Welcome back, everybody: UC Davis hangs 60 on Dixie State as crowds return en masse
Saturday night’s game was a long time coming for the UC Davis football team and head coach Dan Hawkins.
For the first time in roughly 22 months, all of their fans, the band, cheerleaders and all the pageantry was back.
“The crowd was really great,” Hawkins said. “I told our guys we were going to be in a college football environment and it was great. It was great to have the band and all the students involved. It provides the guys with some juice and a great environment.”
Their 60-27 victory over little known Dixie State marked their first game at UC Davis Health Stadium with a big crowd since November 2019, long before the pandemic led to canceling the fall season in 2020. The Aggies played five games in an abbreviated slate last spring, but there were few fans allowed, providing an eerie atmosphere compared to the jovial scene Saturday.
The lawns behind the end zones were packed, at least for the first half. The student sections — one behind the Dixie State sideline and two others in the corners on the west side of the stadium — were energized. Onlookers in the press area thought it was the most lively crowd since the “Battle for the Golden Horseshoe” against Cal Poly in October 2019, when a capacity crowd of 11,194 saw the Aggies win, 48-24.
Fans on Saturday got to see the eighth game with at least 60 points in school history as UC Davis improved to 3-0.
Attendance was announced as 9,865, just short of the state-mandated 10,000 allowed for outdoor events at the school. (Larger events like 49ers home games that will have more than 65,000 are considered “mega events” that must get special approval from the state).
The most consistent cheers came after kickoffs, when a dog named Pint, a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever, would run on to the field and grab the kicking tee. The lopsided score led to many fans leaving at halftime following a late kickoff at 7 p.m.
Dixie State, located in St. George, Utah, is a former two-year college that’s beginning the four-year reclassification to Division I. Saturday marked its third straight loss to Big Sky teams. The Trailblazers lost to Sacramento State to open the season two weeks ago, 19-7.
The talent disparity Saturday was apparent from the jump when UC Davis opened with back-to-back scoring drives that combined to go 14 plays for 131 yards in just 6:11. The Aggies in the first half ran for 209 yards while scoring 36 points. But the Trailblazers kept it respectable until late thanks to their passing game behind Kenyon Oblad, who had four touchdown passes and five interceptions.
The Aggies finished with 532 yards of offense behind a strong performance from preseason all-conference running back Ulonzo Gilliam. The junior from Merced, Calif. tallied with three rushing touchdowns and a receiving score in the fourth quarter. His four touchdowns were a career high. He had 178 yards on 26 runs. The team’s 380 rushing yards were 16 yards short of the school’s all-time record set against Southern Oregon in 1952.
Gilliam said afterwards the team coming into the game was to run for 200 yards, but the team almost doubled it.
“We came out here and checked that off,” Gilliam said.
Saturday’s contest was predictably lopsided for most of the night — at least until the the road team made it a 12-point game on the final play of the third quarter when Oblad found receiver David Fisher for a 26-yard score. But Davis responded with a long kickoff return before Gilliam’s fourth touchdown pushed the lead back to 19. The Aggies out scored the road team 21-0 in the fourth quarter.
“I always want to start fast,” Hawkins said. “You show up to work and start fast — and then finish strong. I think those are the principles that you can live by in your job, your marriage and your football team. I just wanted to come out of the tunnel hot.”
UC Davis led by 26 after a touchdown late in the second when receiver Carson Crawford tossed his second career scoring pass on a trick play. Receiver and special teams dynamo Lan Larison had 224 all purpose yards including 123 kickoff return yards.
Defensive backs Jaylin White and Chris Venable each had a pair of interceptions of Oblad. Aggies signal caller, Hunter Rodrigues, the reigning conference player of the week, wasn’t asked to do much given the team’s success in the running game. He finished with 126 passing yards, a touchdown, interception and rushing touchdown.
Versatile backup quarterback Trent Tompkins added a 20-yard rushing touchdown and also converted a a 2-point conversion in the first quarter. Larison scored with just over 10 minutes remaining to give the home team a 53-27 lead.
UC Davis came into the weekend ranked No. 14 among FCS teams, according to Stats FCS rankings (and No. 12 in the coach’s poll). They’ll have a key road showdown next week against Weber State, which began the week ranked No. 9 in Stats FCS rankings and lost to James Madison, 37-24.
“I think we’re continuing to make strides,” Hawkins said. “We have great kids and great culture. Where we’re at mentally is so good and so fun as a coach.”
This story was originally published September 19, 2021 at 5:53 AM.
