Miles Hastings pondered leaving football. Instead, he’s quarterbacked UC Davis into playoffs
A year ago, Miles Hastings was on the fence.
A frustrating, up-and-down season behind him, Hastings wondered if he would return for his final season at quarterback with the UC Davis Aggies, or bow out, fatigued by a sport that can be equal parts rewarding and crushing.
Hastings elected to finish out with the Aggies, inspired by the return of coach Tim Plough. When he was an assistant coach with UCD in 2019, Plough recruited Hastings to UCD out of San Marcos High School in San Diego County, reminding the passer that he also grew up in the region and then really grew as a student-athlete at UCD.
Upon landing the UCD gig just over a year ago to replace Dan Hawkins, Plough urged Hastings to stick it out, that the Aggies had greatness in them, that the team motto of “Find Joy” would include Hastings finding himself in a game that is still rooted in fun. He found joy, found his groove, found his game and found that this gig still works. Hastings has never been better. Few Aggies have ever been this good in a season, actually.
Hastings has passed for 4,148 yards and 35 touchdowns in leading No. 5-seeded UCD into Saturday’s FCS quarterfinal at No. 4 South Dakota. The yards lead all FCS programs this season and represent the most for any Aggie since the school started football in 1915. Hastings has, remarkably, completed nearly 70% of his passes. It’s not a stretch to say that the Aggies do not make it this far without Hastings leading the charge.
“This season, I’ve been finding my love for the game again,” Hastings said. “It’s been a really special year and it’s nice to keep it rolling.”
Plough has praised Hastings regularly this season, but as a one-time Aggies quarterback, he also challenges his leader to be even better. Coach and quarterback go over film, break down the good decisions and the not-so-good ones.
It was mostly good against Illinois State last week as UCD kicked off its FCS postseason. Hastings passed for 403 yards and three touchdowns. All-American running back Lan Larison ran for 104 yards and three scores. And the defense behind David Meyer and Rex Connors was nails in a 42-10 home rout to move UCD to 11-2 on the season.
“The great thing about playing quarterback here is you’re going to get coached and developed,” Plough said Monday during his weekly media session of the program’s rich history at the position. “Miles made some tremendous throws last week. There are still some things he can be better in, and I tell him all the time, making decisions, taking sacks. We’ll go as far as Miles can take us.
“I am so proud of him overcoming a lot, being a consummate professional and leader. He’s hungry to learn.”
UCD vs. South Dakota, Round 7
UCD has played South Dakota six times, with the Coyotes winning four of them. The first game was in 1986, when the Division II nationally ranked No. 2 Aggies under coach Jim Sochor and record-setting quarterback Chris Petersen lost 26-22 in a quarterfinal as the Coyotes reached the national championship.
The last meeting was early in the 2015 season with South Dakota winning 27-17.
South Dakota has played in the DakotaDome, a cozy 9,100-seat venue that underwent $26 million in upgrades in 2020, since 1979. The Coyotes are 7-0 at home this season.
The venue is located on campus in the town of Vermillion, population 12,000 and located in the southeastern corner of the state. The high Wednesday was 15 degrees with snow forecast for Saturday.
“For us, obviously, playing in a dome or outside in 0 degrees, I’m thankful for the dome,” Plough said. “I’ve been there. It’s loud, and it’ll be really fun.”
Plough added: “We can hang in there with anyone. How well can we play? If we play well, we have a great shot.”
The Coyotes are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, the best in the county in recent years. South Dakota suffered a 20-17 overtime loss at nationally ranked No. 3 South Dakota State on Oct. 26 and lost 29-28 to then-No. 1-ranked North Dakota State in the DakotaDome on Nov. 23.
Plough said South Dakota presents challenges, be it tradition, home venue, coaching or player talent.
“They are as good as anyone we have seen on film,” the coach said. “Their fronts are just high-level fronts. They’ve got guys who are going to get paid on Sundays (in the NFL).”
Big Sky Conference winner Montana State is the top-ranked team in the FCS and the No. 1 overall seed. At 13-0, Montana State’s toughest game was a 30-28 effort at UC Davis on Nov. 16 to lock up the league crown.
No. 5 UC Davis (11-2) at No. 4 South Dakota (10-2)
When: Saturday, noon
Where: DakotaDome
On air: SacTown Sports 1140; ESPN+
Of note: South Dakota beat Tarleton State 42-31 last week in FCS playoff action and is led by RB Travis Theis (976 yards rushing, 15 TDs), QB Aidan Bouman (2,470 yards, 18 TDs) and defensive end Mi’Quise Grace (18 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks). Larison has set scores of UCD all-purpose records and is the national leader in all-purpose yards and scrimmage yards per game (174.4). UCD and South Dakota are ranked in the Top 10 in the FCS in scoring offense and total offense. South Dakota has scored three times combined on kickoff and punt returns.