Aug. 28, 2009
DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis quarterback Greg Denham completed 23 of 31 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns, Chris Carter had nine catches for 99 yards and cornerback Jonathan Calhoun had an interception, highlighting action during Friday night's annual Blue-Gold Game at Aggie Stadium.
The scrimmage, played before several hundred fans, marks the end of preseason camp as UC Davis now turns its focus to the season-opener on Sept. 5 at Western Athletic Conference member Fresno State.
The scrimmage featured 74 plays with the offense playing as the "gold" team and the defense as the "blue". The offense picked up three touchdowns, two of them on passes from Denahm to receiver Anthony Soto (30 yards) and tight end Brad Bispo (1 yard), and another on a 1-yard plunge from running back Josh Reese.
The rushing attack netted just 27 yards on 31 carries but the three running backs - Corbin Cutshaw, Joe Trombetta and Reese - combined for 82 yards on 22 carries and no negative yardage. Five sacks by the Aggie defense, including 1.5 sacks by end Eric Sobotka, helped account for much of the negative rushing yardage.
Denham, who threw for 3,478 yards and 27 touchdowns as a sophomore last season, found Bispo from a yard out early in the scrimmage before later hitting Soto from 30 yards just inside the pylon as Soto made a nice over-the-shoulder grab.
Reese had 25 yards on seven carries, including his touchdown plunge, while Cutshaw picked up 35 yards on eight carries and Trombetta garnered 22 yards on seven rushes. Carter, who had a team-high 69 catches in 2008, led all receivers on Friday night with nine. Soto had five grabs for 34 yards and Sean Creadick picked up four receptions.
Other scoring came from kicker Sean Kelley who connected from 32 and 38 yards, respectively.
The defensive was highlighted by eight players who had at least a share of a tackle-for-loss. Sobotka (1.5 sacks) was supported by end Nick King (1.0), tackle Brock Galvin (1.0), free safety Nick Aprile (1.0) and end Steven Wulff (0.5) who also each got to the quarterback.
UC Davis also had a solid night in the defensive backfield with nine players breaking up at least one pass. Senior Jeremy Scott had a pair while Calhoun had the game's lone interception when he picked off freshman Randy Wright, one of three signal-callers to see action in the game.
Linebackers Mike Morales and Dozie Amajoyi each had five tackles to lead the team while four other players had four each.
"We put some good drives together," said Denham. "We've got some fine nuts and bolts that we've got to tighten up. Other than that, I thought it was a really positive day."
Aggie coach Bob Biggs, entering his 17th season, said he told his team afterward to use the scrimmage as a learning opportunity.
"That's what I mentioned to them, 'just be your own best critic," said Biggs. "Don't just be enamored with the good plays. Look at the plays that we didn't do too well. What could you have done better? That's going to be the difference between a good team and an average team."
The opener at Fresno State is set to kick off at 7 p.m.
