UC DAVIS FOOTBALL GAME NOTES
Game 5: No. 13/12 Montana (2-2, 1-0) vs. UC Davis (0-4, 0-1)

Sat., Oct. 3 • 1:10 p.m. • ROOT Sports • KHTK (Sports 1140 AM)
Davis, Calif. • Aggie Stadium (10,849)

Notes (PDF): UC Davis | Montana | Big Sky
Gameday links: Audio | Live Stats | Twitter (in-game updates)

OPENING KICKOFF
• After, playing three of its first four games on the road for the fourth time in the past six years, UC Davis returns to Aggie Stadium looking to pick up the 500th win in program history... It's the Aggies' sixth try for the elusive victory... The Aggies are 499-401-33 (.620) since 1915.
• UC Davis is facing Montana for the third straight season... The Grizzlies join Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Cal Poly and rival Sacramento State as the only Big Sky teams on the schedule for each of the past three years... The Aggies are 0-6 all-time against Montana, including four losses since 2008... The teams first met in 1926 (UM, 21-0) and again in 1995 (UM, 41-20).
• WR Chris Martin is enjoying a breakout season for the Aggies... He has 14 catches for 329 yards and 4 TDs... Martin's 23.5 avg. per catch is ninth-best in FCS and second in the Big Sky... He's in the top 20 nationally in three other stats (TDs-13th, punt ret.-13th, rec. yds-17th).
• UC Davis is mired in its second 0-4 start since 2013 but is hoping for the same kind of turnaround it enjoyed then when it won 5 of 8 games to end the season and tied for fourth in the Big Sky in head coach RON GOULD's first year.
• The Aggies lead the Big Sky and are fourth in the country in time of possession (34:16)... They're averaging 68.8 plays per game; almost 10 more than their opponents.
• RB Manusamoa Luuga (66 att.) has 40 more carries than any other Aggie (RB Joshua Kelley, 26 att.), including 43 over the past two games... He had a career-high 25 carries for a career-best 89 yards against Hawai'i.
• True freshman S Ryan Parenteau has stepped into a key role on the defense because of injuries... He had six tackles at Hawai'i and is tied for third on the team with 14 total.
• UC Davis is allowing 227.0 ypg. rushing and ranks 102nd nationally... Three of four opponents have gained at least 232 yards... Conversely, the Aggies have been held to double-digits on the ground three times and are ranked 103rd (96.3 ypg.)
• Getting inside the 20 has been friendly to the Aggies who are 11-for-11 in red-zone scoring and T-1st nationally... They're just one of five FCS teams with at least 10 red-zone scores (7 TDs, 4 FGs)... However, they're ranked 115th in red-zone defense (opponents are 17 for 18).
• UC Davis is appearing at home on ROOT Sports for the fourth straight season but are looking for its first home win on the network.

LAST MEETING
• RB Gabe Manzanares rushed for 110 yards and 2 TDs and WR Ramon Vargas caught eight passes for 129 yards and two scores, but No. 7/6 Montana was able to hold off the Aggies for a 42-28 win at Missoula last season.
• QB Ben Scott hit Manzanares and Vargas with short TD passes to help UC Davis take a 14-7 lead in the second quarter... The game was tied 14-14 at halftime.
• Vargas' 15-yard TD grab with 4:55 left in the game brought the Aggies to within 35-28 but RB Jordan Canada's 21-yard TD run turned back the upset bid before 25,766 fans.
• Scott went 20-37-0 for 257 yards and 4 TDs... S Keleen Culberson had nine tackles to lead the defense.

