UC Davis runs past Illinois State, advances To NCAA FCS Playoff Quarterfinals

Dec 9, 2024, 7:08 AM

(UC Davis Athletics)

Sactown Sports

UC Davis Athletics initially published this story

NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP SECOND ROUND
Score: No. 5 UC Davis 42, No. 12 Illinois State 10
Location: Davis, Calif. (UC Davis Health Stadium)
Records: UC Davis 11-2, Illinois State 10-4

The short story: Walter Payton Award finalist senior quarterback Miles Hastings became the first Aggie to collect over 4,000 passing yards in a single season, finishing today’s game with 403 passing yards, while a defensive performance that kept Illinois State out of the endzone after the opening drive led No. 5 UC Davis football to a commanding 42-10 victory in its NCAA Division I Championship Second Round match up.

FIRST DOWN

Hastings finished 25-for-33, tossing three touchdowns and it’s the second time this season he has thrown for at least 400 yards
The 4,148 passing yards Miles has on the season broke a single season program record (when including the postseason). A record of 3,931 held by Jake Maier (2018) fell with Hastings’ performance tonight
Senior running back and Walter Payton Award finalist Lan Larison again filled the stat sheet, rushing for 104 yards and three touchdowns on 22 touches while catching three balls for 87 yards along with taking one kick back for 19 yards to collect 210 all-purpose yards
Senior wide receiver C.J. Hutton caught seven balls for 104 yards and one touchdown, his second 100-yard receiving game of the season
Buck Buchanan Award finalist redshirt-junior linebacker David Meyer, who set a program record for solo sacks passing 64 on the season, racked up nine total tackles and seven solo stops
The Connors brothers each had big days, with Porter finishing with nine total tackles (eight solo) and Rex racking up eight (all solo) tackles
As a team the Aggies collected a season-high 558 total yards of offense
Illinois State scored a touchdown on its opening drive, and would not reach the endzone again for the remainder of the game
Because of the stout Aggie defense, Illinois State would only go 2-for-5 in red zone chances
UC Davis scored 21 points in the second quarter and held the Redbirds scoreless in the second half to pull away

WHAT HEAD COACH TIM PLOUGH HAD TO SAY
“I’m proud of the team. Illinois State is a great football team and early on they came out and punched us in the mouth. But our team continues to show great resolve, and their resilience is what makes them a special team. I thought the defense did a great job of playing our style of defense, to make it tough on them to run the ball. That unit made some key plays late in the red zone and that’s where you win football games. We were able to tun the ball efficiently and I thought Miles played a great game with guys around him making big plays. It was a clean for us and at this point its survive and advance. We are proud to be one of the final eight teams left.”
HOW IT HAPPENED

Illinois State went seven plays for 61 yards in its opening possession of the game, capping off the scoring drive with an eight-yard pass
The early 7-0 lead would be the last time the Redbirds led in the game
On the possession before the Aggies would tie the game, Illinois State lined up for a field goal attempt, looking to go up 10 points early in the game
Lining up for a 47-yard field goal attempt, Illinois State’s Ian Wagner hit a line drive that did not get over the outstretched hand of junior offensive lineman Eli Simonson. Simonson blocked the kick and it gave the Aggies the ball with good field position
Following the blocked kick the Aggies to got going and a big 34-yard pass to junior wide receiver Samuel Gbatu, Jr., opened up the Redbird defense and led to an eventual fourth-down one-yard scoring run by Larison to tie the game
UC Davis’ next scoring drive began in the first and wrapped up in the second quarter as the Aggies worked their way down the field thanks to Hutton’s big drive
The Aggie receiver caught a pass for 39 yards, 21 yards and a 10-yard score to lead UC Davis on a 72-yard drive to take the lead at 14-7
Larison’s 27-yard run, where he broke an ankle or two, punched in another Aggie touchdown on the next possession, capping off a five-play 85-yard drive that started when junior tight end Ian Simpson hauled in a 37-yard pass he took down the middle to set up the eventual Larison scamper
On the next two drives the Aggie defense allowed just one first down and the quick turnaround allowed for the Davis offense to continue to roll
A direct snap to Larison from two-yards out put the cherry on top of a 10-play 80-yard Aggie scoring drive that grew the Aggie lead to 28-7
Illinois State had its last answer of the game, going 12 plays over the final 1:17 of the half, settling for a 22-yard field goal to make it 28-10 heading into the break
During the third quarter, the Aggie defense made its presence playing nearly 11 minutes of the period
The Aggies ran 11 plays, burning 4:39 minutes in its only possession of the period
But the stout Davis defense shut down a pair of Illinois State drives, including making a fourth down stop on the first drive of the quarter
Illinois State took its second possession of the third, which bled into the fourth, down to the 16-yard line
On fourth down the Redbird quarterback, Tommy Rittenhouse, dropped back and sent a looper up into the endzone which junior defensive back Wyatt Gardner high-pointed in front of the Illinois State receiver to come down with the drive ending interception
UC Davis again shut the door on the Redbirds with a fourth-down stop on the Aggie 18, another red zone stop for the Aggie defense
Larison hauled in another big play, going 64 yards down the right sideline to put the ball down to the Illinois State 18-yard line two plays into the Aggie drive
Hastings then connected with Simpson over the middle from 18 yards out to score another touchdown and extend the Aggie lead to 35-10
Another fourth down stop by the Aggie defense set up the final scoring drive of the game, with Hastings finding senior wide receiver Chaz Davis on a high point to score another Aggie touchdown to put the score at 42-10
When the final whistle blew, after the Aggies spent the final two minutes in victory formation, UC Davis had locked up a 42-10 win and its first playoff win since 2018

GAME NOTES

Hastings now has 10,823 career passing yards and sits second all-time in program history
Hastings’ 4,148 passing yards is a single season program record and he becomes the first Aggie quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards in a single season
Meyer set the single season record for solo tackles, finishing the game with 70 on the season setting the new record with his first solo tackle of the game
This was Hutton’s second 100-yard receiving game of the season, and the fourth of his career
Larison rushed for three touchdowns for the second-straight game and third game of the year
It was Larison’s eighth 100-yard rushing game of the season, his third-straight 100-yard rushing game and the 14th of his career
This was the fifth game this season that Larison finished with at least 200 all-purpose yards
Rex Connors now has 99 total tackles on the season and he sits with 69 solo tackles, placing him one behind his teammate Meyer as they both chase setting a new program record
Gardner’s interception was the first of his career
This was the first meeting between UC Davis and Illinois State in history
This was the first Aggie playoff win since knocking off Northern Iowa in 2018
The Aggies are now 2-2 all-time in the Division I FCS Playoffs and 17-20 all-time in NCAA playoff games, when including Division II playoff games
The 11 wins are the most by a Division I Aggie team in program history

UP NEXT FOR THE AGGIES: UC Davis now heads to No. 4 South Dakota for an NCAA Division I Championship Quarterfinal match up and a shot at the semifinals. That game will take place on Dec. 14 with a 12 p.m. PT start time on ESPN+.