Saturday's contest marks the seventh meeting between UC Davis and Montana State, and the first matchup in the Dan Hawkins era of the program. It marks the fourth time the Aggies have faced a Top 25 program this season, with the Bobcats checking in at No. 10 in both the coaches' and media polls.
Saturday's game also serves as the annual Salute To Heroes, with the family of former Davis Police officer Natalie Corona serving as honorary captains. UC Davis Stores will offer limited-edition Operation Hat Trick apparel at the game. Every sale of OHT gear supports wounded service members and veterans. Members of law enforcement, first responder and military agencies will be on hand during the pregame. Finally, with Saturday's game also being the Aggies' regular-season home finale, the team will honor its outstanding senior class prior to kickoff.
Who: Montana State
When: Saturday, November 16 • 4 p.m.
Where: Davis, Calif.
Venue: UC Davis Health Stadium
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Listen: Sports 1140 on TuneIn app
Watch: Eleven Sports
Saturday's game is televised by Eleven Sports, which is available through various carriers (e.g. DirecTV, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse)... Fans can watch the game online at Pluto TV.
UC DAVIS-MONTANA STATE SERIES
The Aggies-Bobcats series takes back to a 45-0 UC Davis shutout on Sept. 16, 2006, but has largely belonged to the perennial Big Sky power: MSU has won five straight since from 2011-16... As mentioned above, this is the first meeting during the Dan Hawkins era of the Aggie program... However, this is not MSU's first meeting with Coach Hawk: two weeks prior to the 2006 shutout loss to UC Davis, the Cats upset Colorado by a 19-10 final in that season's opening weekend.
UC DAVIS LAST WEEK
Returning from its bye weekend, UC Davis pulled away late in a 45-28 victory at Portland State... The game featured a handful of individual command performances... Senior QB Jake Maier passed for 383 yards and four TDs, his sixth 300-plus game of the year and the 21st of his career... Redshirt freshman WR Lance Babb II posted career highs of 10 catches, 168 rec yards and 3 TDs (plus an 11-yard run), while junior WR Khris Vaughn added another 5-121-1 receiving chart... That marks just the 18th time in school history that two players had 100-plus rec yards in a game... LB Nick Eaton earned Big West ROOT SPORTS Defensive Player of the Week for his 8-tackle, 2.0-sack performance... He also had two forced fumbles and a pass breakup.
Arguably, the top performer of the game was sophomore RB Ulonzo Gilliam, who hit four major milestones: his career-long run (75), his first 200-yard game (242), his 1,000th rushing yard of the season (1,055) and his 2,000th career rushing yard (2,031)... He is just the ninth player in school history to achieve that last feat... Gilliam was selected as College Sports Madness' National Player of the Week and Big Sky Conference Player of the Week on Sunday... He is just the second player in program history to win CSM national honors, along with Jake Maier (Oct. 15, 2018)... In fact, only four UC Davis student-athletes have won CSM's national player of the week honors: Gilliam, Maier, softball's Brooke Yanez (Mar. 19, 2019) and men's basketball's Corey Hawkins (Jan. 21, 2013).
MONTANA STATE LAST WEEK
On the strength of 451 rushing yards, the No. 14/12 Bobcats dispatched Northern Colorado by a 45-14 final... Logan Jones led that ground attack with 122 yards, with four other MSU players totaling at least 60... On the flipside, UNC were stifled to just 44 rush yards... Appropriately, MSU leads the Big Sky Conference in rushing at 257.5 ypg, almost 30 ahead of Cal Poly; and ranks third in the league in rushing defense (123.7).
THE 25-YEAR ICH
On what was roughly the 25th anniversary of Mike Ichiyama's back-to-back 300-yard games, Gilliam's 242 at PSU stands as the No. 5 single-game performance in UC Davis history... Oddly, all five games took place in November, with the No. 6 game – Jermaine Rucker's 238 vs. Saint Mary's – taking place on Oct. 25, 1996:
1. Mike Ichiyama - 309 (11/5/1994)
2. Mike Ichiyama - 305 (11/12/1994)
3. Manusamoa Luuga - 249 (11/19/2016)
4. Preston Jackson - 243 (11/13/1993)
5. ULONZO GILLIAM, Jr. - 242 (11/9/2019)
Ichiyama's performance wrote one of the great "what might have been" stories in program history... He had served as a slot receiver and return man throughout his career, but an injury to starting RB Rusty Stivers moved the diminutive Ichiyama to the backfield for his final two games... On that Nov. 5, 1994 game, the heavy downpour forced UC Davis to run: Ichiyama carried the ball a school-record 42 times... The prevailing thought was to credit the conditions... A muddy field and a small, shifty runner enjoying a one-off start at RB meant that a 300-yard rushing game was unlikely to happen again at any time soon... Yet one week later, Ichiyama broke loose for 305 on a sunny and clear day at San Francisco State's Cox Stadium... He became the second player in NCAA history to run for consecutive 300-yard games, after Northern Illinois' Leshon Johnson in 1993... The next to do so: Texas' Ricky Williams, during his Heisman Trophy season of 1998.
