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2005 UC DAVIS FOOTBALL GAME NOTES - Game 10

UC Davis AGGIES (5-4)
at
No.19/18 Eastern Washington EAGLES (6-4)

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Saturday, November 19, 2005
2:05 p.m. (PST) • Cheney, Wash.
Woodward Field (8,600) • natural grass
KHTK (1140 AM) • KDVS (90.3 FM)
www.ucdavisaggies.com (internet)

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OPENING KICKOFF
Needing one win to secure its 36th consecutive winning season, the UC Davis Aggies travel to Cheney, Wash., for their first-ever game against Eastern Washington (No. 19 The Sports Network/No.18 ESPN/USA Today)... The high-powered Eagles, whose offense is ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division I-AA at 492.60 ypg., are fighting for a berth in the I-AA playoffs... Eastern Washington can earn the Big Sky Conference's automatic bid to the tournament if No. 22 Montana State upsets No. 3 Montana on Saturday, but also has an outside opportunity for an at-large berth... The Aggies are coming off their second bye of the season as they head into the final two games of the season... Besides this weekend, UC Davis will also play Northern Colorado on Nov. 26 which, if the Aggies win, will deliver them a share of their Great West Football Conference Championship along with Cal Poly... Temperatures will be chilly for this weekend's game with Saturday's high expected to be 44 degrees and mostly cloudy... Besides bringing I-AA's top overall offense into Saturday's game, the Eagles also bring a passing attack ranked No. 2 (355.8 ypg.)... The Eagles will mark a tough challenge for the Aggies, who have the No. 3 rushing defense (84.2 ypg) and No. 9 overall defense (280.1 ypg)... The Eagles are 13th in scoring offense (35.8 ppg) while UC Davis is tied for No. 9 in scoring defense (16.2 ppg)... Offensively, both teams feature a pair of the country's top receivers in the Eagles' WR Eric Kimble and the Aggies' WR Tony Kays... Kimble has 73 catches for 1,203 yards and 9 TDs, while Kays has a school-record 78 grabs for a regular-season record 1,049 yards and 3 TDs... Both squads also showcase outstanding quarterbacks... Eastern Washington's Erik Meyer is averaging 360.0 ypg. of total offense (348.2 passing ypg) while Jon Grant is averaging 277.4 ypg of offense (270.7 passing ypg).

SERIES
Saturday's game between the Aggies and the Eagles is the first-ever meeting between the programs... UC Davis does have a history of games against teams from Washington, however, owning a 7-1 mark against Central Washington, a 2-1 record against Puget Sound and a perfect 7-0 record over Western Washington... Head Coach Bob Biggs is 14-1 against teams from Washington, coaching all of his games against Central and Western Washington... While the Eagles and Aggies haven't faced each other, they do have three common opponents this year in Sacramento State, Portland State and Cal Poly... Both teams beat Sacramento State, while UC Davis beat Cal Poly and lost to Portland State... Eastern Washington downed Portland but lost to Cal Poly.

RADIO
All UC Davis games can be heard on KTHK (Sports 1140AM) for the 10th consecutive season... Steve Buzzard (play-by-play), Doug Kelly (color) and Scott Marsh (sidelines at home games, studio for road matchups) headline the veteran crew... Scott Gordon (sidelines) also provides sideline help for several games... KHTK is also the home of the weekly "Bob Biggs Show" which can usually be heard on Thursdays during the 7 p.m. hour of the Jim Kozimor Showgram... Games can also be heard on KDVS (90.3 FM) student radio with Andrew Tomsky (play-by-play), Josh Koehn (color) and Angela DaPrato (sidelines) calling the action for all home games and most road games, including this week's game at Stephen F. Austin... Simulcasts of the KHTK broadcasts can also be heard live on the internet at www.UCDavisAggies.com and are archived on the site for future listening.

TELEVISION
For the second consecutive season, UC Davis has had games televised on Comcast SportsNet West... The regional sports network televised the Sept. 10 game against Portland State and last week's matchup against Cal Poly... Jim Kozimor (play-by-play), Mike Lamb (color) and Scott Marsh (sidelines) called the action for the 52nd Causeway Classic on Sept. 24 and teamed for the Cal Poly game as well... Last season, Comcast SportsNet televised UC Davis home games against Sacramento State and North Dakota State as well as selected men's and women's basketball and baseball contests.

TICKETS
Tickets for Aggie home games can be purchased at Toomey Field prior to the game or in advance at the UC Davis Ticket Office (530/752-1915)... Reserved seats for home games are $15, general admission are $10, seniors (55+) are $7, and UC Davis undersgrads and children under 5 are free... Group tickets and season ticket packages are also available.

