Sacramento State Hornets at Eastern Michigan Eagles
Sat Aug 29 · 5:30 PM CT
By Pablo SanchezUpdated 9d ago·2 min read
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One of these programs has been playing FBS ball for over a century. The other kicks off its entire FBS existence on Saturday, August 29, in Ypsilanti.
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SACEMU
SACEMU
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Best BetEastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan brings back its leading passer and most of a veteran roster, while Sacramento State is debuting a new head coach, a new quarterback, and roughly a four-man returning core all in the same week it steps up to FBS. That's too much simultaneous change to back on the road in a program's literal first FBS start. Lean Eagles here.
Sacramento State
+Rashada, a Georgia transfer, upgrades the QB talent
+Finished 7-5 last year, lost finale by just 4
−First-year coach Alonzo Carter's first head job
−Only a handful of returning starters
−First-ever FBS game for the program
Eastern Michigan
+Noah Kim returns as MAC's leading passer
+Creighton in year 13, most experienced MAC roster
+Home opener at Rynearson Stadium
−Went just 4-8 last season, no bowl
−Picked as low as 12th in MAC previews
−Backup QB depth behind Kim is thin
This is a genuine piece of college football history: Sacramento State's move from the Big Sky into the MAC officially made the jump to FBS on July 1, and this trip to Eastern Michigan is the Hornets' first-ever FBS football game. Noah Kim, Eastern Michigan's returning starter and the MAC's leading passer a season ago, gets a 7th year of eligibility and a chance to open his encore campaign against a team nobody in the building has ever actually scouted before.
Sac State isn't walking in overmatched on paper, at least at the skill positions — Georgia transfer Jaden Rashada takes over at quarterback for a Hornets team that churned through nearly its entire two-deep this offseason. New head coach Alonzo Carter, hired in mid-December after Brennan Marion bolted for Colorado's staff, is piecing together a roster with only a handful of returning starters. That's the swing factor here: brand-new coach, brand-new quarterback, brand-new level of competition, all at once.
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SAC Sacramento State
EMU Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan, by contrast, is running it back with Chris Creighton entering year 13 and a roster MAC writers have flagged as the most experienced in the conference. A 4-8 finish last fall wasn't pretty, but continuity at quarterback and around Kim's top targets gives the Eagles a settled identity that Sac State simply can't match in Week 0 of its FBS life.
Sacramento State Hornets
Eastern Michigan Eagles
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The MAC preseason chatter has been unkind to the Hornets, with analysts pointing to depth as the real question mark for a program that's replacing both its coaching staff and most of its starting lineup in the same offseason it's also jumping levels. Eastern Michigan isn't drawing rave reviews either — some outlets have the Eagles as low as 12th in the MAC — but a softer 2026 schedule and Kim's return give them a cleaner path to bowl eligibility than anything Sac State can promise in year one.
Sacramento State Hornets
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Eastern Michigan Eagles
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
There's no baggage between these programs — this is the first time they've ever lined up against each other, and it's a home opener for Eastern Michigan at Rynearson Stadium. Strip away the historic novelty of Sac State's FBS debut and this reads like a lot of MAC openers: a veteran-laden home team catching a scrambling, still-figuring-it-out visitor at the worst possible time.
