Jett Stanley leads No. 3 Sacramento State into battle against No. 2 Montana State on ESPN2
The senior defensive tackle for Sacramento State has a first name befitting a skill guy, a speedster, not one of bulk and power.
But Jett Stanley is quick to remind he had wheels once and he is right at home being in the thick of the scrum in the middle of the trenches. He is a run stopper and a quarterback chaser, agile and explosive enough to leave his mark on the program in his sixth season with a lot of legs left for one final championship push.
Stanley will have his hands full when No. 3 Sacramento State hosts the top rushing team in the FCS in No. 2 Montana State in a Big Sky Conference showdown at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. This will be the highest-ranked game in the 69-year history of the Hornets program with ESPN2 shining a national spotlight on Hornet Stadium.
In a meeting of 5-1 teams, the Bobcats of Bozeman will surely have their hands full, too. They have to deal with a 6-foot-4, 295-pounder who is having his finest season in his last go-around in a collegiate career that started in 2018.
Stanley has 4.0 sacks this fall and is on his way to landing on his third consecutive All-Big Sky team. Three of those quarterback sacks came against Stanford on Sept. 16, Stanley’s finest hour in shoulder pads. With good humor, Stanley defends his name.
“When I was younger, I was winning all the races, so Jett fit,” Stanley said after Tuesday’s practice. “Then as I got older and I started to get bigger, I fell into the defensive line, and I absolutely love my position. But, yeah, my name would fit more for a running back or quarterback.”
Standing a few yards away from Stanley as he said this was Hornets quarterback Kaiden Bennett, the team’s leading passer and rusher who does a lot of this work with burst and flash. Said Bennett, sizing up his teammate: “Yeah, Stanley is more ‘Tank’ Stanley now.”
What goes without debate is that Stanley has been a rock in the middle for the Hornets during their greatest seasons. He was recruited by former head coach Jody Sears and his staff, a group that gave way to a new staff before the 2019 season. This included defensive coordinator Andy Thompson, now the Hornets’ first-year head coach with Troy Taylor now leading Stanford.
Stanley experienced a winless Big Sky campaign in 2018 and then reveled in a Big Sky championship three-peat with hopes of a four-peat.
“Jett gives us everything, every day,” Thompson said. “He’s constant, constant in being professional with his attitude, his effort, his intensity. There’s not a lot of 6-4, 290-pound guys that can move like he does, and his ability to affect the passer and also be consistent with the run game is big. He’s been a huge part of what we’ve done here, a very valuable member of this program. He comes out and practices just like he plays.”
Stanley and his twin brother, Jordan, starred at Heritage High School in Brentwood of Contra Costa County. They arrived at Sacramento State, where Jordan is an offensive tackle, thrilled to keep their football careers going.
Both have earned their degrees, Jett in mechanical engineering, and both are working on more degrees. Stanley has maximized every ounce of his collegiate experience, right on down to finding the woman of his dreams, Alexis, whom he met on a road trip to Utah. She regularly sits with his parents, Paige and David, in the stands as they track the action.
Alexis hands her man ice packs on Sundays as his body heals from the rigors of the sport. They plan to marry soon, “when all of this is over,” Stanley said with a laugh.
Work ethic
By any name or measure, Stanley feels the rigors of this sport every day.
“After Week 1, pretty much nobody feels good body wise when you’re in the trenches,” Stanley said. “You’ve got to fight through literally every ache and pain. You go against 300-pound men every singe play of your career, but I love it. Alexis takes good care of me.”
Stanley marvels at his Hornets time.
“This is my sixth year with a redshirt season and COVID season, getting that extra year,” he said. “I still remember vividly how I felt moving into the dorms and the dorm life. It’s gone by so fast.”
Stanley’s father worked so hard that move-in day that he had to swap out shirts. Then again, working oneself into a sweaty lather is what the Stanleys are known for. David Stanley has been in the construction industry for decades, but not as a man with a shovel. More as a man with a plan.
“My dad was a leading force with glass and other things at Levi’s Stadium for the 49ers,” Stanley said. “He got to sign his name in the owner’s box for the project. My dad really drilled into us that you need to have a blue-collar work ethic.”
Sac State-MSU history
Sacramento State and Montana State first played in the 1964 Camellia Bowl at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, a 28-7 MSU triumph to cap a 12-1 campaign under coach Jim Sweeney. The teams played twice in the early 1990s and last met in 2019, a 34-21 Hornets victory. The programs tied for the Big Sky crown last season despite not meeting.
MSU seeks its 16th Big Sky banner since 1964 and 12th FCS playoff berth since 2002. The Hornets seek their fourth consecutive Big Sky crown as a program on a roll with 24 regular-season victories in their last 25 outings. Montana State is coming off a 59-19 win over Cal Poly in Bozeman for the program’s 24th consecutive home victory, the longest active streak in NCAA Division I. It was also the 200th victory in the 50-year history of Bobcat Stadium.
A year ago on ESPN2, No. 2-ranked Sacramento State beat No. 7 Montana 31-24 in overtime at Hornet Stadium on ESPN2. For a Montana Grizzlies graduate, Thompson beams at a chance to take on his old rivals.
“It’s a great opportunity,” the coach said. “That’s what you want. That’s why you come to play college football. And Jett will be right in the middle of it.”