SCHOOL RECORD WATCH
• With 1,055 on the year, Gilliam needs just 23 yards to surpass Manusamoa Luuga for the No. 10 spot on the school season rushing list... His 2,031 career yards puts him No. 9 in Aggie annals, with Jermaine Rucker (2,044) and Luuga (2,049) next in line... Gilliam also has 98 career receptions, putting him within striking range of becoming the second Aggie RB to break the century mark... Shola Adeyemo was the first, collecting 112 from 1987-90... Gilliam is also T8th in career rushing TDs with 22, one away from Hall of Famers Shawn Rogers (1981-83) and Ron Austin (1977-80) for sixth... Fred Wheeler (1976-78) ranks 5th with 24.
• Senior QB Jake Maier should surpass J.T. O'Sullivan as the program's career passing yards leader... The co-captain enters Saturday's game with 10,657 ticks, 89 away from eclipsing O'Sullivan's 10,745 (1998-2001)... Maier also joined O'Sullivan as the only player to post three straight 3,000-plus seasons... He has 3,057 through 10 games, 119 away from dislodging Khari Jones (1993) from the school's No. 10 spot.
• TE Wes Preece needs one more touchdown catch to tie Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Famer Charley Enos (1998-2001) for fourth on the UC Davis career list... Preece's 24 total is the school record for tight ends, six ahead of Howard Gravelle (1967-69.. The senior co-captain also enters Saturday's game with 106 career receptions, putting him behind Gravelle (117) and Wes Terrell (125 from 1995-98) as the school leader among TEs.
• LB Eric Flowers and DB Devon King each have 49 solo tackles, placing them in a sizable tie for 6th on the UC Davis season list... Joe Caviglia (1999) is 5th at 50, with Charles Boyett (2013) and Zach Jones (2016) tied for 3rd with 51.
• One more interception from King would be his fourth for the year, giving him the highest season total by an Aggie since Jonathan Barsi picked off 6-for-102 in 2006... Six players have enjoyed three-INT years in the Div. I era, including Mason Moe and Keleen Culberson during the last two seasons, respectively.
• K Max O'Rourke's field goal at PSU raised his career total to 30, putting him in a tie for 6th with Emmanuel Benjamin (2004-07)... Ray Sullivan (31, 1981-84) and Rafael Fernandez (32, 1989-92) are 5th and 4th on that list, respectively... O'Rourke also has 227 career points (30 FGs, 137 PATs) – 8th in school history and 5th among kickers... G.P. Muhammad and Rafael Fernandez are next on the list at 236.
• LB Nick Eaton's 2.0 sacks raised his season TFL total to 11.5, tied with Steven Pitts (2013) and James Amos (2007) for 5th on the school season list (since 2002)... B.J. Brust is next with his 2002 total of 12.5... Eaton's former teammate Mason Moe set the school record of 20.5 last year.
FOLLOWING THE LEADERS
Gilliam's output raised his season average to 105.5 yards per game, making him the only Big Sky Conference player above the century mark... He also ranks 11th nationally in that category... LB Nick Eaton forced two more fumbles at Portland State, moving him atop the NCAA FCS leaderboard (along with Albany's Eli Mencer) with five... Maier ranks 3rd in the league, 6th nationally at 305.7 passing yards per game... The Walter Payton Award candidate is also 3rd in completions (26.9 per game) among FCS leaders... Junior Daniel Whelan matches Maier's position among punters: his 45.2 gross average sits 3rd in the Big Sky, 6th in the country.
SENIOR DAY
A total of 18 players plus two team assistants will take part in their final Aggie regular-season home game, and will be honored prior to Saturday's kickoff:
• NAS ANESI, a linebacker, sociology major and team captain from Carson, Calif.
• MATT BLAIR, a kicker and managerial economics major from Moraga, Calif.
• DOUG DRAKELEY, a defensive lineman and psychology major from El Dorado Hills, Calif.
• NICK FEHRENBACH, a defensive lineman and English major from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.
• MAJID FIROOZI, an offensive lineman and English major from Seattle, Wash.
• ERIC FLOWERS, a linebacker and cognitive science major from Van Nuys, Calif.
• JORDAN FRANKLIN, a defensive lineman and communication major from Altadena, Calif.
• RILEY GALLANT, an offensive lineman and international agricultural development major from Portland, Ore.
• TIGER GARCIA, a defensive back, managerial economics major and team captain from Moraga, Calif.
• MATTHEW HYMAN, a tight end and managerial economics major from Santa Rosa, Calif.
• BRANDON JAMISON, a defensive lineman and managerial economics major from Scottsdale, Ariz.
• JOSH JANUSKA, a defensive back and managerial economics major from Ventura, Calif.
• BRANDYN LEE, a defensive back and managerial economics major from Canyon Country, Calif.
• JAKE MAIER, a quarterback, communication major and team captain from La Habra, Calif.
• WILL MARTIN, an offensive lineman and sociology major from Huntington Beach, Calif.
• MAX O'ROURKE, a kicker and professional accountancy graduate student from Rocklin, Calif.
• ROLAND OCANSEY, a defensive lineman and communication major from Hayward, Calif.
• WES PREECE, a tight end, managerial economics major and team captain from Rocklin, Calif.
• CHARLES HAYS, a team videographer, former offensive lineman and organizational studies major from La Quinta, Calif.
• DANIEL PLUM, a team manager, former tight end and human development major from San Diego, Calif.
For the full set of UC Davis game notes, click here or follow the link above.
