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Game Highlights | K. Doss, J. Maier and U. Gilliam Postgame Interviews |  Coach Hawkins Postgame InterviewÂ
CHENEY, Wash. — UC Davis redshirt freshman running back Ulonzo Gilliam amassed 167 yards from scrimmage and scored three total touchdowns, but a 35-yard scamper from Eastern Washington's Sam McPherson with just 26 seconds remaining in the game lifted the third-seeded Eagles to a 34-29 win over the sixth-seeded Aggies in an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinal game at Roos Field Saturday afternoon.
Gilliam, a biochemistry and molecular biology major from Merced, California, rushed for 132 yards and two first-half scores, while adding three receptions for another 56 yards and a touchdown. He punched in a three-yard strike with 1:13 on a shovel pass from junior communication major Jake Maier with just 1:13 left in the fourth. Senior running back and managerial economics major Namane Modise then hauled in the two-point conversion to give UC Davis a 29-28 lead.
"He's really patient and has great vision," said second-year head coach Dan Hawkins, about Gilliam. "I thought our O-line did a nice job, and we had a couple of wrinkles, scheme-wise, that were good. And then he had to play maybe a little bit more after Tehran [Thomas] got dinged. He's a good player."
However, the Aggie advantage was short-lived. EWU sophomore quarterback Eric Barriere engineered a four-play, 75-yard drive in the final minute. Barriere began the drive with a 29-yard run to put the Eagles into UC Davis territory, then completed an 11-yard pass to Nsimba Webster to set up a first-and-10 on the Aggie 35. McPherson eluded four defenders along the left side of the field for the game-winning touchdown at the 0:26 mark.Â
Maier completed 26 of 38 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns with a pair of interceptions. Senior wide receiver and organizational studies major Keelan Doss accounted for more than half of the team's aerial production with nine catches and 143 receiving yards – his 19th career 100-yard game.
Defensively, redshirt freshman linebacker Montell Bland led the Aggies with 11 tackles while senior linebacker Mason Moe added another 10 stops and two sacks. Senior psychology major Isaiah Olave posted an interception in the EWU red zone to start the second half, and also had a pick on the Eagles' two-point conversion attempt in the final minute. Bland, Connor Airey, Anthony Baumgart and Jordan Franklin also contributed on UC Davis' five total sacks.
EWU drew first blood midway through the first quarter on the first of Barriere's three touchdown strikes, specifically to fifth-year senior Terence Grady. UC Davis countered in the second quarter with Gilliam touchdown runs of 29 and 24 yards, respectively, before Henderson Belk pulled in a 13-yarder from Barriere to tie the contest at 14-14.
The Aggies had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds before halftime, with a fourth-and-2 near the Eagles' 3-yard line. UC Davis ran a gadget play with receiver Darius Livingston looking to hit Maier in left side of the end zone. However, EWU's Chris Ojoh jumped the route and picked off the potential go-ahead to keep the two teams locked up into the break.
Olave gained possession for UC Davis just seconds into the third quarter with his interception against Barriere – the only EWU turnover of the contest – on the EWU 28. Five plays later, true freshman Lance Babb II collected his first reception as an Aggie for a nine-yard score, giving his team a 21-14 lead with 12:02 on the clock.
UC Davis maintained that lead for the next 17 minutes of play, before the Eagles ran a trick play of their own: McPherson fired a 33-yarder to fellow running back Dennis Merritt, putting EWU on the Aggie 8-yard line and setting up a Barriere's five-yard keeper for the equalizer with 10:06 remaining in the fourth. The Eagles took a 28-21 lead on their next possession, with a 55-yard pass to Andrew Boston setting up Webster's seven-yard TD reception at 7:12.
UC Davis regained the lead two series later, with Maier finding Doss on a 27-yarder to set the Aggies up in the EWU red zone. With a first-and-goal on the EWU 3, Maier flipped to Gilliam, who bulldozed his way across the middle of the goal line, cutting the deficit to 28-27. Another Maier shovel pass, this time on a reverse to Modise, resulted in the successful two-point conversion and a 29-28 lead with 73 seconds left in the regulation.
"We had a play that we liked a lot," said Maier, on the conversion. "You don't get many opportunities like that to try to put the game away, so that was the plan. We had a great play, and we were confident in it."
Nonetheless, EWU needed just 47 ticks to complete its winning drive, with McPherson's 35-yard run serving as the capper. McPherson finished with a game-high 143 yards on the ground.
UC Davis, making its first FCS playoff appearance in program history, finishes its season with a 10-3 overall record. EWU improves to 11-2 in advancing to the semifinal game against Maine, which upset No. 2 seed Weber State on Friday.
"It was magnificent in a lot of ways," said Hawkins. "The pain of the last game... a lot of people want to play it safe in life, and it's really easy to hang outside the fire and not feel the lows. But you don't feel the highs either. The guy in the fire is the guy who feels it both ways. To get a share of the championship, to get in the playoffs, to win in the playoffs, really sets a standard for UC Davis football."
NOTES & HIGHLIGHTS
• Doss finished the 2018 season with 118 catches for 1,334 yards and nine touchdowns... He eclipsed his 2017 school season record of 115, while that yardage total ranks fourth in school annals... Doss' ends his Aggie career with totals of 321 receptions for 4,069 yards, both of which establish new UC Davis benchmarks.
• Gilliam's three touchdowns raised his season total to 17, the most by any Aggie in the program's Big Sky Conference era (2012-present)... His 13 rushing TDs ranks tied for sixth all-time at UC Davis with Fred Wheeler (1978), and stands as the most in a season since Sean Holleman's 14 in 2001.
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ADDITIONAL UC DAVIS QUOTES
HEAD COACH DAN HAWKINS
Opening remarks: "They're good. They have a good quarterback with an experienced team and are solid on defense. It was a back and forth, close, game."
On the two-point conversion: "No, there was no hesitation. We knew we had a good play and I think part of it is our style, we play to win, not to lose. We wanted to get on the attack and we felt good of it. Part of it was strategy and part was philosophy, and it came together."
"We turned the ball over a lot in the second half, I don't care what sport it is, that's hard. Momentum is a big thing and sometimes it's hard to counteract momentum. I give them credit, they played hard, that's what it's about this time of year. It's a long playoff, it's physically and mentally draining so I give them credit."
On Keelan Doss: "He's uber talented and a great kid, he's tough to handle one on one. For everything you all see physically, he's three-times that intangibly. He came back and had faith in me, the program, UC Davis and our guys, it says a lot. Somebody will be lucky to get him next year, he adds a lot on the field and in the locker room."
QB JAKE MAIER
On the season as a whole: "We're really proud. It's tough to put it in to words right now, it's just so soon. We're really proud and when you experience failures like this it just motivates you to work even harder. We had the same feeling last year when we ended it with a loss and that really jump started us into our offseason. We will learn from this because it's all you can do with failure. Coach told us earlier about how this UC Davis team is one of the best teams to ever go through this university and that means a lot to us."
WR KEELAN DOSS
On being down 28-21 with the ball: "My mindset was the same thing it's always been, just play our game. We knew we had the opportunity and if we just executed we would score some points. We were able to do that against a great defense."
On Eastern's final touchdown: "I thought it was time to go, we didn't have any other choice but to bounce back and see what we could do on offense in the next series. They are a great team and they made plays when they needed to."
RB ULONZO GILLIAM
On his play in the second quarter: "Our offensive line did their thing today. They opened the holes for me and I did my job."
AGGIE EVO
Established during the 2017-18 academic year, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation.
Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley.
The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation, according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.