WHAT'S IN A NAME
With the transition to Division I comes more attention from national media and, as a result, more media outlets referring to UC Davis in a number of different manners. Simply, the university is either "UC Davis" or "University of California, Davis"... Incorrect references we have seen in media outlets: California-Davis, Cal-Davis, U.C. Davis, Cal St. Davis, Davis State and U.C.-Davis... A new one spotted this season was U-C Davis... The Aggies thank you for helping them make a new name for themselves on the field only.

A LOOK AT THE HEAD COACHES
UC Davis head coach Bob Biggs (UC Davis `73) owns a 107-42-1 (.717) record in his 13th year at the helm of the Aggies... Biggs earned his 100th career win last year when the Aggies beat Northern Colorado 30-20 and coached his 150th careeer game at Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 5... He is the second-winningest coach in the history of the program, trailing only Jim Sochor (1970-88) who had 156 victories... Biggs is 50-26 (.658) on the road, 41-25 (.621) against Div. I teams, and 33-12 (.733) in November ... Additionally, he is 14-1 overall (.933) against teams from Washington... He led UC Davis to eight NCAA Div. II Playoff berths, including the last seven years of the program's eligibility in Div. II (1996-2002) ... Paul Wulff (Washington State `90) is 40-27 overall and in his sixth season with Eastern Washington... The native of nearby Woodland is a 1985 graduate of Davis HS... Wulff was named the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year in both 2001 and 2004 and led the Eagles to last year's NCAA Playoffs where they upset No. 1 Southern Illinois.

EASTERN WASHINGTON ROUNDUP
Eastern Washington features a potent offensive attack which leads I-AA in total offense at 492.6 ypg, including a passing game which averages 355.8 ypg, second-best in the country... Leading that are QB Erik Meyer who is No. 2 in total offense (360.0 ypg) and No. 4 in passing efficiency (170.89) and WR Eric Kimble who has 73 catches for 1,203 yards... The dynamic duo has combined for 187 receptions, 2,953 yards and 32 touchdowns in their careers together... Meyer, who has thrown for 3,482 yards and 24 TDs this year, is on the Walter Payton Award Watch List as the top I-AA player while both are 2004 All-America honorees... Meyer has eight 300-yard passing games this season, including a career-best 470 at Sacramento State on Oct. 29... Kimble has twice caught 10 passes this year and had 189 receiving yards against the Hornets... The accolades for the two are extensive and are a major reason while the Eagles are so explosive... RB Ryan Kole is averaging 86.4 rushing ypg while WR Raul Bijil has 58 receptions for 900 yards and six scores to help complement the 35.8 ppg attack... Defensively, Eastern Washington is 53rd nationally at 354.4 ypg, including giving up 163.6 rushing ypg and 23.3 ppg... MLB Joey Cwik has a team-high 82 total tackles while SLB David Eneberg has 60... NG Harrison Nikolao has a team-best 3.0 sacks while CB Jesse Hendrix has a pair of interceptions and 13 pass breakups.

RUSHING DEFENSE AMONG THE BEST
The UC Davis rushing defense has been among the best in I-AA all season, allowing just three opponents (SDSU, SUU, SFA) more than 100 yards... The 84.2 ypg average has been helped by just 33 yards given up to Portland State (30 att.), 50 to Cal Poly (33 att.), and a season-low three yards to North Dakota State (23 att.)... UC Davis is currently No. 3 in the I-AA stats and is on pace to finish with the second-best average in school history... The 1983 team gave up just 68.2 ypg while the 1994 squad allowed just 89.2 ypg... For the season, opponents are averaging just 2.9 yards/carry and have scored just five rushing touchdowns.

THIRD QUARTER IS THE TOUGHEST AGAINST THE AGGIES
If an opponent is going to score against the Aggies, it hasn't been in the third quarter where UC Davis has allowed just nine points... All of them have been field goals... However, UC Davis has given up 76 in the final quarter, the most prolific scoring period for the opposition this year.

SPEAKING OF THIRD.... DOWN, THAT IS
UC Davis continues to rank near the top of the I-AA standings in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert just .269 of the time... That's No. 2 in I-AA... Conversely, the Aggies are 20th in third-down conversions, making it an impressive.456 of the time.

RUNNING BACK BY COMMITTEE
Mainly because of injuries, UC Davis has had 11 different players carry the ball in 2005... RB Demario Warren, who didn't have a carry until the fourth game, has a team-high 85 for 294 yards, RB Alex Garfio has 66 carries and RB Nelson Doris - who returned to the lineup at Stephen F. Austin for just his fourth appearance - has 56... The Aggies are averaging just 89.1 ypg on the ground, including 2.4 yards/carry... QB Jon Grant leads the team with six touchdowns, including three where he has dove at the goal line toward the pylons.

