2026 MAC Football Week 0 Game Preview: Sacramento State Hornets at Eastern Michigan Eagles

A rare Week 0 conference game will pit MAC newcomers Sacramento State (0-0) against Eastern Michigan (0-0).

The Hornets come off a 7-5 season in which they failed to make the FCS playoffs, while the Eagles hope to improve on last year’s 4-8 record. After losing their home opener to Long Island last year, Eastern Michigan would like to make a statement and start Sac State’s FBS campaign with a loss. 

Game Notes

• Date and Time: Saturday, August 29, 2026 at 6:30 ET / 3:30 PT
• Location: Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilanti, Michigan
• Network: ESPN+
• Gambling Considerations: Eastern Michigan is a -9.5 point home favorite, with an over/under set at 52.5, per FanDuel
• All-Time Series: This will be the first matchup between these two teams.

Sacramento State outlook

The Hornets begin their inaugural FBS and MAC season with relatively low expectations. They were placed 12th in the preseason coaches' poll and walk into this game with a record of 18-19 over the last three years as a part of the Big Sky conference. In those three years, the Hornets played FBS competition four times, losing three of those contests. 

They’ll have a new head coach to lead the inaugural FBS season in Alonzo Carter. This will be Carter’s first head coaching job at the Division I level, but he’s been a position coach with San Jose State and Arizona since 2017. 

Carson Conklin will hold the reins of the Hornet offense, returning to the program after a season with Fresno State. The junior quarterback made six appearances for the Bulldogs last season, including a win as the starter against eventual Mountain West champions, Boise State. In his 2024 stint with Sac State, Conklin threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 28 touchdowns, earning a third-place finish in the Jerry Rice Award race. 

The Hornets have several weapons, new and old, for Conklin to utilize. Senior running back Jamar Curtis is coming off a down year due to injury, but rushed for quadruple-digit yards for Lafayette in his prior two seasons. Jordan Williams’ 2025 numbers are unimpressive, but he was the primary crunch-time and red zone target for the Hornets last year, and is poised to reprise that role. 

Matthew Coleman was stuck as a return specialist and 11 personnel receiver at San Jose State, but will get a shot as Sac State’s de facto WR1. Elias Brown, a junior college transfer, will factor into the running game as well as Curtis' primary backup.

The offensive line will be a point of interest with just three established starters in the OL room ahead of week zero. Jeremiah Stallworth, who starred as a true freshman last season, will start alongside veterans Vae Soifua and Bryson Summers.

Defense is Sac State’s strong suit, and is where the most continuity and experience lies on this roster. 

The defensive line is anchored by seventh-year senior Xavier Williams, who has improved season over season, culminating in an eight-TFL year in 2025. Alongside him will be Eastern Michigan alum Malik Tullis and Nebraska transfer Brodie Tagaloa. The former ground his way into starting reps by the season’s end, while the latter had a dominant first game before an injury ended his year. 

Junior Derek Houston and the Hornet linebacker core, who return four impact players, will have the task of containing the run game and Eastern Michigan quarterback Noah Kim. The Hornets’ front seven were particularly good at stopping the run last season, holding opposing teams to just 150 yards a game. 

The secondary features two of Sac State’s biggest offseason prizes. Noah King (Colorado) and Amari Wallace (Miami, FL) are former four-star recruits who arrive in the state’s capital as redshirt freshmen. Veterans like Boogsie Silvera, Donovan Turner, Elias Mullican and Dionte Thornton round out the group that Kim will test. 

Eastern Michigan Outlook

Eastern Michigan’s 2025 season was a disappointing one, going just 4-8 and finishing ninth in the MAC. The preseason poll has them seventh, a slight improvement from the prior year, in their 13th season under Chris Creighton. 

Noah Kim returns to lead the Eagles on offense for a second straight season. His eligibility was called into question during the offseason, but he was granted one final year, his seventh as a college athlete. He’s had stints with Michigan State and Coastal Carolina, but found a groove with Eastern Michigan, leading the MAC in both passing yards and completions last season. 

The primary benefactor of Kim’s throwing prowess was all-MAC wideout Nick Devereaux, who logged over 500 yards and seven scores. He’s flanked by breakout candidate Harold Mack, who recorded over three hundred yards in just six games as a true freshman last season and junior tight end Joshua Long, who was a steadying force in the passing game.

Amareon Blue, who stands at five-foot-six, 195 lbs., is listed as the starter for the Eagles at halfback after a competition that ran well into fall camps. The son of former UNC Tar Heel basketballer A.J. Blue, Amareon was a three-star prospect coming out of the North Carolina high school scene and played in two games as a true freshman for EMU in 2025.

Brayden Bennett, a seventh-year transfer brought in from Coastal Carolina, is also in the mix, though not listed on the two-deep. Bennett’s had some success in the past, earning all-Sun Belt honorable mentions in 2021 and 2024, but has also missed several seasons to major injury. 

Senior runner Joey Mattord (11 games, 48 yards in 2025) is listed at backup halfback on the two-deep.

The offensive line, like Sac State’s, is somewhat of a question mark. The unit was gutted by graduation and the transfer portal in the offseason, returning just two starters ahead of the new season. 

On defense, the Eagles will need a significant improvement from their defensive line to contain a Sac State team with a strong rushing attack. They allowed 232 yards per game to opponents and an average gain of 5.5 yards. It’s a largely similar unit with ten players returning, five of whom made starts. If anyone’s going to step up on the line, it’d be Quincy Byas, who led last year’s team in TFLs as a freshman. 

The spine of Eastern Michigan’s defense is highly experienced. Barry Manning, a converted linebacker from his former position of safety, recorded 73 tackles, two sacks and an interception last season and will play his fifth season of football for the Eagles. Alongside him is sixth-year linebacker Zach Mowchan, who’s struggled with injury and has only played more than four games twice in his career. 

The Eagles are strongest defensively in the secondary, where they’ll be led by team-leading tackler and all-MAC safety Bryce Llewellyn. He recorded triple-digit tackles and snagged two interceptions. He’s accompanied by several experienced returners like Jaivian Norman, Jason Marshall and Caleb Coley. While the group has experience, the defense only earned a PFF coverage grade of over 70 once last season, which was bogged down by poor tackling. 

Game Outlook 

Sacramento State as a team is a true mystery at the FBS level, but they’re not short of players with FBS pedigree and experience. 

The Eagles will lean on Kim to score, which plays into the Hornets’ strong secondary, while the Hornets will use their stable of running backs to establish a ground game. This presumptive gameplan favors the Hornets, who are highly motivated to win their opener as a “prove-it” game.

Regardless of the outcome, this will be a higher-scoring game, but likely short of Vegas’ over/under projection. 

Prediction: Sacramento State 24, Eastern Michigan 20