UC Davis continues to roll, improves to 8-1 on season

Nov 4, 2024, 6:59 AM

UC Davis football during the 2024 season....

(UC Davis Athletics)

BY UC DAVIS ATHLETICS

Sactown Sports

Thi story was initially published by UC Davis Athletics

Score: No. 4 UC Davis 59, Northern Colorado 7

Location: Davis, Calif. (UC Davis Health Stadium)

Records: UC Davis 8-1 (5-0), Northern Colorado 1-8 (1-4)

The short story: Behind an explosive 622 total offensive yards, and a defensive statement that held Northern Colorado scoreless until the fourth quarter, UC Davis football made a statement off the bye week with a dominating win in front of 10,638 fans.

FIRST DOWN

Senior running back Lan Larison finished with 143 yards on the ground on 14 carries, scoring three rushing touchdowns
Larison’s great day gave him an average of 10.2 yards per carry
Senior quarterback Miles Hastings racked up 285 yards passing, throwing three touchdowns while going 20-for-26
Junior redshirt David Meyer racked up 12 total tackles, 11 solo, adding 2.0 tackles for loss
Four different Aggies, Samuel Gbatu Jr., Josh Gale, Trent Tompkins and Winston Williams all caught touchdown passes in the game
Gbatu Jr. (78) and Gale (76) each finished with over 75 yards receiving in the game
Porter Connors and Meyer each snagged their second interceptions of the season

WHAT HEAD COACH TIM PLOUGH HAD TO SAY

“I’m proud with how we came out and played following the bye against a good team that I have a lot of respect for. We got some of the freshman in today, and we tried to get as many players as we could in during the game. We talked about the people in your circle either inspire or it becomes a cage. We have been focused on us playing well all season, and for this game our goal was to come off two weeks and see how well we can play with longer preparation.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

For only the second time this season, the Aggies took the opening drive and scored a touchdown
Chipping away with 11 plays, Hastings found Tompkins from seven yards out to cap off a 75-yard drive that ate up 3:45 of the opening period
In the second drive, the Aggies kept it going, this time getting a big 49-yad scamper down the sideline from Larison, taking the ball down the left side to make it 14-0 early
Porter Connors nearly took back an interception near the end of the quarter, going 64 yards before being caught
With things at 14-0, the Aggies took their second drive of the second period six plays for 52 yards and after Larison punched it in from three yards out the Aggies led 21-0
A big play on that drive came from Gale’s 25-yard reception to set up the Aggies inside the Bear 10-yard line
Junior kicker Hunter Ridley sent home a 23-yard field goal to solidify the Aggies 24-0 lead heading into the half
Hurdling a defender into the endzone, Larison scored on an eight-yard run off the left side to end a five-play 60-yard drive, making it 31-0 less than five minutes into the second half
Hastings found Gale streaking down the field for a 40-yard touchdown pass to make it 38-0 as the Aggies continue to control the action on both sides of the ball, forcing punt after punt and scoring in return
Another touchdown pass from Hastings, this one to Williams, pushed the Aggies ahead 45-0, ending the senior quarterback’s day after another successful day at the office
Meyer’s interception in the next drive, set up senior quarterback Grant Harper’s first touchdown pass of the season, chucking a 13-yard pass to Gbatu Jr., to make it 52-0 with just about four minutes to go in the third quarter
Freshman running back Carter Vargas, on the first two touches of his collegiate career, scored the final touchdown for the Aggies with a two-yard push into the endzone to make it 59-0
Northern Colorado would get one touchdown before the game would end, scoring on a two-yard rush. But it would be way to little, too late in the game as the Aggies has locked in the 59-7 win and their fifth-straight against Northern Colorado

GAME NOTES

This was Larison’s fifth 100-yard rushing game of the season and the 11th of his career
The three rushing touchdowns was the fourth time Larsion has done that in a game in his career
This was the second game this season that at least 10 Aggies caught at least one pass
With Connors’ second interception of the season, the Aggies now have three players (Meyer [3]; Kavir Bains [2]) with at least two interceptions in a single season
That’s the first time since 2021 the Aggies have achieved that
The Aggies rushed for over 300 yards (309) for the first time this season
It’s the second time this season the Aggies have scored at least 50 points, making it the first time they’ve scored at least 50 points in the same season since 2022