Eighth-ranked UC Davis football beats Idaho with some ‘Magic’ and McCallan Castles
Trent Tompkins would play linebacker or defensive tackle if his UC Davis football coaches thought it would help the general cause.
What Tompkins does play is quarterback, and sometimes on special teams as a return ace. In other words, wherever there’s a need.
On Saturday night in a game the No. 8 Aggies had to have to continue their best start in 17 seasons, the redshirt freshman from Fresno, who teammates and coaches call “Magic,” infused life and helped UCD beat Idaho 27-20 in a Big Sky Conference thriller on Jim Sochor Field in front of 11,622.
UCD moved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big Sky. Idaho is 1-3 and 0-1.
Hunter Rodrigues is the regular starter for UCD at quarterback but he did not start after suffering a concussion in a 17-14 win last week at Weber State. Miles Hastings led the rally at Weber, got his first career start Saturday and passed for 144 yards and had a touchdown pass to Garren O’Keefe for a 10-6 second-quarter lead. But leg cramps led to UCD turning to Tompkins, and that generally means a spark.
He took direct snaps and ran left, or right, or went left and then went right. Looking like the fastest, most instinctive guy on the field, Tompkins gashed the Vandals for 85 yards on 13 carries, and he completed all four of his passes for 45 yards.
“We started to dial it up with Trent,” UCD coach Dan Hawkins said. “He’s a baller. He’s an old-school baller. He’d play kick the can and he’d beat you. With Magic, don’t over-coach it. Let him go. He’s unbelievable. We couldn’t quite get out and run and he comes in and gives us a big spark, and it was residual. The whole team felt it. That’s an intangible. Does he make teammates better. He does.”
Said the humble Tompkins, “I like playing ball, and it’s like, Throw me in there.’ I want to help the team. Winning games is the most fun you can have. Being out there with the boys is the greatest thing. I just play football and it comes to me.”
Tompkins’ 10-yard touchdown to Jared Harrel a moment into the fourth quarter tied the upset-minded Vandals of Moscow 20-20. UCD then surged ahead with the final score of the game with a bit of trickery.
With 8:05 left, Tompkins fired a lateral to Carson Crawford, who then threw a beauty of a 30-yarder to McCallan Castles, who snared it with one hand while landing in the end zone.
On a team stacked with gifted quarterbacks, the running feel-good joke with the Aggies is that Crawford has as good of an arm as anyone. The play was installed this week and it worked in practice under coordinator Cody Hawkins, son of the head coach.
Castles beamed afterward, describing how he grabbed the ball and pulled it to his body. He also talked up his tight end O’Keefe, the Colfax High School product who caught his first Aggies touchdown. The quarterbacks compete daily in anything and everything. So do the four tight ends in the rotation. It makes for lively practices and a close-knit group that expects to win the program’s second Big Sky crown in three years.
“I had to make the play,” Castles said of his score. “We have great depth. Everybody believes in the next guy. When Hunter went down last week, no one blinked when Miles came in, and same with Magic tonight.”
UCD sealed it when Devon King had a midfield interception with 40 seconds remaining. The Aggies lead all 117 FCS programs in takeaways this season, including a late interception to ice Weber State in halting a five-game skid to the Wildcats.
UCD also blocked a point-after-touchdown and a field goal in the fourth quarter. Cole Hanson, Teddye Buchanan and Chris Venable each had eight tackles for UCD, which plays at Idaho State next. UCD returns to UC Davis Health Stadium on Oct. 16 against Northern Colorado.
This story was originally published October 3, 2021 at 7:05 AM.