Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis rallied from a 24-7 fourth-quarter deficit to a potential game-winning touchdown in the final seconds but Northern Colorado intercepted a pass in the end zone with four seconds left to preserve a 27-21 Big Sky Conference football win before 5,686 fans at Aggie Stadium on Saturday evening.

The loss was the Aggies' sixth in a row and dropped their overall record to 1-7 while moving their conference mark to 0-5. Sean Rubalcaba threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns while Sean Leslie and Stephen Miller each caught TD passes.

UC Davis quarterback Ben Scott threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns, both of them to receiver Ramon Vargas who had nine catches for 122 yards; his third straight 100-yard game. Safety Charles Boyett had 10 tackles to help lead the Aggie defense while defensive end Zak Pettit had nine stops including a sack and three TFL's overall.

The Aggies were down 27-21 with eight seconds left and the ball on the Bears' 14-yard line after moving the ball 49 yards in 43 seconds. However, the comeback was thwarted in the endzone when Trevor Douglass intercepted Scott's pass for Vargas with four ticks on the clock.

The ending capped a furious comeback from the Aggies who trailed by 17 points early in the fourth quarter after Seth Czapenski's 26-yard field goal made it 24-7. However, Vargas had an 18-yard touchdown catch with nine minutes to go and Gabe Manzanares plunged in from a yard out with 5:10 on the clock to bring the Aggies within 24-21. The Aggies' defense made a key stop to give the ball back to UC Davis at its own 22 with 3:25 on the clock, but a fumble caused by linebacker Isaiah Williams on the drive's first play returned it to UNC deep in Aggie territory.

The Bears tried to run out the clock but were unable to, settling for a 30-yard field goal by Czapenski with 57 seconds remaining that pushed their lead to six points. UC Davis started on its own 37 with one timeout in its arsenal on its final drive and Scott quickly hit Vargas for a 29-yard gain to the Bears' 37. Completions to T.J. King and Corey Galindo, mixed in with a five-yard Scott keeper, pushed the ball to the 14 but two incomplete passes in the waning seconds set up UC Davis' final attempt and its second turnover.

The exciting fourth quarter was a turnaround from a slow first half by the Aggies who were held to just 102 yards of offense before halftime and punts on each of their first three drives. They ran only 13 plays before a 14-play, 57-yard drive just before halftime. Northern Colorado, meanwhile, put together two long drives before intermission, including a 12-play, 86-yard one that was capped by Miller's 23-yard touchdown reception from Rubalcaba with 12:23 left in the second quarter.

It also had a 14-play, 86-yard drive that consumed more than eight minutes on the clock what was stopped a yard shy of a touchdown when the UC Davis defense threw up an impressive goal-line stand that stopped Darius Graham on three straight tries from the 3-yard line including a 4th-and-1 from the 1. Linebacker Ryan Bua had two of the stops, linebacker Jonathan Bias and defensive tackle Kyle DeVaughn helped with assists and safety Keleen Culbertson spearheaded the fourth-down stop.

Despite the first-half struggles, the Aggies trailed just 7-0 at halftime, a deficit that jumped to 14-0 early in the second half after Northern Colorado took the opening kickoff and marched down for Leslie's eight-yard TD grab. Playing with urgency, UC Davis came right back and covered 74 yards in eight plays that ended with Vargas' first scoring reception, a 23-yarder from Scott with 8:50 left in the third. Rubalcaba's eight-yard touchdown run made it 21-7 four minutes later.

UC Davis was held to just 51 rushing yards, 50 of them by Manzanares who carried the ball 12 times. Scott was 25 of 38 for his 301 yards, tossing a 49-yard pass to Alex Cannon to the 1 that led to Manzanares' score. Culbertson added eight tackles for the Aggies while defensive end Marques Barron had a TFL among his five tackles.

Rubalcaba was 21 for 28 as part of his 278-yard effort while receiver Dimitri Stimphil caught seven passes for 90 yards. Leslie had 86 yards in receptions and Miller had 65. Rubalcaba also had a game-high 74 rushing yards.

The Aggies will trying to find their winning ways next Saturday when they return to the road at Northern Arizona.