Oct. 30, 2004

Complete Game Notes

2004 UC DAVIS FOOTBALL GAME NOTES - Game 8

UC Davis (5-2, 2-1)
at
No.5 Cal Poly (7-0, 3-0)

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Saturday, October 30, 2004
6 p.m. • San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Mustang Stadium (8,500) • natural grass
KHTK (1140 AM) - tentative • KDVS (90.3 FM)
www.ucdavisaggies.com (internet stream)™™

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OPENING KICKOFF
UC Davis travels to San Luis Obispo still in search of its sixth win of the season which would secure the program's 35th consecutive winning season... The Aggies have already clinched a non-losing season for the 35th straight year after opening the season with five straight wins... UC Davis is in the midst of a two-game losing streak, the first time the Aggies have lost two games in the same season since the first two games of 1997... The 19-15 loss to Southern Utah on Saturday knocked UC Davis from its No.25 spot in both The Sports Network and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls... This week's game also marks the second of three straight Great West Football Conference games for UC Davis, which will have its second bye week of the year next week before resuming with North Dakota State on Nov. 13... Cal Poly marks the second ranked opponent for UC Davis this season, joining Stephen F. Austin which was ranked 10th when the Lumberjacks faced the Aggies on Oct. 16.

ON THE AIR
UC Davis and KHTK (1140 AM) partner for the ninth straight season to air Aggie football games... Steve Buzzard (play-by-play), Doug Kelly (analyst) and Scott Marsh (sidelines, studio host) return to bring all the action to Aggie fans... KDVS (90.3 FM) will also carry the feed of all games while www.ucdavisaggies.com will offer live internet streams... A 15-minute pregame show begins on KDVS 30 minutes before kickoff and is hosted by KDVS Sports Director Angela DaPrato, while KHTK assumes control 15 minutes before kick, heading up the simulcast... Live stats will also be available for all home football games on the Aggies' internet site.

WELCOME TO THE GREAT WEST
UC Davis, South Dakota State, North Dakota State and Northern Colorado, along with Southern Utah and Cal Poly, make up the new Great West Football Conference which is comprised of current I-AA teams and others moving to I-AA... The conference was announced in February... Southern Utah and Cal Poly are currently I-AA, UC Davis and UNC are in the second year of reclassification, and NDSU and SDSU are in their first year... UC Davis was picked second in the GWFC preseason media poll and was third by the coaches... The conference affiliation marks the Aggies' first league membership in football since it was a member of the former American West Conference in 1993 (3-1, T1st)... Prior to that, UC Davis was in the Northern California Athletic Conference (1982-92) and the Far Western Conference (1925-81)... Conference affiliation has been nice to the Aggies as the program captured 20 consecutive league titles from 1971-1990.

DIVISION I OR DIVISION II? A LOOK AT THE TRANSITION
UC Davis is in the second of four years of reclassification to Div. I-AA and is ineligible for the postseason until 2007 - its first official year of Div. I-AA status... While still officially a member of Div. II until that time, UC Davis is following all Div. I rules and regulations beginning this year (including scheduling requirements) and its football statistics will be listed with Div. I-AA teams by the NCAA... National media have been including UC Davis in polls and awards consideration, and its coverage of I-AA since last year, noting the Aggies' committment and transition to the new division... The University announced its intention of reclassifying to Div. I in March 2003 and will join the Big West Conference in 2007-08 in most non-football sports... The Aggies will begin competition against Big West Conference teams this year in those sports but are not members of the league yet.

ALL-TIME VS. MUSTANGS
UC Davis hold a 14-13-2 all-time advantage against Cal Poly in a series which began in 1939 (UCD, 28-0)... The Aggies are 6-8 in San Luis Obispo but have won the three meetings against Cal Poly at Mustang Stadium... UC Davis holds an 8-5-2 lead at Toomey Field... The last conference matchup between the schools came in 1993 (UCD, 37-26) when both were members of the former American West Conference... UC Davis has won four of the past six matchups against Cal Poly but the schools have split the last four; each winning on the other's field... Cal Poly scored 15 points in the third quarter last year, erasing a 14-3 halftime lead by UC Davis, winning at Toomey Field for the second straight time... LB Jordan Beck had a 41-yard fumble return for a TD to help lead the Mustangs' attack... WR Jesse Oliva had an 11-yard TD catch while WR Nolan deGraaff had a 27-yard TD reception to account for the Aggies' scoring... UC Davis scored 14 points in the fourth quarter in the Aggies' last visit to San Luis Obispo, breaking open a tie game for a 28-14 win... WR Kevin Freeman scored the second of his two rushing TD's with 7:08 to go to help secure the win.

