UC Davis comes off its Homecoming and Battle For The Golden Horseshoe win over Cal Poly with its 21st all-time meeting with Southern Utah... The two teams first met as part of the now-defunct American West Conference back in 1993 (when both teams shared the inaugural league title)... Saturday's contest also features the meeting of two former Aggie running backs: UC Davis mentor Dan Hawkins played fullback for Jim Sochor in 1981 and 1982, while SUU's Demario Warren was a tailback for Bob Biggs from 2005-07 (see below for more)
    
Who: Southern Utah
When: Saturday, October 19 • 6:05 p.m. MDT (5:05 p.m. PDT)
Where: Cedar City, Utah
Venue: Eccles Stadium (8,500)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (http://statb.us/e/268928)
Listen: Sports 1140 on TuneIn app (https://listen.tunein.com/ucdavis18schedule)
Watch: WatchBigSky (https://pluto.tv/tv/southern-utah)

Note: UC Davis Athletics will hold official watch parties for all 2019 road games at Parkside Bar & Lounge (330 G Street in downtown Davis).

UC DAVIS LAST WEEK
UC Davis scored 34 straight points in the first 23 minutes, then surrendered 24 unanswered in Saturday's 48-24 victory over Cal Poly... The Mustangs advanced to the Aggie red zone and threatened to cut the deficit to a single possession before Nick Eaton intercepted a pitch and ran in 78 yards for a TD (officially a fumble recovery)... Eaton earned College Sports Madness Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance on Sunday, which also included career bests of seven solo tackles and 4.0 TFLs... Less than a day later, he added Big Sky ROOT SPORTS Defensive Player of the Week and STATS FCS Freshman of the Week accolades.

HIGHS AND HIGHLIGHTS
The win over Cal Poly saw a number of personal and team superlatives, either for the 2019 season or all-time... Perhaps the most significant was the attendance: 11,194... This marks the fifth sellout in UC Davis Health Stadium history, which had seen three previous crowds of 10,849 and another sellout of 10,743 (the 2007 capacity)... In fact, four of the six largest attendances in facility history have come in games against Cal Poly: 2019, 2009 (10,849), 2007 (10,743) and 2017 (10,503)... Furthermore, Saturday's crowd is the largest for any Aggie home game since November 13, 1982, when 12,700 packed Toomey Field to see a 51-6 win over Sacramento State.

As a team, the Aggies enjoyed their first game of the year with no turnovers... It also marked a season low for penalties (4) and penalty yards (40), even though an illegal block call erased a 47-yard run by Lance Babb II... This also marked the third time UC Davis has advanced to the red zone six times in a game this season – each time resulting in an Aggie win.

Individually, the following players hit or tied personal bests:

• QB Jake Maier: 16.43 average completion
• RB Ulonzo Gilliam, Jr: 152 rush yards, 195 combined yards
• DB Isaiah Thomas: 2 interceptions
• WR Khris Vaughn: 8 receptions (tied), 148 yards, 3 TDs (tied)
• RB Troy Spencer: 2-for-53 receiving, 76 combined yards
• WR Lance Babb: 90 receiving yards
• LB Nick Eaton: 7 solo tackles, 4.0 TFLs, first touchdown
• DB Devon King: 12 total tackles, 11 solo tackles, 2.0 TFLs
• LB Eric Flowers: 7 solo tackles (tied)
• DB Tiger Garcia: 4 solo tackles (tied)
• DB Jaylin White: 39-yard kickoff return
• DB Josh Januska: first Aggie kickoff return (19 yds)
• DL Doug Drakeley: first collegiate start, 3 total tackles
• DL Luka Nixon: 3 total tackles
• LB Khanii Lesane: 2 total tackles
• LB Earl English: Aggie debut, 2 total tackles
• TE Blake Thorpe: 2 receptions (tied)
• TE Matt Hyman: 2 receptions (tied)
• K Matt Blair: 9 total kickoffs (tied)

Blair also averaged 63.1 yards per kickoff, his best since the Lehigh game (64.4) on Sept. 14... Punter Daniel Whelan posted four punts with no returns (three downed, one FC)... Four of the team's longest plays of the year took place in the game: Eaton's 78-yard TD is the longest of any kind (rush, pass, return), the 69-yard Maier-to-Babb connection is the longest pass, Gilliam's 56-yard scamper is the longest run of 2019, while Maier's 53-yard strike to Vaughn is the longest offensive TD of the season.

