UC DAVIS FOOTBALL SUNDAY NOTEBOOK - Week 5
No. 4/5 Eastern Washington 63, UC Davis 30
Roos Field • Oct. 1, 2016
10,741 (attendance)

GAME NOTES
RECAP: It was a tale of two halves at Roos Field on Saturday with UC Davis dominating the second quarter with 23 unanswered points and explosive Eastern Washington scoring 49 points over the first 19 minutes of the second half to record the Big Sky win... RB Manusamoa Luuga rushed for a career-high 160 yards and scored a career-high tying three touchdowns (2 rush, 1 rec.)… RB Joshua Kelley carried the ball nine times for 95 yards, scoring on a career-best 58-yard TD in the second quarter to cut into EWU's early 14-0 lead… Luuga scored twice over the final nine minutes of the half and the defense, which allowed just six yards in the second quarter and chased Eagles QB GAGE GABRUD into the endzone where his intentional grounding penalty resulted in a safety… UC Davis led 23-14 at halftime, answered two quick EWU scores to start the third with another Luuga score, but it was all Eagles after that… Gubrud threw for two scores, ran for another and the Eagles led 49-30 after three… FS Zach Jones had 10 tackles while CB Vincent White broke up two passes to help lead the Aggies' defense.

• RB MANUSAMOA LUUGA's 160 rushing yards marks his third 100-yard game of his career and eclipses the 145 he had against Southern Oregon on Sept. 10 for a new career-high… Luuga added five catches for 52 yards for a career-high 212 all-purpose yards… His three touchdowns matched the three he had against Oregon in the season opener.

• RB JOSHUA KELLEY's 58-yard TD run was his third play this season of at least 55 yards… He had a 91-yard TD kickoff return against Weber State and returned a kick 55 yards at Wyoming.

• The Aggies' safety in the second quarter was its first since getting one at North Dakota in 2013.

• UC Davis' 247 rushing yards are a season-high, bettering the 226 gained against Southern Oregon, and are the Aggies' most since picking up 266 yards versus Causeway Classic rival Sacramento State in 2014… Their 415 total yards are second-highest this year.

• The Aggies went 3 for 3 in the red-zone, all three of them resulting in touchdowns, giving them 14 consecutive scores when getting inside the 20-yard line… For the season, UC Davis is 17 for 18 (.944) and is 18th in the FCS. (A total of 14 teams are perfect so far).

• UC Davis held the ball for 12:01 of the second quarter and held a 32:02-27:58 advantage in overall possession.

• KEY NCAA RANKINGS (individual in top 40) - Manusamoa Luuga - All-purpose ypg. (37th, 125.0); yards/att. (39th, 5.51); Rushing TDs (6th, 7); Rushing yards (13th, 485); Rushing ypg. (22, 97.0); Scoring (17th, 9.6 ppg.). Joshua Kelley - Combined kick ret. (22nd, 313); Kickoff ret. TDs (T-1st, 1); Kickoff returns (25th, 26.1 avg.). Ben Scott - Comp. pct. (40th, .602); Comp./game (29th, 20.6); Pass. effic. (40th, 134.8); Passing TDs (26th, 8); Passing yds. (12, 1,298); Passing ypg. (19th, 259.6); Points resp. for (30th, 56); Total off. (30th, 259.8); Yds/att. (37th, 7.59). Zach Jones - for. fumb. (7th, 0.6). Colby Wadman - Punting (29th, 41.1 avg.). Keelan Doss - Rec. TDs (23rd, 4); Rec. yds. (34th, 387).

• KEY NCAA RANKINGS (team in top 40) - Fum. rec. (16th, 5); Passes int. (21st, 6); Passing of. (26th, 266.6 ypg.); Red-zone off. (18th, .944); Scoring off. (25th, 33.4 ppg.); TFLs allowed (31st, 4.8); Pass. effic. (37th, 136.1); Total off. (34th, 413.4); Turnover mar. (24th, 0.8); Turnovers gained (10th, 11).

UP NEXT
UC Davis (1-4, 0-2) at No. 24 Southern Utah (2-2, 1-1)
Eccles Coliseum (8,500) • Oct. 8, 2016 • 5 p.m. (PDT)
KHTK (1140 AM)

Live audio | Live video | Live stats | Twitter updates

NEXT UP - The Aggies play the second of two straight road games for the only time this year when they visit Southern Utah for the first time since 2013. The Thunderbirds are defending Big Sky champions and are led by first-year head coach DEMARIO WARREN, an Aggie alum who played running back from UC Davis from 2005-07.

LAST WEEK FOR SOUTHERN UTAH - In a battle of ranked teams, it was No. 11 Montana beating No. 24 Southern Utah, 43-20, in Missoula on Saturday... A 14-point third quarter broke open a close 22-14 halftime lead for the Grizzlies and propelled them to the win… RB MALIK BROWN rushed for 114 yards on 15 carries while WR MIKE SHARP caught seven passes for 78 yards… LB ETHAN TUILAGI had 10 tackles to lead the defense… LB MIKE NEEDHAM and S AKILI GRAY each had interceptions.

ALL-TIME SERIES - UC Davis holds an 11-7 lead in the all-time series between the teams which started playing each other in 1993… The Aggies are 4-5 in Cedar City but won their last meeting there in 2013, 21-3… The losing team in the series hasn't scored more than six points in the last three games.

TICKETS - Tickets are available online at www.tbirdtickets.com or by calling the Eastern Washington Athletics ticket office at (435) 586-7872.