THE ROAD MOST TRAVELED IS VIA GRANT'S PASS
QB Jon Grant has 385 passing attempts through the first nine games, averaging 42.8 per game... If he keeps up the current pace, he'll finish with 471 attempts for the season which would place him second all-time to QB Kevin Daft, who had 486 through the 14-game 1997 season... He's nearly assured of having the highest attempts average in school history, regardless of the number of games... Current head coach Bob Biggs averaged 38.7 attempts in 1972 and Mike Quinn averaged 36.4 in 1991... Grant had a season-high 58 against Portland State, has eclipsed 41 in four games and had a season-low 30 versus Southern Utah on Oct. 15... Oh yeah, his 30-yard scoring scamper at North Dakota State was a career-long, an Aggie season-long, and put him in the lead for rushing touchdowns on the team with four... (More on Grant is available on his bio page in these game notes)

ASSISTANT HEAD COACH Fred Arp COACHES 400 GAMES
UC Davis Assistant Head Coach Fred Arp moved into elite coaching territory against Southern Utah on Oct. 15 when he was a part of his 400th Aggie varsity game... Arp, who began coaching with the varsity since 1968, has missed just one year - that coming in 1972 when he was a graduate assistant at Northern Colorado... His players have affectionately called playing for him "Club Fred" but there is no doubting the results of his defensive line, which has annually been a strength of the Aggies... A few notes on Coach Arp:
• In 38 seasons and 400 games with the varsity, UC Davis compiled an overall record of 293-102-5 (.739).
• Of the 400 games, the only one he was not on the field for was the Chico State game in 1976 due to the birth of his son, Ben... Arp, who handled preparations up until game day, listened to the game via radio.
• He has worked for four head coaches at UC Davis: Herb Schmalenberger (1968-69), Jim Sochor (1970-88), Bob Foster (1989-92) and Bob Biggs (1992-current).
• Arp was honored in 2003 with an AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award. • His son, Ben, maintains a website devoted to Aggie football and his wife, Jane, is a team photographer.
• The only losing Aggie season he has been a part of was his first in 1968.

KAYS SETS RECEIVING MARKS AND IS STILL GOING
WR Tony Kays continues his march through the UC Davis recordbooks, despite only playing one half against Stephen F. Austin due to injury... Kays had seven grabs for 119 yards on Nov. 5, and combined with 13 for 212 a week earlier against Cal Poly, put together a two-game total of 20 catches for 331 yards... Notes on the numbers:
• His 78 catches are an Aggie single-season best while his 1,049 yards are a regular-season best.
• He broke the regular-season record of 55 during the Aggies' win at North Dakota State and caught No. 76 for the single-season mark at Stephen F. Austin.
• Kays' 1,049 yards are currently sixth for an overall season.
• His 8.67 rec./game ranks No. 2 in I-AA; his 116.56 rec. ypg and 1,049 total yards are both No. 5.
• Kays' 133.67 all-purpose ypg. are No. 19 in I-AA.
• His 15 catches vs. Portland State are a school record and are No. 3 for a single game in I-AA.
• The 212 yards vs. Cal Poly are No. 6 for a single game in I-AA this year and No. 3 all-time at UC Davis
• His 13 catches vs. Cal Poly are No. 2 all-time at UC Davis... He now has the three top marks (15 vs. PSU, 13 vs. CP, 12 vs. New Hampshire; the latter is tied with Josh Weinstock, 1991)
• Kays now has 126 catches (9th all-time) and 1,709 yards (10th all-time)
• Kays has five games of at least 10 catches and six with at least 0115 receiving yards.

PLAYING THE ROLE OF ROAD WARRIORS
UC Davis is playing six road games this season in five different states (Calif., South Dakota, North Dakota, Texas & Washington) and will cover approximately 11,178 miles going and returning from those six matchups... The longest (according to online caculators) was the trip two weeks ago to Nacogdoches, Texas, via Houston... The trip measured 3,506 miles, slightly ahead of the jaunt to Sioux Falls, S.D. (3,486 miles) in early October... Other trips of note (w/ roundtrip mileage): Sacramento State (30 miles), Stanford (162 miles) and Eastern Washington (1,304 miles)... The road, though, has been relatively kind to the record with UC Davis 3-w in its four ventures.