A LOOK AT THE HEAD COACHES
Bob Biggs (UC Davis '73) became the second coach in UC Davis football history to reach the 100-win plateau when the Aggies beat Northern Colorado 30-20 on Oct. 2... Biggs owns an overall mark of 101-36-1 (.736)... He is the second winningest coach in school history behind Jim Sochor (156-41-5) and is a member of the Cal Aggie Athletic Hall of Fame after a standout playing career... Biggs, in his 12th year, has led UC Davis to at least 10 wins in five different seasons - the most in school history - and has coached the Aggies to the playoffs eight times, including seven straight from 1996-2002... He is 55-13-1 (.804) at Toomey Field, 46-23-0 (.582) on the road and 39-10-0 (.796) in games played during October... Bigg is 6-5 against Cal Poly, including a 3-2 mark at Mustang Stadium... Rich Ellerson (Hawaii '77) is 23-17 (.575) and in his fourth year with the Mustangs... He is 27-24 (.529) and in his fifth year as a head coach overall... Ellerson was the head coach at Southern Utah in 1996... He was also defensive coordinator at Arizona from 1997-2000 and was assistant head coach for the Wildcats from 1992-95... Ellerson has extensive collegiate and professional coaching experience.

A BRIEF LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
Cal Poly is off to a 7-0 start for the fifth time in school history and the first time since 1997... The Mustangs are among the best defensive teams in the country, ranking among the top 20 I-AA teams in rushing defense (2nd, 79.57 ypg.), scoring defense (5th, 13.71 ppg), pass efficiency defense (12th, 95.06) and total defense (20th, 295.6 ypg.)... For the second straight week, the Aggies will be facing a candiate for the Buck Buchanan Award (best defensive player in I-AA) in LB Jordan Beck... Beck had 70 total tackles to lead Cal Poly this season, including 11.0 TFL's and 1.5 sacks... He has three interceptions and five pass breakups... Beck has led the Mustangs in tackles each of the previous three seasons and is the program's all-time leader with 384 total tackles... LB Kyle Shotwell has has 54 tackles, LB Demetre Booker has a team-best 12.0 TFL's, and FS Kenny Chicoine has a team-high four interceptions... Offensively, Cal Poly is averaging 363.7 ypg of total offense, split nearly evenly between the rush (190.4) and the pass (173.3)... The Mustangs only needed 159 yards of total offense to beat North Dakota State last week, capitalizing on a 73-yard interception return for a TD by LCB Karl Ivory... QB Anthony Garnett has thrown for 593 yards after being tabbed as the starter and has thrown five touchdowns and interceptions each...RB Geno Randle has 455 yards rushing and a pair of scores and WR Darrel Jones has 32 catches for 563 yards to lead the receivers... Jones' numbers are 20 receptions and 188 yards more than any other Mustang... Jones is also a dangerous punt returner, averaging 16.4 yards... Cal Poly has won eight games dating back to last year, the longest active streak in Div. I-AA.

RANKINGS AND POLLS
UC Davis made its first appearance in either The Sports Network (media, sports information directors) or ESPN/USA Today (coaches) polls on October 4, debuting at No.24 and No.25, respectively... The Aggies were 25th in both polls last week but dropped out after losing at Southern Utah... The Aggies are unofficially ranked 31st in The Sports Network (by points) and 33rd by ESPN/USA Today... UC Davis is also 24th by Don Hansen's Gazette... In the Sagarin Computer Rankings, UC Davis is ranked 128th amongst all I-A and I-AA teams while Cal Poly is 80th... The Great West Football Conference is ranked 14th among all conferences, one spot ahead of the Big Sky Conference... The GWFC is second among all I-AA leagues... UC Davis is 24th in the Gridiron Power Index (GPI) and the GWFC is second among leagues.

Jon Grant: A MODEL OF EFFICIENCY
QB Jon Grant has seven career starts to his credit but has posted one of the best I-AA pass efficiency ratings all season... His 156.33 passing efficiency is 10th best in the I-AA stats while his 264.1 ypg of total offense is 15th best... Grant also has the No.8 mark for "points responsible for" at 16.6 ppg. and is T17th in completions per game (19.0)... A couple of notes on his season so far:
· His 25 completions against Southern Utah are a season-high and give him 48 completions (74 attempts) the past two games.
· His 12 completions vs. Weber State to reach 311 yds passing is the lowest amount of any 300-yd performance in school history.
· He's thrown at least two touchdown passes in five of seven games.
· His shortest "long pass" of any game is 28 yards... Grant's season-long is an 84-yarder to RB O.J. Swanigan at Weber State.
· Grant has not had less than 21 attempts in any game and has three straight games with at least 36... His interception rate is 0.02 percent (5 int., 209 attempts).

