Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - - UC Davis rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit with a pair of touchdowns over a two-minute span in the third quarter on Saturday night but South Dakota responded with a score of its own to re-establish control as the Coyotes downed the Aggies, 27-17, in a nonconference home game at Aggie Stadium.

UC Davis fell to 0-2 on the young season while South Dakota, which now holds a 4-2 all-time series advantage with the Aggies, improved to 1-1. Sophomore Chris Martin caught five passes for a career-high 127 yards and a 75-yard touchdown touchdown - which brought the Aggies to within 20-17 - while Ben Scott completed 21 passes for 240 yards and a score, but was intercepted three times and sacked four times. Safety Keleen Culberson had a team-high six tackles.

Trevor Bouma, who answered Martin's long touchdown with a big 63-yard TD run, finished with a career-high 186 rushing yards while also scoring from 10 yards in the second quarter. Bouma had three catches for 48 yards.

"It's really hard to put into words. I thought we'd come out and play better," said Aggie coach Ron Gould. "We had a good week of practice. We gave up way too many plays, on both sides of the ball."

Brady Stuart's 40-yard field goal - his fifth consecutive make dating back to last year - set UC Davis up with a 3-0 lead after the game's opening drive. However, an 8-yard TD pass from Ryan Saeger to Eric Shufford in the first quarter, followed by Bouma's first score and field goals of 30 and 45 yards by Miles Bergner in the second, staked South Dakota to a 20-3 halftime lead.

The Aggies, though, struck quick in the third quarter with Manusamoa Luuga plunging in from two yards with 8:49 left and Martin hauling in his long TD catch on the first play of UC Davis' next drive to get to within a field goal, 20-17, with 6:47 to go. Bouma, though took a handoff up the middle on the second play of the Coyotes' next possession to build the lead back to 10.

Strong safety Jacob Warner had two of South Dakota's three picks while Andrew Van Ginkel had the other. Both teams fumbled twice and lost one each. Patrick Wells had an interception for UC Davis.

The Aggies return to the road next Saturday when they travel to face Hawai'i at 9 p.m. (PDT).