STANFORD REVISITED
The victory against Stanford is the biggest in school history... To that end, it should be noted just how strong a game the Aggies played on Sept. 17... A few notes about the matchup:
• UCD outgained Stanford, 361-192, nearly doubling the Cardinal's offense.
• UCD had more plays (90-51), possession time (35:43-24:17), first downs (20-12), rushing yards (110-74), passing yards (251-118) and red-zone chances (3-1).
• Trailing, 17-14 in the fourth quarter, the Aggies had three drives inside the Cardinal 25-yard line... The first two resulted in missed field goals (41, 32 yds) while the remaining resulted with the game-winning touchdown.
• The Aggies allowed Stanford just 97 yards in the second half.
• Stanford averaged just 2.1 yards per rushing attempt.
• The 31,250 attendance was the largest crowd that UC Davis has every played in front of.
• It was the Aggies' first win over a Div. I-A program since 1986 (Pacific, 45-41) and the first game against an I-A team since 1997 (Idaho).
• The game was just the second meeting ever between Stanford and UC Davis in football... The Cardinal won 59-0 in 1932.

REDSHIRT FRESHMEN MAKING A NAME FOR THEMSELVES
Head coach Bob Biggs knew his 2004 signing class would make contributions but those redshirt freshmen are already big cogs in the Aggies' lineup... Nine of them have either started or been listed as key backups in the Aggies' rotation... Currently, LG Mario Gonzalez and DT John Faletoese are listed as starters while RG Jonathan Compas (injured), WR Brandon Rice, LE Thomas Blake, DT David Winer, RT Max Chesmore, SLB Joshua Edwards and FS Nero Evero have either started or been listed at some point on the team's two-deep.

YOUTHFUL OFFENSIVE LINE READY TO CONTINUE TREND
You don't average 400 yards off offense (as the Aggies did in 2004) without a strong line, and you don't do that year after year without some continuity in the ranks... This season, UC Davis returns just two starters in LG Kyle Skierski (6-5, 265, Jr.) and RT Elliot Vallejo (6-8, 295, Jr.) but looks to continue standout play with talented youth... LT Greg Bellasis (6-6, 272, So.) and C Timothy Keane (6-4, 280, Jr.) and RG Jonathan Compas (6-3, 265, RFr.) have helped form a non-senior offensive line for the Aggies in 2005... Compas is currently injured but will return next season... UC Davis lost three starters from 2004, including standouts LT Cory Lekkerkerker and C Marc Manfredda... Lekkerkerker was signed to a free-agent NFL contract while Manfredda was selected for the East-West Shrine Game.

AGGIES' NONCONFERENCE SCHEDULE IS SECOND-TOUGHEST
No one can accuse UC Davis of ducking behind the cover of an easy schedule... With nonconference games against a pair of I-AA quarterfinalists from last year in UNH and Eastern Washington, the Sept. 17th road game at Pac-10 member Stanford, a long trip to Nacogoches, Texas, to face Stephen F. Austin, and games against Big Sky Conference members Sacramento State and Portland State, it's easy to see why Matt Dougherty (exec. director of I-AA football for The Sports Network), ranked UC Davis' the second-toughest nonleague slate in the country... Two opponents - Portland State and Cal Poly - ranked second and third, respectively... The toughest? Appalachian State who had I-A games against Kansas and LSU on their plate.

ONGOING STREAKS
Among the streaks UC Davis enters the season with:
• 35 consecutive winning seasons (fourth-longest active streak in collegiate football, and best among non-Div. III programs.)
• 35 consecutive non-losing seasons.
• Having scored in 176 straight games... The last shutout was 19-0 vs. Cal Poly in 1990.
• Having not had less than 200 yards in total offense (according to our research) since a 30-12 loss to Nevada in 1969... That's 397 games.

GREAT WEST FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
Charter members of the GWFC, UC Davis begins its second season of competition in the six-team league which also consists of Cal Poly, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, South Dakota State and Southern Utah... Cal Poly and Southern Utah are Div. I-AA members while the others are in the process of reclassifying to I-AA... Cal Poly claimed the inaugural conference championship with a 4-1 record while UC Davis finished alone in second at 3-2... UC Davis punt returner Jesse Oliva was tabbed Special Teams Player of the Year... Aggie returnees honored by the league: QB Jon Grant (first team), DT Ryan Sharp (second), DE Pila Fatukala (second), MLB Dan Elbanna (second), WR Tony Kays (honorable mention) and WLB Ben Reece (HM)... The conference affiliation is the first for UC Davis since the American West Conference (1993) and the fourth overall (Far Western Conference, 1925-81; Northern California Athletic Conference, 1982-92).