RECEIVING CORPS SHOWING BALANCE
Aggie receivers have shared the wealth so far this season... Five different receivers have at least 15 catches this season, four have at least three touchdowns and four are averaging at least 13.0 yards a catch... But it's WR Jason Yaklich who has shown the most efficiency, collecting three touchdowns on just seven total catches... Altogether, 12 different players have caught at least two passes.

OLIVA'S PUNT RETURNS BEST IN GWFC AND I-AA
WR Jesse Oliva entered the season with nine career punt returns totaling 23 yards... Seven games into the season, he has 17 returns for 393 yards, averaging 23.1 yards a return and resulting in a pair of touchdowns. Notable notes:
· Oliva has a return of at least 28 yards in each game this year.
· His average is the best in the I-AA stats by 2.6 yards and tops in the GWFC by nearly 7.0 yards.
· His 393 punt return yards are currently fourth on the single-season list... Artemus Jones (1998) had 381, Armin Anderson (1983) posted 398 for No.2 and also had 536 for No.1 in 1984... Jones' mark, however, had the best average of the top three at 14.65 yds.
· His 85-yd return at Weber State and his 68-yd return vs. Sacramento State rank second and sixth on the Aggies' all-time punt return list, and are second and third for those returns that have resulted in touchdowns.
· Oliva's two TD punt returns are a school record for a season.

AGGIES TOUGH AGAINST THE RUSH THROUGH FIRST SEVEN
UC Davis posted a program-best rushing defense avg. of 68.2 ypg. in 1983 and has added two more of the top five in since 1999... (2002, 92.0 avg, 2nd; 1999, 94.6, 5th)... The Aggies are doing nothing to slow the recent trend this year having allowed an average of just 89.4 ypg so far this year... The season-low is a minus-2 yards at Western Oegon while the season-high is just 136 against Sacramento State... What's notable about the Hornets' total was that 63 came on a TD run by RB Ryan Mole ­ the ONLY rushing touchdown allowed by the Aggies this year... Opponents are averaging just 2.8 yards an attempt against the Aggies.

AND THEY CALLED THEM "THE STREAKS"
UC Davis enters the season with a streak of 34 consecutive winning seasons, the longest active streak of any non-Div. III school... It is the fourth-longest active streak overall, following Linfield (Ore.), which has 47, Baldwin-Wallace, which is at 37 and Pacific Lutheran, which sits at 35... Central (Iowa) allowed the Aggies to move up a spot after going 5-5 in 2003... UC Davis needs just one more win to secure its 35th straight... Another streak worthy of a mention: UC Davis has not been shut out since losing 19-0 to Cal Poly in the fifth game of the 1990 season, a span now amassing 164 games... One more for the road? UC Davis has not had less than 200 yards in total offense since facing Nevada (L,12-30) in 1969; a streak now standing at 385 games... That streak was in mild jeopardy at Southern Utah with the Aggies totalling just 172 yards through three quarters but a final push netted UC Davis 312 total yards.

A STAFF WITH EXPERIENCE... TOGETHER
UC Davis has benefitted benefitted from outstanding coaching throughout its rich history and this year's staff is no exception... Part of the reason for its success can be attributed to its having worked together for an impressive length of time... Five full-time members of the staff (Biggs, Arp, Bronzan, Moroski, Chapla) are completing 104 "coaching-years" together this year, having been together the last 16 seasons... The remainder of the staff adds another 37 years of Aggie service to the mix.

Bob Biggs - 12th year as head coach; 27th year overall.
Fred Arp (assistant head coach; def. line) - 38th year
Lou BRONZAN (def. coordinator) - 21st year
Mike Moroski (off. coordinator) - 17th year
Greg Chapla (running backs; special teams, strength) - 16th year
Mark Johnson (linebackers) - 8th year
Dan Gazzaniga (off. line) - 12th year
Preston Jackson (def. backs) - 7th year
Rich Scangarello (receivers) - 3rd year
John Shin-Lee (tight ends) - 5th year
Craig Lusiani (linebackers) - 2nd year

Another impressive note: All but Scangarello, Shin-Lee and Lusiani are UC Davis graduates.