JAKE MAIER RECORD WATCH
Jake Maier posted his fifth 300-yard game of the year, needing only 36 attempts and 23 completions to rack up 378 yards... This extends his record to 20 career triple-century performances... Maier now needs just 157 yards to become the second Aggie to surpass 10,000 career passing yards, a feat only previously achieved by J.T. O'Sullivan (10,745 from 1998-2001)... He also eclipsed Randy Wright (2010-13) for the school career attempts record, having broken the completions benchmark four games earlier... For a full summary of Maier's ascent up various UC Davis career lists, see page 19 of the official game notes.

AGGIES AMONG THE LEADERS
Senior QB Jake Maier ranks second nationally with 2,243 passing yards, while his 320.4 yards per game sits fifth... The Walter Payton Award candidate also ranks third nationally in completions per game (28.43), eighth in passing TDs (18) and 12th in completion percentage (65.9)... Accordingly, UC Davis ranks fourth nationally in passing offense at 341.4 yards per game, second to FCS leader Northern Arizona (377.3)... Junior Daniel Whelan remains second among FCS punters (and tops in the Big Sky) with a 47.4 gross average... Thanks to three two-TD performances in 2019, WR Khris Vaughn joins a sizable tie for 10th on the national leaderboard with six receiving touchdowns... LB Nick Eaton and DB Devon King are part of an eight-way tie for ninth in forced fumbles (0.43 per game)... Eaton is one of just 15 players to have at least 4.0 TFLs in a game, achieving that many in Saturday's win over Cal Poly.

Among Big West peers, Whelan's average is more than two yards better than his nearest competitor (NAU's D.J. Arnson, 45.3)... Ulonzo Gilliam ranks second in rushing (86.7 ypg) and all-purpose yards (118.0).

UC DAVIS-SUU SERIES
UC Davis holds an 11-9 edge in the all-time matchup, but Southern Utah has captured six of the last seven, including each of the last three... Eight of the 20 total meetings have featured an Aggie 100-yard rusher: Gabe Manzanares in 2013 (175 yds), Brandon Tucker in 2008 (119), Marcus Nolan in 2006 (134), Matt Brown in 2000 (110), Trae Milton (112), Jermaine Rucker in both 1996 (177) and 1995 (134), and Rusty Stivers in 1994 (108)... UC Davis is 8-0 in those contests.

WHEN AN AGGIE MEETS AN AGGIE
As mentioned previously, Saturday's game marks a meeting between two UC Davis alumni as head coaches... Demario Warren won the previous matchup against Dan Hawkins on Nov. 11, 2017 (SUU, 47-27)... With the number of program alumni who have gone on to coaching, it comes as no surprise that Aggies have met Aggies as HCs on numerous occasions: Bob Biggs (UC Davis, 1993-2012) went 4-0 against Frank Scalercio (Sonoma State, 1993-96), and suffered one loss at the hands of Chris Petersen (Boise State, 2006-13; Washington, 2014-present)... That latter meeting saw UC Davis battle to within a 27-16 margin against then-No. 5 Boise State before future NFL All-Pro Doug Martin – who prepped at St. Mary's High School for another Aggie alum, Tony Franks – tacked on a TD in the final minute.

Mike Bellotti (Oregon, 1995-08) squared off against Paul Hackett (Pitt, 1989-92; USC, 1998-2000) three times when they were Pac-10 Conference leaguemates... Bellotti won each time: 17-13 in 1999, 28-17 in 2000 and 33-30 in triple overtime in 1999... On the other hand, Bellotti lost his only meeting against Petersen: a 37-32 Boise State win on Sept. 20, 2008... Bellotti, Hackett and Petersen are each recipients of the Aggie Legacy Award, which honors former Aggie student-athletes for their post-UC Davis athletics careers.

Finally, on Sept. 5, 2015, two beloved Aggie alums squared off when Keith Buckley's Pacific University (D-III) scored a dramatic comeback 32-31 win over Mike Moroski's College of Idaho (NAIA)... Buckley played for and coached with Moroski in the 1990s... Current UC Davis O-line coach Tim Keane was on Moroski's staff in that game, one year away from rejoining his alma mater.

For a full set of notes, including updated stats and other info, click here or the link above.

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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 among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis 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.

AGGIE EVO: Established in 2017-18, 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.

DON'T MISS OUT: Season and single-game tickets for UC Davis football are now on sale by contacting the Athletics Ticket Office at (530) 752-AGS1 or by visiting us online at tickets.ucdavis.edu.