UC Davis football secures first win, defeats Texas A&M-Commerce

Sep 8, 2024, 9:26 AM

UC Davis football picks up a win vs. Texas A&M-Commerce....

(UC Davis Athletics)

BY UC DAVIS ATHLETICS

Sactown Sports

This story was initially published by UC Davis Athletics

Score: No. 18 UC Davis 36, Texas A&M-Commerce 22

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

Records: UC Davis 1-1, Texas A&M-Commerce 0-2

The short story: First-year head coach Tim Plough earned his first career win at the helm as No. 18 UC Davis battled back a late charging Texas A&M-Commerce to lock up a ninth-straight home opener victory.

FIRST DOWN

· Senior quarterback Miles Hastings put up big numbers, finishing with 320 yards passing, tossing three touchdowns on 26-of-41 passing

· The three touchdowns were the most he has thrown since chucking four against Cal Poly in 2022

· Redshirt junior David Meyer had a day, making a career-high 15 stops with 12 solo tackles and three assisted

· Meyer made the game sealing interception, which he returned 60 yards for the first touchdown of his career

· Senior Lan Larison added a season-high 123 yards on the ground, averaging 4.4 yards per carry on 28 touches

· Senior wide receiver Chaz Davis had five catches for 73 yards, adding a touchdown to the mix

· Junior receiver Samuel Gbatu, Jr. snagged three catches for 54 yards, scoring one receiving touchdown

· Junior kicker Hunter Ridley bounced back and was a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals, hitting a game-long 32-yard kick in the second quarter

WHAT HEAD COACH TIM PLOUGH HAD TO SAY

“We have to give them a lot of credit, they did some things defensively down in the red zone that gave us trouble. And we really did not execute properly in those areas. That allowed them to stay in the game, and if you allow a good team like that to stick around things can get tough. We need to do a better job and get some touchdowns when we get down there. But it was great to see Hunter [Ridley] bounce back and make some kicks in the game.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

· The first half was the Hunter Ridley show, with the Aggie kicker capping off three Aggie drives with field goals

· Ridley’s kicks all came in the second quarter after both sides went scoreless in the first quarter

· The Aggie kickers first came from 28 yards out,capping off an 8-play drive. His second was a game-long 32 yards at the end of a short six play drive which started following a Texas A&M-Commerce fumble.

· Ridley’s third came with three seconds left on the clock. After the Aggies went 68 yards in 10 plays, Ridely poked home a 29-yard field goal to give UC Davis a 9-0 lead heading into the break

· The game opened a bit in the third quarter and early on the Aggies extended their lead

· Davis got the Aggies in the end zone when he snagged a 4-yard pass from Hastings in the back of the end zone for the first touchdown of the game, capping off a 75-yard almost three-minute drive to open the second half

· Gbatu, Jr. snagged a 54-yard pass from Hastings on the first play UC Davis’ second drive of the third quarter and before most Aggie fans had gotten back to their seats the Aggies had scored twice and extended their lead to 22-0

· Texas A&M-Commerce got on the board with a quick 32-yard strike from quarterback Ron Peace to tight end Sean Sallis, making it 22-7 heading into the final period

· The fourth quarter opened with the Lions driving, but after the Aggies shut things down, Commerce would settle for a field goal attempt

· On the attempt, the Lion kicker smashed it into the line, allowing for senior defensive lineman Zach Kennedy to knock it down for his second-career blocked field goal

· On the next drive UC Davis added to its lead, when senior tight end Winston Williams caught a ball just inside the Commerce 10-yard line and scampered into the endzone for his third passing touchdown on the night for Hastings, giving the Aggies a 29-7

· With just under 10 minutes to go the Aggies held a double-digit lead, it was here that Commerce began its attempt at a comeback

· A long pass down the middle, resulting in a 61-yard touchdown pass was followed up on the next drive by an eight-play drive that ended with a 17-yard touchdown pass and a successful two-point conversion to tighten the score at 29-22

· Hastings getting sacked on third down on the next drive meant the ball would be given back to Commerce with 1:54 to go

· After just getting across the 50-yard line, Peace threw one just a bit high that went hit Meyer in stride as he took the interception back 60 yards to seal the win for the Aggies, putting the final score at 36-22

GAME NOTES

· Head coach Tim Plough gets his first win of his career as a head coach

· The Aggies move to 4-0 all-time against Texas A&M-Commerce

· This is the second time in program history the Aggies have beaten Texas A&M-Commerce in the home opener

· UC Davis has now won nine-straight home openers

· The Aggies have had back-to-back games with a defensive touchdown to start the season

· Entering the weekend, Meyer’s 60-yard interception return is the third-longest in the country

· Meyer becomes the first Aggie since 2022 to return an interception for a touchdown (Teddye Buchanan, vs. Cal Poly)

UP NEXT: UC Davis gets back on the road with a trip to Southern Utah on Sept. 14. The Aggies return to UC Davis Health Stadium on Sept. 21 for the first of back-to-back home games when Utah Tech comes to Davis. Fans can buy season tickets, group tickets, mini plans, single game tickets and corporate ticket packages, by clicking the links or by calling the Aggie Ticket Office at (530) 752-2471 or by emailing aggietickets@ucdavis.edu.

This story was initially published by UC Davis Athletics