UC Davis falls in clash of Sacramento-area prep QBs, setting up big Causeway Classic
The UC Davis Aggies gave the No. 3-ranked team in the FCS a game on Saturday night in Big Sky country in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPN2, but Montana State prevailed 38-17 in a meeting of former Sacramento Bee Player of the Year quarterback stars.
With Justin Lamson of Oak Ridge High School fame passing for 144 yards and a touchdown and rushing 11 times for a game-high 97 yards and two scores in a record effort, the Bobcats ensured that the Big Sky Conference championship will be decided next week in the annual “Brawl of the Wild” showdown against No. 2 Montana in Missoula.
Lamson made Big Sky history with his brother, Colton Lamson, and their Oak Ridge coach, Eric Cavaliere, watching from the Bobcat Stadium stands. A transfer from Stanford, Lamson for the sixth consecutive game had a passing and rushing touchdown, the longest such streak for a Big Sky player in 30 years.
In beating UCD for the ninth consecutive time, Montana State moved to 9-2 overall with a nine-game winning steak and to 7-0 in the Big Sky. Montana is 11-0 and 7-0.
UCD dropped to 7-3 and 5-2, the conference record tying the Aggies with Sacramento State for third in the Big Sky after the Hornets won a 23-20 thriller at home over the Idaho Vandals. The 72nd Causeway Classic looms on Saturday in Yolo County, where the winner has a strong argument to advance to the playoffs and the loser may well be done for the season.
Caden Pinnick, the redshirt freshman quarterback from Del Oro High School in Placer County, led UCD as he has much of this season. He completed 22 of 36 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns, hitting Samuel Gbatu Jr. and Ian Simpson, and he rushed for 70 yards on 22 attempts.
UCD had 28 first downs to Montana State’s 15, and the Aggies gained more yardage, but turnovers stalled drives, including an 83-yard interception return for a touchdown by Caden Dowler to push the Bobcats ahead 24-7 on the final play of the third quarter. Dowler had two interceptions for Montana State, which committed no turnovers.
Pinnick hit Gbatu for a 10-yard touchdown pass to cap an eight-play, 75-yard drive to pull UCD to within 31-17 with 3:50 left to play, but Lamson iced it with an 18-yard TD run for the final score. That capped a 5-play, 75-yard drive.