No. 7 UC Davis beats Northern Arizona, remains a key factor in Big Sky race
UC Davis fares well after a bye week.
The No. 7 Aggies on Saturday afternoon moved to 5-0 after an off week since 2016, beating Northern Arizona in Flagstaff 40-24 in Big Sky Conference action to remain in the championship race with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Miles Hastings passed for 279 yards and had touchdown strikes of 16 yards to Justin Poerio for a 17-17 late in the first half a 1-yarder to Garren O’Keefe for a 37-17 advantage with 1:04 left in the third to move UCD to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the Big Sky, widely viewed as the top conference in the FCS.
Running back Lan Larison caught a 41-yard touchdown from receiver Carson Crawford for an 8-7 UCD lead, and Isaiah Gomez made four field goals for the Aggies, who have won three consecutive games and host No. 5 Eastern Washington next. No. 16 Sacramento State will visit the Agges on Nov. 20 in the annual Causeway Classic that could go a long way in sorting out the Big Sky scramble and who advances to the FCS playoffs.
Northern Arizona (4-5) is officially out of the Big Sky title race in falling to 3-3 in the conference.
Trent Tompkins led UCD with 76 yards rushing, including a 54-yard touchdown sprint for a 27-17 UCD lead early in the third. Ulonzo Gilliam Jr. rushed for 51 yards on 17 carries and moved into second place on UCD’s all-time career rushing list. He has 3,107 yards, passing Preston Jackson, who played through the 1993 season, and trailing G.P. Muhammad, who had 3,589 yards from 1995-98.