NOTES FROM NORTH DAKOTA
• The Aggies turned the ball over twice in the first half which both led to touchdowns... The first was an interception that helped UND take a quick 14-0 lead with 8:25 left in the first quarter.
• K Brady Stuart was good from 19 yards in the second quarter... He's 5 for 5 this season and has made eight straight going back to last year... Stuart also was good from 48 yards late in the game but UND was offsides and UC Davis took the penalty, eventually scoring a TD on WR ALEX CANNON's 2-yard reception.
• The Aggies averaged just 2.1 yards per carry and totaled just 67 yards on the ground... UND rushed for 240 yards (6.0 avg.).
• UC Davis was 2 for 2 on fourth down, including a nice 24-yard pass-and-catch down the middle in traffic from QB Ben Scott to TE Nehemiah Winston, setting up Cannon's TD.
• The Aggies put together a 14-play, 78-yard (7:49) drive in the third quarter that was capped by WR CHRIS MARTIN's second TD of the game... It was their second-longest drive in terms of time this season and third-longest in plays.
• DT Inoke Raikadroka had three quarterback-hurries while DE Walter Earnest and DE Brandon Weaver each had two.
• Martin had a career-long 49-yard punt return but was stripped of the ball at the end of the play and UND recovered (eventually scoring a TD).
• True freshman RB Joshua Kelley had a 38-yard kickoff return, a week after going 55 yards against Hawai'i.
• UC Davis shut down UND for four drives after giving up the two early scores... CB Darryl Graham had a pick on the first one and the Aggies forced three-and-outs on two others... UND totaled just 33 yards on those four possessions.
• The Aggies were 4 of 6 on third down in the third quarter... They were 5 of 13 overall.

STRUGGLES NEAR GOAL LINE
• UC Davis is 11 for 11 in the red-zone - one of just 15 FCS schools perfect this season - but have had to settle for field goals four times despite 1st-and-goal situations.
• NEVADA - 1st down at 4. Key: false start penalty. Result: 26-yd FG by K Brady Stuart.
• HAWAI'I - 1st down at 3. Key: Two rushes for -2 yds, incomplete pass. Result: 21-yd FG by Stuart... 1st down at 6. Key: delay of game penalty. Result: 27-yd FG by Stuart.
• NORTH DAKOTA - 1st down at 2. Key: 2 rushes for -1 yards, incomplete pass. Result: 19-yd FG by Stuart.

RUNNING GAME SLOWED
• The Aggies rushed for more than 100 yards in six games last season, including four times over 220 yards... This year, however, they've only gone over 100 once (169 at Hawai'i).
• UC Davis has been held to 89 at Nevada, 60 vs. South Dakota and 67 at North Dakota... It's averaging just 2.8 yards per rush and 96.2 per game... The Aggies rank 103rd in FCS in ypg. and 107th in yards per carry... Opponents are averaging 6.1 yards an attempt.

AGGIES REVERSE PENALTY TREND
• UC Davis ranked fourth in the FCS in total penalties (49) and 11th in penalty yards (485) last season.
• So far this season, it's had two games with 73 yards; one of them due to nine penalties and the other with seven... The Aggies, though, showed flashes of 2014 with just two flags for 19 yards at North Dakota.
• Overall, UC Davis' best ranking is 39th for fewest penalties per game (5.5)

GRAHAM SHINES AT UND
• S Darryl Graham posted a career-high 10 tackles in Saturday's loss at North Dakota, including seven of the solo variety while also adding an interception during his third career start.
• The double-digit tackles eclipsed the nine he had at Colorado State last season while his pick was the second in his two-year career... Graham had one against Fort Lewis last season.
• He's currently second on the team with 17 tackles.

INJURY BUG BITES AGGIES
• UC Davis skated through fall camp with minimal injury concerns and looked good through two games... But, how have times changed.
• Five starters have been sidelined the last two games... CB Shamawn Wright and his replacement CB Isiah Olave have gone down; S Keleen Culberson and LB Ryan Bua have joined them... Key reserve LB Artice Nelson has also been sidelined... On the offensive side, TE Zach Boman missed the game at UND while RB Justin Williams was gone as well.

RECEIVING CORPS BALANCE
• QB Ben Scott has been spreading out the ball with four receivers posting at least 11 grabs so far... RB Manusamoa Luuga (18-99) leads the way in receptions while WR Chris Martin (14-329) is tops in yards... WR Ramon Vargas (14-136; 8 rec. in last 2 games) and WR ALEX CANNON (11-122) are also in the mix... Martin has TD receptions of 69 and 75 yards, and 4 TDs over his last three games.

