No. 5 UC Davis Outlasts Sacramento State, 42-39; Retains Causeway Cup For Second Straight Season

Nov 25, 2024, 6:31 AM

(UC Davis Athletics)

Sactown Sports

This story was initially published by UC Davis Athletics

Score: No. 5 UC Davis 42, Sacramento State 39
Location: Sacramento, Calif. (Hornet Stadium)
Records: UC Davis 10-2 (7-1), Sacramento State 3-9 (1-7)

The short story: Massive offensive games from seniors Miles Hastings and Lan Larison gave No. 5 UC Davis football the final cherry on top of a historic season, finishing off Sacramento State 42-39 to lock up its 10th win of the season and a second-straight Causeway Classic victory.

STINGERS 👎#GoAgs | #Shredville pic.twitter.com/cKYrA0x49F

— UC Davis Football (@UCDfootball) November 24, 2024

FIRST DOWN

Larison ran for 148 yards on 23 carries, scoring three touchdowns and he finished with 69 receiving yards on four catches to finish with 273 all-purpose yards, adding 56 kickoff return yards
Hastings threw for 398 yards on 27-of-36 passing to finish with three passing touchdowns on the game
Junior Samuel Gbatu, Jr. again had a night, finishing with a career-high 143 yards receiving on five catches, scoring one touchdown
Rex Connors and Porter Connors led the way on defense, with Rex racking up 12 tackles and Porter finishing with 11 tackles
Snagging his fourth interception of the season, redshirt junior David Meyer added nine tackles, finishing with three solo tackles
As a team, the Aggies finished with 540 total offensive yards, averaging 7.8 yards per play over 69 plays
This is the 10th season in program history the Aggies have had at least 10 wins
The win over Sacramento State marks only the second time the Aggies have won at least 10 games in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision era
The 10 wins are also the most wins in a FCS era regular season

WHAT HEAD COACH TIM PLOUGH HAD TO SAY
“What an incredible season we have had, and to be quite honest it does not make a whole lot of sense. I’m just so proud of the team, the staff and everyone surrounded with the program and this was, in my humble opinion, the best regular season we have ever had. And the players deserve a lot of credit for that, and I think they should be remembered for a long time for the season they put together. We knew Sac State would play well, and they played tremendously. I hope Sac State knows how lucky they are to have a leader like Andy [Thompson] and if I know anything about him he will have them back next year, so we need to be ready.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Aggies got the day started with a bang, going 67 yards in six plays to score on the opening drive and open a 7-0 lead out of the gate
A Hastings 29-yard pitch and catch to Gbatu, Jr. capped off the Aggie drive
Sacramento State tied things up later in the quarter, scoring on a three-yard passing touchdown to tie things up near the end of the opening period
In the Aggies second possession of the quarter UC Davis retook the lead, getting big plays from Hastings throws to Gbatu, Jr. (42 yards) and senior Trent Tompkins (21 yards) to work down the field
Larison then capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to put the Aggies back in front 14-7 with 11 minutes to go in the half
With eight minutes left in the half, the Aggies began a drive, started on a Meyer interception, that would go 89 yards in seven plays, finishing with a touchdown to put the Aggies up 21-7
Completions of at least 20-plus yards to Gbatu, Jr. (37/26) and Tompkins (23) set the Aggies up at the Sacramento State five
Hastings then dropped back to find senior tight end Winston Williams in the back of the end zone to cap the drive off and pad the UC Davis lead to 21-7
Sacramento State would put together a quick half-ending drive, going 61 yards in 1:35 to pull within one score, 21-14, heading into the break
In the third quarter, Sacramento State scored 10 points to catch and pass the Aggies, scoring midway through the period before being held by the Davis defense to a field goal to make it 24-21 as the page turned to the fourth quarter
In a drive that started near the tail end of the third quarter, UC Davis retook the lead when Larison bounced off the Sac State defenders, spun off another tackle and powered his way into the end zone from 12 yards out to put the Aggies up 28-24
The Aggies defense then found its footing, first forcing a three-and-out on the next drive the defense needed to again be called upon when UC Davis turned the ball over on its next drive giving Sacramento State the ball on a quick turnaround
On that possession following the Aggie turnover, Sacramento State managed just one first down before punting back to the Aggies following a defensive hold
The Aggie offense knew the assignment following the defensive showing and Hastings took control of the action
Taking the Aggies 60 yards in eight plays completing three passes along the way, including a big pass across the middle to senior C.J. Hutton that went 27 yards, setting the Aggies up inside the Hornet 10-yard line
Hastings then dropped back, and found a familiar face again in the back of the endzone, hitting Williams with a floater over the defense
Williams dropped his heel down just inside the back line of the end zone, and following the review, UC Davis added to its lead at 35-24 with Williams’ second touchdown reception of the game
Sacramento State, who battled until the final whistle, had fight left and they would go 70 yards in seven plays to score a touchdown and following the two-point conversion pulled within 35-32
Larison then began the process of single-handily calling game
He first took his turn scoring, taking the fourth play of the drive 59 yards nearly untouched up the middle for his third rushing touchdown of the game, putting UC Davis up 42-32
Then, after Sacramento State answered again, Larison was johnny on the spot for the onside kick
With the score at 42-39, Larison used all of his vertical leap to high point the ball, coming down with the high bounce to secure not only the ball but a 42-39 Aggie victory

GAME NOTES

With the win, head coach Tim Plough ties Bob Biggs for the most wins by a first-year head coach in program history
Larison set a pair of all-purpose yards program records, passing Ulonzo Gilliam, Jr. for the program career record and passing G.P. Muhammad for the single season record
Larison became the first Aggie in program history to finish with over 2,000 all-purpose yards on the season
This was Larison’s seventh 100-yard rushing game of the season and the 13th of his career
Meyer’s three solo tackles ties him for the program record for solo tackles in a season at 63
Meyer now has 104 tackles on the season, becoming only the third Aggie in program history, and the first since Kris Speaker reached the mark in 2000, to finish with at least 100 total tackles
Meyer also becomes the first Aggie in program history to reach at least 100 total tackles in a single season in the FCS era
This was Hastings’ sixth 300-yard passing game of the season and his third with at least 350 yards
For the ninth time this season, Hastings threw for at least three touchdowns
Hastings broke regular season program records in passing touchdowns and passing yards, passing Jake Maier in both categories
Hasting also became the second Aggie in program history to have over 900 completions in his career, joining Maier in the Aggie record book
It was the first time the Aggies have won in Sacramento since 2017
It’s the first time since 2015-16 the Aggies have held the Causeway Cup for at least two-straight years
Offensively the Aggies and Hornets combined for 997 total yards of offense