Lan Larison, defense lead No. 13 UC Davis past Utah Tech as Aggies win their third straight
Lan Larison was a difference maker for UC Davis on Saturday night, a theme that has carried over from 2023 when he was the Big Sky Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year.
The senior preseason All-American candidate rushed for 120 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns, and he caught a scoring pass from Miles Hastings as the FCS No. 13-ranked Aggies raced past Utah Tech 32-14 in a nonconference contest at UC Davis Health Stadium.
Larison had a 7-yard scoring run to open the scoring and another 7-yarder in the third quarter for a 32-7 lead. Hunter Ridley booted first-half field goals of 19, 27, 34 and 25 yards for an 18-0 halftime lead, Hastings passed for 275 yards and the UCD defense came up with four turnovers while allowing 223 yards to give the Aggies their third consecutive victory.
UCD (3-1) lost its opener at Cal, then defeated Texas A&M Commerce at home to give Tim Plough his first victory as Aggies coach, 36-22. UCD last week downed Southern Utah 24-21.
Plough said before the season that UCD had to win its home games to win the Big Sky Conference championship for the second time since 2018. The first test for that quest is Sept. 28, when the Aggies host FCS No. 4 Idaho.
UCD looked ready for the opening of Big Sky action in gaining 25 first downs to Utah Tech’s nine and in converting nine of 18 3rd-down conversions while the Trailblazers went one of 11.
UCD had the ball for 38 minutes, 50 seconds and had twice as many plays as Utah Tech (88 to 48) as the Aggies won their second all-time meeting with the Trailblazers. The first meeting was a 60-27 UCD victory in 2021. Utah Tech is 0-4 on the season.