NCAA STAT LEADERS
Individual top 50:
• K Brady Stuart - FG%: T-1st (1.000); FG/gm: 21st (1.25).
• QB Ben Scott - Comp.%: 20th (.646); Comp./gm: 19th (21.1); Passing TDs: 18th (7); Passing yds: 22nd (879); Passing ypg: 35th (219.8); Pts. resp. for: 22nd (48); Pts. resp./gm: 34th (12.0); Passing eff.: 133.0 (47th)
• LB Xavier Griggs - Fum. recovered: T-16th (1).
• S Ryan Parenteau - Fum. recovered: T-16th (1)
• RB Joshua Kelley - Kick Ret.: 10th (30.0); Combined kick ret.: 41st (210)
• WR Chris Martin - Rec. yds: 17th (329); Rec. ypg.: 27th (82.3); Rec. TDs: 13th (4); Yds/rec.: 15th (23.5); Punt ret.: 13th (14.0); Yards/rec.: 9th (23.5); All-purpose yds: 49th (120.25 pg).
Team top 40:
• Passing yds. allowed: 14th (157.5)
• 3rd down conv.: 26th (.444)
• 4th down def.: T-1st (.000)
• Kickoff returns: 36th (23.26)
• Time of possession: 4th (34:16)
• Blocked kicks: 29th (1)
• Completion pct.: 19th (.645)
• Fewest penalties: 39th (5.5)
• Punt returns: 19th (14.0)
• Red-zone offense: T-1st (1.000)

PARENTEAU STEPPING OUT
• Freshman S Ryan Parenteau is making a name for himself as a freshman... He's tied for third on the team with 14 tackles, and has forced and recovered a fumble... He returned his fumble 15 yards against South Dakota.
• He's tied with LB Brady Stibi, CB Patrick Wells and DT Kyle DeVaughn... LB Russell Reeder has 18 total tackles (14 solo) to lead the team... Of Wells' 14 stops, 13 are solo tackles.

FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE
• Every team strives to find the right balance between rushing and passing but the Aggies are about as perfect as one can be... How perfect? They have 137 rushing plays so far this year and 138 passing... However, the closest balance in any game has been 32 rushes and 38 passes against South Dakota, and 32 rush/26 pass at UND.
• Nevada showed a 27-47 rush-pass disparity while Hawai'i was 46-27 in rush-pass.
• Last year, UC Davis showed good balance with a rush-pass comparison of 48-52%.

STUART'S FOOT IS PERFECT
• K Brady Stuart is 5 for 5 in field goals this year, giving him eight straight makes going back to last season... He's also within two of tying Sean Kelley and five of career leader EDDIE LORETTO (see page 5 for charts).
• His five FGs have already tied his total from last season... Stuart is 4 for 4 from 19-29 yards and also has a 40-yarder.

TEAM CAPTAINS
• OL Parker Smith and SS Keleen Culberson will serve as team captains during the 2015 season... It is each of their first years serving in the leadership role.
• The Aggies will have at least two other captains each game... Those will be selected on a game-by-game basis.

SMITH GETS 0-LINE CYCLE
• OL Parker Smith played both right and left guard earlier during his Aggie career before starting last season at right tackle for injured teammate Christian Schneider.
• Another injury to former OL Jay Luchetti moved him over to center for the balance of 2014 where he earned All-Big Sky honorable mention.
• Smith completes the cycle in 2015 by taking his talents to left tackle where he'll face the opponent's top rusher while protecting QB BEN SCOTT's blindside... Smith, called the Aggies' best lineman by head coach Ron Gould, replaces Ian Joseph who started all 45 games of his UC Davis career prior to graduating.

WADMAN A TOP PUNTER
• P Colby Wadman has followed a tough act with a tough one of his own... He replaced All-Big Sky punter Colton Schmidt (now starting for the Buffalo Bills) and averaged 40.0 yds through 125 punts over two seasons.
• His 42.3 average (rounded from 42.26) last year is fourth-best for a season, barely trailing BILL INGRAM (42.28)... Schmidt (44.5, 42.3) is 1-2 on the single-season list.
• Wadman is on pace to become just the third Aggie to average 40.0 yds for a career... He ranked fifth in the Big Sky, which is loaded with good punters, and 14th in FCS.
• Wadman put a third of his 54 punts inside the 20 in 2014, had 13 fair-caught and posted a long of 65 yards... He earned Big Sky honorable mention for the second straight year.

