POCATELLO, Idaho – UC Davis redshirt freshman running back Courtney Williams said that when he was handed the ball seven minutes into Saturday's game against Idaho State, he trust- ed the play and his offensive line.

"I knew what the play was designed to do, and it work- ed," the Davis High School graduate said. "The defense took the bait."

Williams rumbled 55 yards for a touchdown on a misdirection play, putting the Aggies on the board first en route to a 52-45 win over the Bengals.

Williams found the end zone twice more, scoring on three- and two-yard runs in the second half. He finished with 84 yards on six carries.

It was a career game for Williams in many respects, but he was far from the only Aggie to come up big in Pocatello.

The Aggies (3-4, 2-2 Big Sky Conference) brought a balanced attack to Holt Arena, passing for 309 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 331 yards and four touchdowns.

Junior quarterback Randy Wright threw for 309 yards – his second career 300-yard passing game – hitting 20 of his 31 passes. He passed for three touchdowns and had one interception, by defensive back Cameron Gupton after the ball was tipped by an Aggie.

"We try to be as balanced as we can. It doesn't always work out this way," Wright said. "They ran multiple defenses, so I just wanted to take care of the ball and give my team a chance to win the game."

Marquis Nicolis and Colton Silveria each broke the 100-yard mark on the ground, Nicolis running for 105 yards on 18 carries and Silveria gaining 120 yards on 22 attempts.

Silveria, the workhorse during the team's final possession, also scored a touchdown from two yards out in the second quarter.

"I thought it was a very well-called and -executed game," said Aggies coach Bob Biggs. "We wanted to come out and establish our running game early and set up the play action."

Despite the Aggies' prolific offensive output, they were left watching their backs as Idaho State (1-5, 0-3) did not go down easily.

A potential turning point came early in the fourth quarter when Wright, his team leading 45-31, threw an interception deep in his own territory.

Idaho State, starting the ensuing drive on the Aggies' 14-yard line, promptly scored on a 14-yard pass from Kevin Yost to wide receiver Luke Austin.

Yost finished with 374 passing yards and five touchdowns.

Idaho State's passing was the one area that concerned Biggs.

"We knew they were going to throw the ball, and we still couldn't get as much pressure as we hoped to," Biggs said.

But UC Davis marched the ball right back down the field during a five-minute drive that epitomized Biggs' game plan of using the run to set up the pass.

After five running plays took the Aggies from their 8-yard line to their 34, Wright hit wide receiver Alex Cannon for 41 yards, putting the ball on Idaho State's 13-yard line. Williams' two-yard run and the PAT made it 52-38.

UC Davis, in its first year in the Big Sky, will visit Northern Arizona next Saturday.

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