IT'S LIKE DE JA VU ALL OVER AGAIN
Will the real "Ryan Smith" please stand up? How about the real "Chris Carter"? This season, UC Davis has a pair of each, although Ryan Smith and Chris Carter are both redshirting. They're also both on the active roster. Confused? Yeah, me too. Actually, it's true that one of each pair of names is redshirting but WR Ryan Smith (the senior) - the one on the active roster - is making things easier by going by his middle name this season: Blaise (pronounced "Blaze", appropriate for a receiver)... Of course, after catching the game-winning touchdown pass against Stanford, he's made a name for himself another way as well... As for the older Chris Carter, he's a linebacker and has made no mention of altering his moniker.... yet... This is the first time UC Davis has had two players with the same name, let alone two pairs.

PRESEASON AND SEASON HONORS
TE Daniel Fells was named a preseason first-team All-American by The Sports Network and was third-team pick by I-AA.org... Aggies honored by the Great West Football Conference with Player of the Week honors: CB Nevan Bergan (Sept. 5), WR Tony Kays (Sept. 12, Oct. 31); QB Jon Grant (Sept. 19 & Sept. 26); K Emmanuel Benjamin (Oct. 17, Oct. 31).

A LOOK BACK AT 2004
For a while, it looked like UC Davis' run to a 35th consecutive winning season would be no problem... The Aggies vaulted to a 5-0 record, steadily climbing the national polls until peaking at No.21 by both major rankings at the midway point of the season... UC Davis was averaging 45 ppg. and outscoring opponents by nearly 31 ppg... But narrow losses to Stephen F. Austin and Southern Utah gave the Aggies their first two-game losing streak in the same season since 1997... However, a dramatic 36-33 win at No.5 Cal Poly in the eighth game brought home the winning season before losses to North Dakota State and Portland State cooled the end of the season.

TEAM CAPTAINS
UC Davis players elect their team captains following the final game of the previous season and select two from the offense and two from the defense... The 2005 captains are WR Tony Kays, TE Daniel Fells, DT Ryan Sharp and MLB Dan Elbanna... Kays is a junior while the others are seniors.

STAFF OF EXPERIENCE
UC Davis' success on the football can be traced in a major way to the continuity of its staff... Five members of the coaching staff have completed 109 "coaching-years" together, having been together the last 17 seasons... Bob Biggs (27 total years, 12 as head coach), Fred Arp (39th year), Lou Bronzan (22nd year) Mike Moroski (18th year) and Greg Chapla (17th year) make up the impressive group... Oh, and they're all graduates of UC Davis.

TRADITION OF SUCCESS
The Aggies venture into the world of Div. I-AA football having been one of the most successful Div. II programs... UC Davis finished its Div. II run in 2002 with seven consecutive playoff appearances, including national semifinal showings in 200 and 2001... The Aggies finished with a Div. II-record 18 playoff appearances (one ahead of GWFC rival North Dakota State) and a berth in the 1982 NCAA Championship where UC Davis lost to Southwest Texas State (34-9)... Additionally, the Aggies set Div. II records for most consecutive winning seasons and non-losing seasons, both 34... UC Davis extended both streaks to 35 with a 6-4 record last year, its first playing a Div. I-AA schedule.

AGGIES IN THE PROS
Three UC Davis football players began this year, including QB J.T. O'Sullivan (1998-2001) who was with the Green Bay Packers before being released earlier this year and then quickly signed by the Chicago Bears... Brothers Brad Lekkerkerker (Oakland Raiders) and Corey Lekkerkerker (San Diego), both offensive tackles, were also in camps before being released and then resigned to their teams' practice squads over the weekend... Brad played at UC Davis in 2002-03 while Corey played 2003-04... Both were undrafted... O'Sullivan was a sixth-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2002... Since 1979, UC Davis has had seven QB's drafted into the NFL... Additonally, Khari Jones (1991-93) has enjoyed a long career in the Canadian Football League where he is a former winner of the league MVP award... He is currently with the Hamilton Tiger Cats... Mark Grieb (1994-96) has been a standout QB with the San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League and was the 2002 AFL MVP.

DIVISION I RECLASSIFICATION 101
UC Davis is beginning its third year of a four-year reclassification to NCAA Division I status... Officially, UC Davis (like all other institutions currently reclassifying) is a Div. II institution until its first active year of Div. I (for UC Davis, that's in 2007-08)... However, the university was required to follow all NCAA Div. I rules and regulations, including those governing scheduling, beginning in 2004-05... Similarly, UC Davis began counting last year as a Div. I team for its opponents strength-of-schedule purposes, started to be included in Div. I stats, and has been added to most media coverage of Div. I athletics, primarily because of its competition... UC Davis will become official members of the Big West Conference in 2007-08 but has been fully integrated into regular-season scheduling in all its member sports.