. That trend included two potential game-winning scores in the final moment of a 20-17 loss at FBS-level Nevada in Reno on Sept. 6. Against Montana, Rodney Hammond Jr. had a sizzling 99-yard kickoff return that would have given Sac State a 21-14 lead called back for a holding penalty.
Marion wonders if Sacramento State president Luke Wood saying last spring that FCS football compared to the FBS is “essentially JV,” as in junior varsity, has rubbed people of influence the wrong way.
Montana coach Bobby Hauck used that comment last week to fire up his unbeaten Grizzlies, including the suggestion that Wood called Montana a JV outfit. He did not, aside from the above observation on FCS football in general, though the university president did poke the Grizzlies by calling them “Pandas” in a joking matter. In response, Hauck called Wood “a clown.” Marion told Jake Gadon of CBS 13 this week after practice of the JV comment some six months ago, “That did not reflect our program, or me myself making that comment, and I think everybody took that comment to heart and ran with it. It’s been really disheartening to our program and our players that we get labeled as an undisciplined program from the standpoint that every team we play becomes the most disciplined team in the country.
“We end up being 10 to 1 (for and against) in penalties every single game.”
The Big Sky Conference late Wednesday afternoon reprimanded Marion for his comments to CBS 13 about the officiating, the Big Sky office said in a statement. The coach was fined $10,000 and was warned by Big Sky commissioner Tom Wistcrill that more severe penalties could come if there are more violations. Wistrcill attended Friday’s game against Montana at Hornet Stadium. “I want to make it abundantly clear that publicly questioning the integrity of our officials and the Conference Office will not be tolerated,” Wistrcill said in the statement. “Professionalism, integrity, and fairness are the foundation of who we are, and all institutional personnel must recognize the responsibility they carry as examples for our student-athletes, campus communities, and the Big Sky Conference.”
Sac State is working on a plan to leave the FCS after 32 seasons, meaning this is the 29th and final season for the Hornets in the Big Sky with an unknown future. Will Sac State be in an FBS conference next season, as President Wood hopes, or will the Hornets play an FCS independent schedule, meaning no conference affiliation? Marion is certain that the “JV” comments have come back to haunt his team, which includes 71 new players from last season and the challenges of being a cohesive unit. Sacramento State has shown flashes of promise, including going 4-1 in games leading into the Montana contest.
“I can’t control people’s perception on what happened with those (JV) comments,” Marion said. “I mean, we’ve had eight touchdowns called back. It’s usually fair (on the officiating balance) if it’s five penalties to five, or six to six. And so, unfortunately, people are upset about the comments. People have a human element to them, where they obviously want to make us pay for those comments. We’re the most penalized team in the country right now.”
Sac State leads the Big Sky in penalties, drawing 72 flags for 573 yards in eight games, including the eight called-back scores. That averages out to nine penalties a game. Sac State was penalized 10 times for 80 yards against Montana, which was flagged once for 5 yards. Cal Poly has been the second-most penalized team in the Big Sky with 50 flags for 464 yards. Montana has been penalized 40 times for 364 yards, ranking fifth in fewest penalties. Northern Colorado has the fewest penalties in the Big Sky with 35 for 278 yards.
In Sac State’s 40-35 home win over Northern Colorado on Oct. 18, the Hornets were flagged seven times for 60 yards and the Bears twice for 25. Nationally, Sac State is tied with South Carolina State at eighth in the 126-member FCS for most penalties-per-game-average with nine.
Sacramento State has logged an example of penalties that the Hornets disagreed with and sent it to the assignor of officials. In two separate game instances, referees concluded that they missed a call.
Sacramento State (4-4) at Eastern Washington (4-4) When: 1 p.m. Saturday at Roos Field On air: ESPN 1320 AM Radio, ESPN+ Of note: Sac State closes its final Big Sky schedule by playing three of its final four games on the road. Entering last week, Sac State ranked fourth in the FCS in rushing with 247.3 yards per game. The Hornets rushed for 141 yards against Montana while passing for a season-high 337 yards behind Cardell Williams, who also ran for two scores. Sac State receiver Ernest Campbell had a career-best nine catches for a career-best 206 yards against Montana, and the Texas A&M transfer set the Sac State single-season mark for most receptions of at least 50 yards, including TDs of 75, 62, 67, 50 and 63 yards.