STAFF PHOTO GETS NEW SMILES
• Head coach Ron Gould welcomed three new faces to the coaching staff photo and five new smiles overall with the addition of WES NURSE (cornerbacks), JIM CHAPIN (running backs) and David Braun (def. line) during the winter.
• Nurse was on the Aggie staff in 2011 before leaving and returning, Chapin was most recently at Indiana Univ. (Pennsylvania), and Braun spent the last four years at his alma mater of Winona State (Minn.).
• Also joining the Aggies are Matt Ulrich (def. quality control) and Darren Ervin (spec. teams quality control; dir. of player personnel).

NEW STADIUM TURF
• Aggie Stadium opened for business in 2007 and has new artificial turf for the first time since... Shaw Sports Turf was installed over the summer, providing a marked difference to the FieldTurf that preceded it.
• Most notably, the new turf is 3/4-inch shorter (2" vs. 2.75") while the turf inlay is equal parts sand and rubber, compared to the all-rubber inlay previously.
• Visually, the turf alternates shades of green every five yards, except for a 10-yard stretch of dark green at midfield that serves as the background for the traditional Mustang C logo.
• The endzones are blue with "Vegas gold" lettering... The campus' official UC Davis wordmark is in the south endzone while "Aggies" is in the north.
• The 105,000-square foot playing surface, which is also home to the Aggies' women's lacrosse team and features its playing lines, was installed by ProSpectra Contract Flooring and was funded through the Facilities And Campus Enhancement Initiative (F.A.C.E.) passed by undergraduates in 1999.

'14 POSTSEASON HONORS
• UC Davis had 10 Aggies recognized by the Big Sky on its postseason honor roll... OL Ian Joseph (1st team) and RB Gabe Manzanares (2nd team) are both graduated... FS CHARLES BOYETT, TE Mark Martindale, LB Steven Pitts and FB Dalton Turay are departed seniors who were each honorable mention.
• OL Parker Smith, QB Ben Scott, WR Ramon Vargas and P Colby Wadman are returners that picked up honorable mention accolades.

CLASSROOM EXCELLENCE
• The Aggies posted an NCAA Academic Progress Rate of 974 to lead the Big Sky Conference for the third consecutive year... The distinction earned them an APR Award from the FCS Athletics Directors Assocition for the third straight year as well.
• UC Davis has increased its APR each year during the impressive run and owns the second-longest active streak of APR Awards. (Bryant University has won four straight).
• The APR measures student-athlete retention and eligibility and helps provide a real-time mark of classroom performance.

ARP CONTINUES GAME STREAK
• Fred Arp coached the defensive line at UC Davis from 1967-2007, becoming not only one of the most beloved Aggie coaches in school history, but turned out some of the best players the program has ever seen.
• The purveyor of "Club Fred" - as his players called their position group - only missed one game as a coach and that was for the birth of his son, Ben.
• Otherwise, Arp was perfect on the sidelines and that streak continues to this day... Saturday marks his 425th consecutive Aggie game that he's attended.
• Arp was also a winner of the AFCA Div. II Assistant Coach of the Year Award.

GOULD PRODUCES RBs
• Head coach Ron Gould turned out a bevy of outstanding running backs during his 16-year career as an assistant/associate head coach at Cal prior to joining UC Davis in 2012.
• Currently, his former players form a 'who's who' of NFL standouts: Marshawn Lynch (Seattle), Shane Vereen (New York Giants), Justin Forsett (Baltimore) and C.J. Anderson (Denver)... FB Will Ta'ufo'ou was most recently with Jacksonville... Retired RB Jahvid Best (Detroit) was another outstanding Cal player.
• Gould brought his expertise to UC Davis where he's already turned out one of the Aggies' all-time best with former RB Gabe Manzanares who gained 2,116 career yards, was named the Big Sky Newcomer of the Year in 2014 and twice earned all-conference recognition in 2013-14.

