No. 16 UC Davis vows to bounce back vs. Southern Utah after crushing loss at Oregon State
The UC Davis Aggies departed the Pacific Northwest in one piece, bound for home in Yolo County, their headgear slightly ajar after absorbing a shot to the chin from a squad that looked like a top-10 team.
Oregon State rolled UCD 55-7 on Saturday night in a glimpse of what an FBS No. 16-ranked team can do to one ranked 16th in the lower-tier FCS. It’s football, and blowouts happen, and Aggies coach Dan Hawkins has always been a look-ahead, big-picture guy.
UCD (1-1) will welcome Southern Utah (0-2) for its home opener on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at UC Davis Health Stadium, and the Thunderbirds of Cedar City can speak of taking one square on the chin strap. Southern Utah opened with a 24-21 loss at Arizona State before falling 41-16 at BYU.
“Tough day on the road in Corvallis,” Hawkins said Monday during his weekly media session while crediting the Beavers for being a superb team. “It’s not what any of us wanted or expected. The score aside, it’s about responding and putting our best foot forward. It’s a redeemable thing. We didn’t wave the white flag. Our guys continued to battle, and guys didn’t run for cover, which was good.”
The coach added: “We had to take some extreme measures to gain some ground against them. Some of that worked, some of it didn’t. It’s tough when your emotions are high. Move the ball a little bit, then a turnover, and they take it to the house. That sucked the wind out of us and momentum is a big deal in football. But it’s a good learning lesson for us. It doesn’t mean we’re a bad football team, because we’re not. Sometimes you have those days. We’re all about adapting around here.”
Hawkins said playing a Pac-12 power such as Oregon State has its benefits beyond a step up in class. The experience of taking on a heavy favorite affords the opportunity to see how one stacks up. The other benefit is the financial boost. Oregon State had what some would deem “a sure win” in taking on an FCS team and UCD was compensated for its trip and troubles with a $635,000 check, which is common when FBS teams host FCS programs.
Southern Utah, for example, received a total of $950,000 to play at Arizona State and BYU.
UCD has beaten FBS programs before, including opening the 2018 campaign with a 44-38 victory at San Jose State and starting the 2021 season with a 19-17 victory at Tulsa in Oklahoma. Hawkins said scheduling FBS teams isn’t nearly as easy as it looks.
“I’ve had FBS coaches tell me, ‘I’m not going to play you guys,’” Hawkins said. “If we beat you by 21, it’s still a loss for us.”
UCD and Southern Utah history
Southern Utah went 5-6 last season and 2-3 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Thunderbirds are 6-4 in their last 10 games against UCD.
UCD is 12-9 all-time against Southern Utah, including 7-3 at home. The first meeting was a 28-27 Southern Utah victory in 1993. The teams last played in 2019, a 33-25 Aggies triumph.
Southern Utah is led by 25-year-old quarterback Justin Miller, a fourth-year starter who got an extra year like others across the country from the lost COVID season of 2020. He passed for 2,824 yards and 20 touchdowns last season and went for 235 yards and a touchdown against BYU.
Home opener
Lan Larrison leads UCD in rushing with 164 yards and three scores. Hawkins said he expects an energized home crowd. UCD has not lost a home opener since 2015, a 27-17 setback to South Dakota.
In the seven consecutive home-opening wins since, UCD has scored 35 or more points each time, including 50 or more four times.
This story was originally published September 13, 2023 at 5:00 AM.