Box Score Sept. 25, 2016 Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
DAVIS, Calif. - Joshua Kelley had a 91-yard kickoff return for a score and Luke Williams made a spectacular 14-yard TD catch during UC Davis' furious fourth-quarter rally that tied its Big Sky opener with Weber State on Saturday night at Aggie Stadium, but the Wildcats took advantage of a late Aggie turnover to post a 38-35 win on Taylor Hintze's 35-yard field goal as time expired.
UC Davis, which was led by 266 passing yards and two touchdowns from Ben Scott, fell to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the Big Sky while Weber State improved to 2-2 and 1-0. Treshawn Garrett rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown for the Wildcats while Jadrian Clark passed for 251 yards and two scores.
The Aggies trailed 35-20 after Hintze's 37-yard field goal with 7:19 remaining but then scored on Kelley's and Williams' heroics to knot the game with 1:35 to go. The Aggie defense then forced the Wildcats to punt for the third consecutive series but Isiah Olave was hit on the return by linebacker Landon Stice and the resulting fumble was recovered by Weber State at the UC Davis 23.
Clark rushed to the 18, spiked the ball on the next play and Hintze came in and converted his third field goal of the game to deliver the Wildcats the wild win. It was disappointing ending after a strong UC Davis finish.
"When you talk about 'Aggie Pride,' that was on display tonight," said UC Davis head coach Ron Gould. "Our kids had a tremendous amount of fight, a lot of grit, and a lot of determination but we came up just a bit short. I can't be more proud of how these guys fought every single day to give ourselves the chance to win the game in the end."
UC Davis led 10-8 late in the first quarter after freshman Matt Blair drilled a career-best 48-yard field goal but Weber State rattled off 22 straight points to take a 32-10 lead early in the third quarter. Clark hit Darry Denby for a 34-yard score and Andrew Vollert from 22 yards in the second quarter before Hintz kicked a 54-yard field goal to end the first half. Garrett scored from three yards on Weber State's opening drive of the second half to give the Wildcats their biggest lead.
But Keelan Doss, who caught seven passes for 91 yards, followed Blair's 27-yard field goal in the third quarter with an eight-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Brock Dale early in the fourth. Dale had temporarily replaced Scott because of an injury.
Hintze's second field goal with just over seven minutes to go was followed by Kelley's electrifying return up the right sideline. He took the ball at the 9, cut to the outside and then outran the coverage for the Aggies' first TD kick return in two years, the third-longest kick return for a score in school history and the fifth-longest kick return overall.
The teams traded punts before the Aggies forced another with 2:31 to go that gave them the ball at their own 33. Scott and Williams then went to work. Scott hit Williams on a crossing pattern for a 40-yard gain on the first play and then followed with a 13-yard pass to Williams that put the ball on the 14. But the duo saved their best for the next play with Williams making a diving catch while falling out of bounds in the endzone. He was initially ruled out of bounds but the call was overturned on review and UC Davis picked up the touchdown. Scott then hit Martin on a short pass for the two-point conversion.
The Aggie defense, which held Weber State to just 57 yards in the fourth quarter, then held again and the Wildcats had to punt from their own 34 with less than 25 seconds remaining. Olave took Jacob DeMaio's 43-yard punt at his own 23 and was met by Stice who jarred the ball free. It was recovered by Tre'von Johnson and three plays later Weber State had the win.
Manusamoa Luuga rushed 18 times for 58 yards, Scott went 20-34-0 and was sacked just once, Williams had three catches for 67 yards and tight end Nehemiah Winston hauled in two for 60, including a 52-yarder.
Linebacker Nas Anesia and cornerback Delvin Alexander each had eight tackles while defensive Inoke Raikadroka had a six stops, including a six-yard sack. Linebacker Zach Jones and safety Keleen Culberson each picked off passes. Culberson returned his 32 yards and also broke up two passes.
Denby caught seven passes for 83 yards while Clark went 22-for-38 passing for 251 yards. Johnson led the Wildcats with seven tackles. Weber State outgained UC Davis 463-280.
UC Davis returns to the road for the next two weeks, traveling to face Eastern Washington for a 1 p.m. matchup next week and then going to Southern Utah on Oct. 8.