Sophomore cornerback Devon King earned a spot on the first team while redshirt freshman linebacker Nick Eaton captured Freshman of the Year accolades, leading a total of UC Davis football players on the 2019 All-Big Sky Conference squads, as announced by the league office Tuesday afternoon.
Eaton, running back Ulonzo Gilliam, Jr., and tight end Wes Preece each made the second team, while punter Daniel Whelan was named to the third team. Offensive lineman Jordan Ford, quarterback Jake Maier, defensive tackle Bryce Rodgers and wide receiver Khris Vaughn each captured All-Big Sky honorable mention.
King, a human development major from Richmond, finished second on the team with 77 total tackles with a team-high eight passes defended – three interceptions and five break-ups. His 0.25 interceptions per game ranks eighth in the Big Sky and 86th nationally, while one of his three forced fumbles – tying him for seventh in the conference – was the game-saving play in the Aggies' Sept. 7 win at San Diego. King earned a share of ROOTS SPORTS Defensive Player of the Week honors for that game.
Eaton becomes the first UC Davis player to win Big Sky Freshman of the Year. The recently named Jerry Rice Award finalist ranked fourth on the Aggies with 56 tackles, including team highs of 12.0 tackles for losses and 6.5 sacks. He forced five fumbles in 2019, including an intercepted pitch that sent him 78 yards for his first collegiate touchdown against Cal Poly on October 12. Eaton's rate of 0.42 forced fumbles per game shared the FCS lead at the end of the regular season, while his 1.00 TFL per game ranked eighth in the Big Sky. Eaton won two ROOT SPORTS Defensive Player of the Week awards plus a STATS FCS National Freshman of the Week and College Sports Madness Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week nod this season.
Gilliam, a Merced High alumnus, lived up to his HERO SPORTS Preseason All-America status by averaging better than 100 yards per game: 1,249 yards on 215 carries for a conference-best 104.1 yards per game. Adding his 57-for-354 receiving numbers, he also led the Big Sky and ranked 15th nationally in all-purpose yards (133.6), while his 12 total TDs – 11 on the ground, one in the air – put him fourth in the league. In fact, he became the first player to lead UC Davis in both rushing yards and receiving since halfback Ron Hanna achieved the feat in 1950, while those 57 total catches tied his school record for a running back. With two years still remaining as an Aggie, Gilliam already ranks sixth on the Aggie career leaderboard with 2,225 rushing yards.
A managerial economics major from Rocklin, Preece claims his third straight All-Big Sky award, having made the third team in 2017 and second in 2018. He caught 36 passes for 434 yards and six touchdowns for the year, enjoying his first 100-yard game at USD back on Sept. 7. Preece wraps up his career at No. 5 on the school's career receiving TD list with 24 – the most ever by an Aggie tight end – and became the third tight end in program annals to surpass 100 career receptions (109). He also captured his second straight CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 award this fall, and will be a candidate to repeat as an FCS Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star.
Whelan, a sustainable environmental design major originally from Dublin, Ireland, ranked third in the Big Sky and seventh nationally with a gross punting average of 44.07 (57-for-2,512). He tied his career high of 17 punts inside the 20, including five attempts in Saturday's Causeway Classic game that pinned Sacramento State inside its 7-yard line. That latter performance earned Whelan ROOT SPORTS Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Year, while his overall prowess had him as one of 28 preseason candidates for the inaugural FCS Punter of the Year Watch List. Whelan will enter his senior year with a career punting average of 42.60, well ahead of the school record of 41.12 set in 2012 by former Buffalo Bills and current XFL punter Colton Schmidt.
Ford, a redshirt freshman from nearby Fair Oaks and Del Campo High School, took over the starting job at left guard for the 2019 home opener with Lehigh, and locked down the role the rest of the day. He helped UC Davis rank third in the Big Sky and sixth among the 124 FCS teams in passing offense, while the overall offensive line allowed just 14 sacks in 524 total passing plays – a rate of 2.67 percent that ranks fourth in the country.
Maier, a three-time Walter Payton Award candidate from La Habra, California, finished off one of the most outstanding careers for any UC Davis quarterback in history. He completed 322 of 492 passes for 3,563 yards and 28 touchdowns, and finished third in the Big Sky in passing yards per game (296.9), fifth in total offense (290.1) and eighth in passing efficiency (139.8). His 26.83 completions per game topped the league and ranked third nationally at the close of the regular season. Overall, the 2017 Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year and 2018 Offensive Player of the Year now rates as the school's all-time career leader in attempts (1,495), completions (992) and passing yards (11,163) while ranking second only to J.T. O'Sullivan with 88 TD passes. He enjoyed six games of 300-plus yards in 2019, bringing his career total to another UC Davis benchmark of 21.
Rodgers, a psychology major from East Palo Alto, led the Aggie defensive line with 49 total tackles, while adding 4.0 sacks and a team-leading seven quarterback hurries. He enjoyed three of his best single-game performances against the conference's highest-ranked members: a career-best 11 stops against No. 4/3 Weber State, then eight tackles against No. 10/10 Montana State two weeks later. Finally, Rodgers posted seven tackles, two hurries and a sack in the season finale with No. 4/4 Sacramento State despite facing one of the country's most elusive quarterbacks in Kevin Thomson (12 sacks against 397 attempts).
A junior sociology major from Redlands, Vaughn lived up to the preseason expectations of being the Aggies' "big-play" man among the receiving corps. He led his team with 756 receiving yards and nine receiving TDs, while his 53 overall catches were second only to Gilliam on the final stat sheet. Vaughn posted three games with at least 100 aerial yards, including 148 against Cal Poly on October 12. Furthermore, three of his scores came on plays of 50 yards or more: a 55-yarder vs. Cal Poly, a 58-yarder in the November 9 win at Portland State, then a team season-best 76-yarder at Sacramento State in last Saturday's finale.
UC Davis finished the year with a 5-7 overall mark, having faced seven opponents ranked or receiving votes in at least one of the major FCS Top 25 polls.
2019 ALL-BIG SKY CONFERENCE FOOTBALL TEAM
Major awards and UC Davis honorees only.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kevin Thomson, QB, Sacramento State
DEFENSIVE CO-PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Dante Olson, LB, Montana
Jonah Williams, DE, Weber State
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Marcus Knight, RB, Montana
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Nick Eaton, LB, UC Davis
FIRST TEAM
Devon King - CB, So., Richmond, Calif.
SECOND TEAM
Nick Eaton - LB, RFr., Rocklin, Calif.
Ulonzo Gilliam, Jr. - RB, So., Merced, Calif.
Wes Preece - TE, Sr., Rocklin, Calif.
THIRD TEAM
Daniel Whelan - P, Jr., Rancho Mirage, Calif.
HONORABLE MENTION
Jordan Ford - OL, RFr., Fair Oaks, Calif.
Jake Maier - QB, Sr., La Habra, Calif.
Bryce Rodgers - DT, Jr., East Palo Alto, Calif.
Khris Vaughn - WR, Jr., Redlands, Calif
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