No. 20 UC Davis falls to No. 17 Montana on late fumble; must win out to secure playoff bid
The schedule shows five Big Sky Conference games remaining, but for the UC Davis Aggies, the urgency is immediate.
“Now, it’s on,” UCD coach Dan Hawkins said Saturday night after another agonizing defeat. “It’s a single-elimination tournament now.”
After falling to FCS No. 17 -ranked Montana 31-23 in front of 9,576 fans at UC Davis Health Stadium, the Aggies are suddenly confronted with a treacherous uphill climb to the postseason with one more loss sure to douse those dreams. The Big Sky championship was the primary goal, certainly, as was securing the program’s third FCS playoff berth since 2018. Big Sky title hopes have already been dashed in a conference that allows no margin for error, and postseason expectations took a hit with the loss to Montana, one of the powerhouse programs in FCS history.
Montana is seeking its 19th Big Sky Conference crown and ongoing record 28th FCS playoff berth. Cliton McDowell threw three second-half touchdown passes, two to Aaron Fontes, as the Grizzlies moved to 5-1 overall, 2-1 in the Big Sky, 9-1 all-time against the Aggies and 6-0 all-time at UCD. The Aggies only scored three points in the second half on a 42-yard field goal from Hunter Ridley.
Montana’s defense included starting defensive back TraJon Cotton, a graduate of Inderkum High School in Sacramento. He had three tackles.
UCD dropped to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big Sky. Those two conference losses sting even more because they happened on Jim Sochor Field, and it is debatable as to which game was more excruciating.
Eastern Washington beat UCD 27-24 on Sept. 23. The Aggies were undone in part by a late blocked field goal, allowing the Eagles to move to 11-0 all time against UCD in a series that started in 2005.
Against Montana, UCD’s last drive ended with a strip fumble after a reception at the Grizzlies’ 7-yard line with 1:18 remaining, recovered by Ryder Meyer. The Aggies were already plotting a 2-point conversion had they reached the end zone. Instead, the Grizzlies ran out the clock, dulling the spirits of an Aggies team that showed no quit.
“Tough one,” Hawkins said of the loss. “It’s a close league. It’s not one play, one guy or one thing that lost the game. It’s a little bit of everything.”
That includes injuries, which Hawkins never uses as an excuse. But playing without the Big Sky’s leading rusher in Lan Larison was a factor. UCD is simply a better team with him in the lineup because his breakaway speed is as good as it gets in the Big Sky if not much of the FCS landscape. Larison has been out since late in the third quarter of the Eastern Washington game with a knee strain, initially feared to be a season-ender but downgraded to a much more optimistic week-to-week outlook.
Trent Tompkins started at running back last week for UCD and rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-13 win at Cal Poly. But the versatile star from Fresno left that game with a tender shoulder and saw limited time in practice this week. He rushed twice for five yards and had one reception for four yards.
Hawkins said Tompkins was eager to play against Montana, but the seventh-year Aggies coach didn’t want to use him the entire game to batter the shoulder any more. Jordan Fisher, a true freshman from Oregon, rushed 17 times for 57 yards for the Aggies. Hawkins said Fisher is a “very talented player, very mature.” Fisher rushed for nearly 3,000 yards and four touchdowns last fall at Westview High School in Portland and may well continue to see action as the Aggies are in the market for healthy backs.
Miles Hastings of UCD passed for 359 yards on 31-of-46 passing. He had a 1-yard touchdown strike to Chaz Davis to give the Aggies a 13-7 lead in the second quarter and a 14-yarder to Samuel Gbatu to put them up 20-15 late in the half. The veteran quarterback did his job.
Eli Gillman had the game’s most spectacular play, an 85-yard touchdown burst to push Montana ahead 28-20 with 2:32 left in the third, and the teams exchanged field goals from there.
Hastings and Hawkins assured that the Aggies are not finished. The playoffs are within reach if they can run the table with wins at Weber State on Oct. 14, at Northern Arizona on Oct. 28, at home against Portland State on Nov. 4, at Idaho State on Nov. 11 and at home against Sacramento State in the Causeway Classic on Nov. 18.
“I hate losing,” Hastings said. “It’s not fun. It wasn’t our day. We’ve got to redial.”
This story was originally published October 7, 2023 at 10:10 PM.