ShareThisSee what happens when the local team knocks off a heavily favored Pac-12 opponent?
Sacramento State's Hornets haven't received this much national pub since the PAMScam scandal in 2002. Remember PAMScam? In the midst of a tight game at top-ranked Montana, four Hornets defensive linemen doused themselves with the nonstick cooking spray, the theory being that if you can't hold on to us, you can't beat us.
Well, the Hornets lost the game (as usual), but because of the caper, they won the fight for the airwaves. They were discovered by Jay Leno, prominently mentioned on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" and a featured topic on radio talk shows.
The grease and the jokes were on them for several months afterward.
But with Saturday's overtime victory at Oregon State, the green-clad Hornets generated a different form of energy. The laughs are being replaced by serious football chatter -- or semi-serious football chatter -- on ESPN and assorted popular outlets. The significance of the victory also was reflected in the Football Championship Subdivision rankings. The Hornets moved up to 12th in the Sports Network poll and 18th in the coaches'.
They've been noticed here at home, as well. A Sac State spokesman said the ticket office is receiving more season-ticket requests than at any time in the last dozen or so years.
"It's kind of like beating the Lakers," athletic director Terry Wanless said, only half-joking. "There are few moments like this in your athletic lives. I told the kids the other night after the game, 'Every year and at every reunion in the future, this game will come up.' And it's great for the image of the school. There's an extra bounce on campus today."
A loss Saturday at Southern Utah, of course, would be a complete buzz killer, another familiar hide-your-head Hornets moment.
Head coach Marshall Sperbeck -- foremost among Hornets coaches who would stand on their heads in their skivvies if it would generate interest in their programs -- already is offering cautionary comments.
"The end of the game took on a life of its own," Sperbeck said earlier this week. "It was pretty overwhelming, to be honest. This was a huge win for us. But we have to continue to build, to get better."
Now in his fifth season, Sperbeck offers a unique perspective. This isn't a naive import that was dropped into the middle of the Valley and told to sink or swim in state-of-the-art facilities. Hornet Stadium only recently began resembling a bonafide football facility. The new turf helps. The Broad Center that encloses the field helps even more.
Indeed, as a homegrown prep star who graduated from Valley High, attended Oregon State and Nevada, then developed Foothill College into a national power, Sperbeck is an expert on the program's chronic battle with fan apathy, subpar facilities and assorted disadvantages, issues exacerbated by budget cuts in academics and athletics.
Yet even before Saturday's stunner, there were hints of progress on campus. Within the past several months, the school signed a sponsorship deal with adidas, agreements were reached with radio stations that transmit clearly from Lake Tahoe to Stockton, and an additional $100,000 was earmarked for stadium upgrades.
Additionally, Comcast SportsNet California representatives are pursuing Sperbeck for a weekly show.
"Coaches' shows are terrific recruiting tools and pretty standard in big-time football," said Larry Eldridge, vice president of the regional network. "If you're aspiring to grow your program, that's an ingredient that can be part of the mix. We started talking about this a month ago, and it just seemed like a good idea. The program under Marshall has made some terrific progress."
After a 3-8 record in his first year back in his hometown, Sperbeck has compiled a 17-17 mark -- numbers that fall short of his personal standard. He didn't come home to be mediocre, he says.
"You know, when I got here, our facilities were in a trailer in the back," said the coach, who is intimately involved with the fundraising and financing elements of his program. "There was no Broad Center. There was no Recreation and Wellness Center. We're at a point where our (football) facilities are as nice as any in the Big Sky (Conference). But we want to start winning, take another step."
In an intriguing subplot, after visits to Southern Utah and Weber State, the Hornets open their home schedule Sept. 24 against Montana's Grizzlies, a Big Sky rival Sac State has defeated neither before nor after PAMScam.
A win that night? Now that would get people talking.
(Contact Ailene Voisin at avoisin(at)sacbee.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnMust credit Sacramento Bee
