Nov. 15, 2008

Final Stats

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Quarterback Jonathan Dally rushed forQuarterback Jonathan Dally rushed for 173 yards and a touchdown, Ramses Barden caught two scoring passes and No. 3 Cal Poly erupted for 30 points in the second half as the Mustangs beat UC Davis 51-28, winning the Great West Conference championship before a sellout crowd at Alex G. Spanos Stadium on Saturday.

UC Davis, which was led by 145 receiving yards and three touchdowns from Brandon Rice, fell to 5-6 overall while finishing its conference season with a 2-1 record. Quarterback Greg Denham threw for 332 yards and four touchdowns, his fourth consecutive 300-yard game.

Linebackers Tyler Pringle and Mike Morales had 11 and 10 tackles, respectively, to help pace the Aggies' defense.

Cal Poly, which rushed for 427 yards, won its sixth straight game, improving to 8-1 overall and 3-0 in the Great West Conference. It also won the "Battle for the Golden Horseshoe" for the third straight year and evened the all-time mark between the programs at 16-16-2.

The Mustangs scored three touchdowns over the first 10 minutes of the third quarter, breaking a 21-21 halftime tie to forge a 41-21 lead. Rice caught his third touchdown pass of the game - this one from 28 yards with 2 minutes, 42 seconds left in the third - to make it 41-28 but the Aggies would not get closer the rest of the way.

"They're a good football team, they really are," said UC Davis head coach Bob Biggs. "Their offense makes their defense so much better because when they can score as well as they can, as quickly as they can, it just puts a lot of pressure on your offense all the time."

UC Davis and Cal Poly engaged in a tight first half in which the Aggies didn't trail until the Barden caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Jonathan Dally with 10:43 left in the second quarter to give Cal Poly a 21-14 lead. The Aggies, though, answered when Rice hauled in his second scoring pass of the half on a 16-yarder from Denham with just 12 ticks left in the first half, sending UC Davis into the break with a tie. It also had 268 total yards in the first 30 minutes.

The Aggies had struck first earlier, marching 81 yards in six plays to take a 7-0 lead in the game's first three minutes when Rice caught a five-yard touchdown pass from Denham, collecting the pass with a one-handed grab. The Mustangs evened the score a few minutes later - capitalizing on UC Davis' first turnover to score on a 14-yard run by Dally. A 74-yard drive after the ensuing kickoff returned the lead to the Aggies when Denham found tight end Brad Bispo for an 18-yard strike with 5:55 left in the first quarter. Grayson's first touchdown, a seven-yard run, tied the game at 14-14 at the end of the opening period.

A 45-yard run by Ryan Mole, Barden's two-yard touchdown grab, and Jordan Yocum's six-yard scamper made it 41-21 before Rice brought the Aggies closer. A 21-yard field goal from Andrew Gardner and a 38-yard tipped interception return by David Fullerton - both early in the fourth quarter - rounded out the Mustangs' scoring.

Dally carried the ball 22 times for 173 yards while Yocum had 10 carries for 110 yards to pace Cal Poly's rushing attack which also received 78 yards from Ryan Mole. Dalley added 95 passing yards - 70 of them to Barden - on 8-of-20 passing. Cal Poly's triple-option offense finished with 522 total yards. The Mustangs' rushing attack came against an Aggie defense which had allowed just an average of 74.9 yards entering the game.

UC Davis, which had 366 yards of offense but just 64 yards in the second half, was held to 34 rushing yards overall.

Denham completed 22 of 42 passes for 332 yards and four scores, passing the 3,000-yard mark for the season. He is the fifth Aggie signal-caller to accomplish the feat and has the program's eighth-overall. Rice's 145 receiving yards are a career-high, eclipsing the 140 he posted against Cal Poly last year. His 131 grabs are eighth-best all-time.

Pringle's 11 stops were just one off his career-best which he's accomplished twice - both coming last year - while Morales posted his second straight double-digit tackling effort.

UC Davis will conclude the 2008 season with a 6 p.m. game next Saturday at the University of San Diego.