Oct. 12, 2008
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
DAVIS, Calif. - Greg Denham threw for 274 yards and four touchdowns, three different Aggies scored a pair of touchdowns each, and the defense held Southern Utah to just 13 rushing yards as UC Davis opened Great West Conference play with a 49-26 football win over Southern Utah on Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 10,849 fans at Aggie Stadium.
UC Davis won its second straight game - and for the fourth straight time at home going back to last year - to improve to 3-4 overall. Southern Utah, also playing its conference opener, had its two-game winning streak snapped, falling to 3-4. Receiver Tysson Poots caught eight passes for 144 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Thunderbirds. Cody Stone finished with 287 passing yards.
Running back Brandon Tucker, and receivers Brandon Rice and Bakari Grant each scored two touchdowns for UC Davis which also picked up an early special teams score when Brock Butler blocked a punt which was scooped up at the 2-yard line by Danny Hart and returned for a short touchdown.
Tucker scored from five and three yards, respectively, in the first half while Rice hauled in a pair of back-of-the-end zone five-yard touchdown receptions. Grant picked up his first scoring grab early in the third quarter on a 10-yard pass from Denham, and then was wide open for a 27-yard score with just over three minutes remaining.
Defensive end Patrick Michelier, meanwhile, helped lead the Aggie defense, finishing with four tackles, including 1.5 sacks for eight yards in losses. Linebacker Mike Morales and free safety Nero Evero each picked up interceptions while five other players broke up passes.
"We got a complete game tonight," said UC Davis head coach Bob Biggs. "I thought we did some great things on special teams and I thought our offense played very well tonight. We got a lot of contributions from a lot of people. Defensively, we stopped them when we had to."
UC Davis wasted little time taking a lead, getting the blocked punt score less than two minutes into the game. However, Southern Utah responded on a pair of touchdown passes from Stone to Poots, the first measuring 46 yards and the second covering 21, to take a 13-7 lead midway through the quarter. Rice's first touchdown reception capped an 11-play, 68-yard drive while Tucker bounded in from five yards with just five ticks left in the opening period, giving the Aggies a 21-13 advantage.
Tucker's second touchdown, a three-yard run, ended a mammoth 18-play, 99-yard drive for the Aggies that took almost 10 minutes and began Southern Utah punter Trevor Ward pinned UC Davis at its own 1 after a 45-yard kick. Back-to-back touchdown receptions from Rice and Grant covering five and 10 yards, respectively, were sandwiched around Morales' interception early in the third quarter, giving UC Davis a 42-13 lead with just four minutes elapsed after halftime.
Poots picked up his third scoring reception with six minutes to go in the third - this one from 11 yards - before adding a 9-yarder early in the fourth. Grant's 27-yard touchdown late in the game capped the scoring.
Denham completed 28 of 39 passes for 274 yards and four touchdowns, picking up good protection from his offensive line by not getting sacked. Corbin Cutshaw rushed for a game-high 75 yards on 12 carries, leading UC Davis which had 185 yards rushing. He picked up most of the running action after injuries to Joe Trombetta and Tucker sent them to the sidelines.
Nick Miller had eight catches for 144 yards for Southern Utah, adding a 52-yard punt return. Stone completed 21 of 41 passes for his 287 yards, but was intercepted twice and was sacked three times.
UC Davis, which had 468 yards of offense, extended its winning streak over Southern Utah to four games with the win and now leads the all-time series 10-3.
The Aggies continue their five-game homestand with the third matchup in the string when they host Iona next Saturday at 6 p.m.