FROM COACH BIGGS
On the loss to Southern Utah:
"We knew they were an awfully good 2-4 team. All of their losses had been so close. We just felt at home they were going to be very tough. We knew we had to play well."

On Cal Poly:
"I think they're an excellent football team. Their defense is outstanding and they're capable of making big plays (offensively)... The rivalry is a natural. We're both two oustanding academic schools."

On the Aggies' recent national rankings:
"If we're ranked in the top 20 at the end of the season then I'll be very happy. Our goal, ultimately, by 2007 is to be one of the top 16 teams in the country so we can get back into the playoffs. We're taking little steps to get there and (being ranked) is just one of those steps toward that goal."

On the Aggies:
"I like our football team. It's a bunch of 'no-name' guys that I think people will get to know. I like the overall depth. It's certainly nice having guys like (cornerbacks) Derick Daniels and Andy Sullivan and (tight end) Daniel Fells and those kind of people back that were such great players for us last year and all got hurt. And I think we have a mix of some new players that have really stepped up. Defensively, I think there's some players over there that people may not know a lot about that are going to be pretty good players."

LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE HONOR ROLL
Honors earned so far this season for Aggie players:
Great West Football Conference Players of the Week
· QB Jon Grant (offense, Sept. 6) - 278 yds, 4 TDs vs. South Dakota State
· WR Ryan Ramey (special teams, Sept. 27) - 98 yds kick return vs. Sac State

ODDS AND ENDS (i.e., stuff that belongs somewhere)
· UC Davis QB Jon Grant was sacked a season-high seven times on Saturday, eclipsing the five achieved by Northern Colorado... Grant, however, finished with only minus-four yards rushing after gaining 41 "positive" rushing yards.
· Grant's 25 completions are a season-high.
· WR Kevin Freeman (7-67), WR Tony Kays (6-46) and TE Daniel Fells (5-58) had most of the receiving numbers on Saturday.
· UC Davis' 78 yards rushing against were the second-lowest number this season... The Aggies had just 59 against South Dakota State... They were also held below 100 when Northern Colorado allowed just 93.
· The Aggies had just one sack for four yards... UC Davis had just one sack two other times but the four yards are a season-low... The season-high was six sacks for 32 yards at Northern Colorado.
· UC Davis has intercepted a pass in all but one game (Stephen F. Austin) with a season-high three at Weber State... 10 different players have interceptions with SS Dan Reece and FS Jonathan Barsi leading with two each.
· The Aggies are just 5 of 9 on extra-point attempts over the last three games after starting 21 of 21.

HOMECOMING FOR THE REECE BROTHERS
Senior SS Dan Reece and junior LB Dan Reece will both be tasting a little home cookin' this weekend when the Aggies visit Cal Poly... Both are graduates of nearby Paso Robles HS... Dan was an All-Los Padres League player as a junior and a senior while Ben garnered honors as a senior... This season, both are in the same starting unit for the Aggies for the first time... Ben is second on the team with 34 tackles, including a pair of sacks, an interception and 6.5 TFL's... Dan has 24 tackles, 2.5 TFl's and is tied for the team lead with two interceptions.... He's also recovered two fumbles.

NCAA RANKINGS -- A VIEW FROM THE TOP
Don't let this confuse you, but UC Davis' stats are being included in the I-AA stat rankings by the NCAA... However, they are not being "ranked" with the rest... As a reclassifying member (along with Northern Colorado), the stats are being listed below the regular rankings... Still, it's easy to see where the marks would fall if 'officially' ranked and already there are some impressive marks: Individually, QB Jon Grant is 8th in "points responsible for" (16.6), 10th in passing efficiency (156.3), 15th in total offense (266.1) and T17th in completions per game (19.0)... P Chris Shibel is 11th (42.3)... As a team, UC Davis is the top marks in punt return (22.8) and kick returns (26.8), is fourth in passing efficiency (162.8), sixth in passing offense (303.0), seventh in scoring (37.3) and ninth in rushing defense (89.4).

A LOOK AHEAD
UC Davis takes its second break from the schedule after this week, not playing again until hosting its home finale against North Dakota State on Nov. 13... The game will be the final Great West Football Conference matchup of the season for UC Davis which will conclude the year at Portland State on Nov. 20... The Aggies also had a bye on Sept. 11 after opening the year with a 52-0 victory against South Dakota State.

TEAM CAPTAINS
Aggie team captains for 2004 are:
* C Marc Manfredda
* SLB Tom Parisi
* WR Jesse Oliva
* DE Jake Mossawir