Fourth-ranked Aggies’ playoff hopes take hit with loss to Eastern Washington
Saturday night’s result doesn’t spell doom for the UC Davis Aggies’ football season, but it does ratchet up the pressure on head coach Dan Hawkins’ team when it comes to earning a spot in the 24-team bracket for the FCS playoffs, which will be set a week from Sunday.
Davis fell 38-20 to the Eagles of Eastern Washington, who received another big performance from athletic star quarterback Eric Barriere, who finished with 411 passing yards amid an offensive explosion. The Eagles improved to 10-0 against Davis in their all-time series while putting up their fourth 600-yard game of the season.
Despite the loss on a foggy night in his home stadium, Hawkins came out of the game feeling positive about his team.
“Our kids didn’t back down, we played great, battled, gave some blows, took some blows.” he said. “So that’s part of it. But, again, the season goes on. I told them, my speech, one way or another, whether we won or lost, was probably going to be pretty much the same. So we’ve got to get ready to go for next week.”
Davis fell to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the Big Sky after coming into the game ranked No. 4 in the FCS coach’s poll and No. 6 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25. The Aggies likely need a victory in next week’s Causeway Classic over Sacramento State to ensure a spot in the postseason.
But it doesn’t sound like the Aggies are thinking about next week’s rivalry game in quite those terms.
“I think that Sac State is a good team,” defensive lineman Bryce Rodgers said. “But in terms of how we look at it in the future, it’s the next game. We’re not really worried about the playoffs like that. We’re just worried about winning this next game.”
Saturday’s loss marked Davis’ second in conference and eliminated its chance at winning the conference crown. Sacramento State improved to 7-0 in league play with a win over Portland State on Saturday, matching Montana State’s undefeated mark following their victory over Idaho.
Hawkins said his players will stew on Saturday’s result given their competitive nature, but ultimately wins and losses aren’t going to define the tenor of what’s been a successful season after last year was lost amid the pandemic.
“It’s no pressure,” said Hawkins. “Our standard is, amongst ourselves, to be the very best version of ourselves. Although we line up against other teams in other colors, in other venues in other places, it’s always to live up to the best version of ourselves, and I have 100% confidence in our guys that we’ll do that.”
Davis opened the scoring with a touchdown from receiver Jared Harrell, but it was their only offensive touchdown of the game. Barriere, meanwhile, threw three touchdown passes while Eagles running backs ran for two more. He added 42 yards on seven carries, and made countless other plays off script by evading sacks with his legs, including his pass to wideout Efton Chism III while rolling right on fourth-and-goal in the second quarter.
Rodgers said the plan coming into the game was to prevent Barriere from playing backyard football and being able to step up in the pocket.
“They have a lot of weapons on their offense,” Rodgers said. “They got some good running backs, have a good running game, and got a good pass game, and they know what they got back there in No. 3. So they know that when in doubt, you gotta do the scramble drill, basically, and they’re just trying to get open. So they do that very well.”
Davis’ second score came on a kickoff return from running back Lan Larison to open the second half. The Aggies managed just two field goals on their 10 other drives. Larson nearly housed a second kickoff in the third quarter despite coming into the game dealing with a foot injury.
“His foot’s been bothering him bad for quite a while,” Hawkins said. “And it’s still not 100%. But you’re not going to find anyone tougher than Lans Larison. ... He’s extremely explosive, as you saw. He’s extremely tough.”
Eastern Washington’s numbers were eye-popping. The Eagles outgained Davis, 625-283, and ran 101 plays on offense to just 63 on defense.
“Never have I been a part of a game like that in my 16 years of playing football. That’s crazy,” Rodgers, a senior, said. “I didn’t even know there was that many snaps taken. I think that just says something that we just need to work on getting off the field more, honestly.”
Eastern Washington scored touchdowns on back to back drives, and got a two-point conversion, to make it a 14-7 game midway through the second quarter. They took the lead on Chism’s fourth-down score.
The play nearly never happened. It came moments after Davis defensive back Jordan Perryman appeared to intercept Barriere on a diving play near the right sideline. But as he hit the ground, the ball popped out of his hands and right to Eagles receiver Talolo Limu-Jones. The interception ruling was overturned after review, giving the ball back to Eastern Washington.
Davis opened the second half with Larison taking the third quarter kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, momentarily giving them a 17-14 lead. Eastern Washington responded with the second touchdown of the game to tight end Dylan Ingram, with the road team reclaiming the 21-17 lead.
Then Davis quarterback Miles Hastings (19-30, 144 yards, one touchdown, one interception) threw a pick to Demetrius Crosby Jr. leading to Eastern Washington’s 31-yard field goal that made it 24-17. Davis would get another field goal before Eastern Washington finished with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away.
Despite Barriere and Eastern Washington’s big night, Hawkins’ message remained positive about his team while he praised the opponent.
“Hats off to those guys, they played great,” he said. “I’ve had either the unpleasant or pleasant experience of playing against a number of Heisman Trophy quarterbacks, or Heisman Trophy finalists, I would put Eric Barriere right up there with any of them. He’s super talented.”
This story was originally published November 14, 2021 at 6:51 AM.
