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DAVIS, Calif. - Ben Scott threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns, Manusamoa Luuga had 158 all-purpose yards and scored twice, and the defense held Northern Arizona in check in the second half as UC Davis broke a halftime deadlock with a big second half for a 38-24 Big Sky Conference football win before 6,432 fans at Aggie Stadium on Saturday night.

The Aggies won for the first time this year while snapping a six-game losing streak dating back to last year, improving their record to 1-5 overall and 1-2 in the Big Sky. Northern Arizona, which was among those receiving votes in the national polls and holds unofficial rankings of 26th in the STATS FCS poll and 28th by the FCS Coaches, fell to 3-3 and 1-2.

The win was also the 500th in the Aggies' program history which started in 1915.

"I told the team, we've been through a lot. I talked to them about their character, and how they've been able to persevere and how they've been able to overcome," said head coach Ron Gould. "I said I didn't need them to be superheroes… Just be who you are. I asked those guys to do their jobs, stay within themselves, take one play at a time.

"They came out and played their hearts out," he added. "They stayed within themselves. Tonight was an extraordinary effort by this team and by this staff. I'm so pleased and very grateful that I have a team that's very resilient. A team that's gritty. A team that has heart. A team that has fight."

The game was knotted 17-17 at halftime but the Aggies took the second-half kickoff, went 75 yards in 10 plays and got a 3-yard TD pass from Scott to Chris Martin to take a 24-17 lead. They extended it to 31-17 five minutes later when Scott found tight end Nehemiah Winston, who made an acrobatic catch down the middle for a 25-yard score.

The Aggie defense then went to work, forcing a pair of three-and-outs - totaling just 2 yards - before stopping the Lumberjacks on fourth down after they moved 49 yards. The UC Davis offense took it from there, putting together a 13-play, 71-yard clock-chewing drive that took 7:56 off the clock and was capped by Luuga's 1-yard scored with 2:49 left in the game. NAU quickly scored on a 7-yard TD pass from Case Cookus to R.J. Rickert a minute later but the Aggies were able to recover the ensuing onsides kick and run most of the remaining clock out.

Luuga's 1-yard TD run in the first quarter tied the game after Rickert and Cookus connected from a yard out for a short TD. Ramon Vargas caught a long 51-yard TD pass from Scott later in the quarter, after defensive tackle Kyle DeVaughn returned a fumble 19 yards to near midfield. Brady Stuart moved to within two field goals of the Aggies' career record, making his 44th with a 38-yarder late in the second half.

Scott nearly picked up his first 300-yard game of the year and the third of his career by connecting on 20 of 35 passes for his 289 yards. He found Luuga five times for 62 yards, hit Vargas three times for 75 and completed passes to eight receivers overall. He also had seven rushing yards and wasn't sacked.

"He was Ben Scott. He wasn't 'Big Ben" of the Pittsburgh Steelers," said Gould. "I sat down with Ben and had a long talk with him and told him if he's just himself, that's good enough for us. He knows the game so well, he studies it… He was trying to do too much and he understood that. So I said, 'If you just be Ben Scott, I promise you everything will take care of itself.' "

Luuga and freshman Joshua Kelley helped lead an Aggie rushing attack that posted a season-high 208 yards and averaged 4.3 yards a carry. Luuga carried the ball 23 times for 96 yards while Kelley had 20 attempts for 99 yards. They had long runs of 20 and 21 yards, respectively.

"I told the guys we just need a little bit more effort," said Gould. "Effort doesn't take talent. Effort is about heart and desire and that's what those guys have given me."

DeVaughn added two sacks to his fumble recovery, taking down NAU quarterback Case Cookus for two yards in the first quarter and five more in the second. He picked up his fumble after safety Darryl Graham's hit against Cookus knocked the ball loose.

Linebackers Travon Brooks and Russell Reeder each had nine tackles, including a TFL, while freshman cornerback Vince White had two big pass-breakups. UC Davis had five overall.

Jahn had 111 rushing yards on 19 carries, including a 39-yard run, while Cookus threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns, including one just before the half to Emmanuel Butler who had 110 receiving yards on seven catches.

The Aggies piled up a season-high 497 total yards while NAU gained 430. UC Davis also held a whopping 40:42-19:18 lead in time of possession.

UC Davis returns to action next weekend when it travels to face Northern Colorado next Saturday.