ROOT FOR THE AGGIES
• UC Davis will be featured on ROOT SPORTS for the fourth consecutive year as part of the DirecTV regional network's partnership with the Big Sky... In all, 10 league games will be showcased throughout the 2015 season.
• The Aggies host Montana on Saturday at as part of the package... UC Davis also hosted ROOT SPORTS games against Montana (2013) and Montana State (2012, 2014) and were shown last season at Portland State as well... UC Davis is 0-5 in ROOT SPORTS games.
COACHING TREE
• JIM SOCHOR, the winningest coach (156 wins) in school history, helped spawn the careers of several notable current head coaches including CHRIS PETERSEN (Washington) and GARY PATTERSON (TCU) who were both on staff... Additionally, Petersen was a QB for UC Davis in the mid-1980s... Former coaches to move through the Aggies as players and/or coaches include MIKE BELLOTTI (Oregon), NICK ALIOTTI (Oregon def. coord.) and PAUL HACKETT (NFL, college).
• Hackett's son, Nathaniel, played for UC Davis from 1999-2002 before moving on to a successful coaching career as the offensive coordinator at Syracuse and the Buffalo Bills... He's currently the QB coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
• The Aggies request media properly refer to the school's name when referencing the university... The correct name is "UC Davis"... Please note the refreshing lack of hyphens and periods... "California-Davis", "Cal-Davis", "U.C. Davis", "UC-Davis" and similar combinations of letters and punctuation are also incorrect.
• Did we say 'thank you'? Consider it said.

AGGIE PROGRAM NEARS 500
• UC Davis needs one win to reach 500 in the 100-year history of the program. The Aggies have been stuck on 499 since beating Cal Poly in the 10th game of last season.
• UC Davis did not play games in 1918 or from 1943-45 and have used 16 head coaches to amass those wins... JACK GLASCOCK (1-2; 1917) has the fewest while JIM SOCHOR (156-41-5) has the most.

HISTORICAL STREAKS
• Some notable streaks have been associated with the UC Davis football program through the years:
• 37 - Consecutive winning seasons from 1970-2006... The first 35 came when the Aggies were officially playing as a Div. II program and still stands as the Div. II record.
• 20 - Consecutive years (1971-1993) of either winning outright or sharing a conference championship during UC Davis' tenure in the Far Western Conference, Northern California Athletic Conference and American West Conference.
• 442 - Consecutive games from 1969-2010 that the Aggies had at least 200 yards of total offense.

PRO FOOTBALL CONNECTIONS
• UC Davis currently has two players in the NFL and another in the CFL.
• TE Daniel Fells is currently with the New York Giants where he has six catches for 60 yards this year... He's played for five different teams since breaking into the league in 2006.
• Colton Schmidt is in his second season as the starting punter for the Buffalo Bills and earned rave reviews from head coach Rex Ryan following the team's season-opening win over the Indianapolis Colts... Schmidt averaged a career-high 50.4 yards on five punts in the game and is averaging 45.6 through his first three.
• Neither Fells nor Schmidt were drafted after their UC Davis careers... Schmidt had training camp stints with the San Francisco 49ers in both 2013 and 2014 while Fells broke in with the Atlanta Falcons in 2006.
• Up north, WR Bakari Grant has 25 catches for 389 yards and 4 TDs for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this season... He has 232 receptions for 2,924 yards and 16 TDs since joining the league in 2011.
• For the record, the last UC Davis player drafted into the NFL was QB J.T. O'SULLIVAN in 2002.

AGGIES, ROTC FORM BOND
• UC Davis players carry an American flag and an axe (for special teams player of the week) when entering the field... They also a flag representing the Forged Gold Battalion ROTC at UC Davis.
• The ROTC and the Aggies formed a bond during the preseason when they combined for leadership "boot camp" on Sunday, Aug. 9.
• The players had been told they'd have Sundays off during preseason camp but were then told the night of Aug. 8 to report to Toomey Field at 5 a.m. the next morning... It was there that they learned and experienced the dedication and leadership of the Army ROTC.