ABOUT TODAY'S GAME
No. 4/5 UC Davis returns to UC Davis Health Stadium for the Big Sky Conference opener against No. 18/17 Montana. The matchup features two of the nation's top quarterbacks – Aggie senior Jake Maier and Griz junior Dalton Sneed. Kickoff is 1 p.m. The game will also air on ROOT Sports (check your provider for availability).

Saturday's opener also represents a rematch of last year's 49-21 Aggie victory in Missoula... UC Davis faced a 21-3 deficit at halftime, only to score 46 unanswered after the intermission... TE Wes Preece, WR Keelan Doss, RB Tehran Thomas, RB Ulonzo Gilliam, Jr., QB Jake Maier and WR Carson Crawford scored TDs in that run... That marked the first Aggie win in a series that dates back to 1926 (for more series info, see page 48 of the offical game notes)

Saturday's game is also part of the nation-wide Coach To Cure MD program… More information will follow in a separate release.

Who: No. 18/17 Montana
When: Saturday, September 28 • 1 p.m.
Where: Davis, Calif.
Venue: UC Davis Health Stadium (10,743)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=268885)
Listen: Sports 1140 on TuneIn app (https://listen.tunein.com/ucdavis18schedule)
Watch: ROOT Sports (https://northwest.rootsports.com/)

Saturday's game is available on ROOT Sports, a regional network generally available in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain states... Fans outside that coverage area may also find the game on DirectTV's Audience Network or online at PlutoTV (pluto.tv/live-tv/uc-davis)

UC DAVIS LAST WEEK
UC Davis battled No. 1/1-ranked and seven-time FCS-champion North Dakota State in the 2019 season's first meeting of Top 5 foes... The Aggies held a 10-7 lead after Max O'Rourke connected on a career-long 48-yard field goal early in the second quarter... The margin could have been even larger: a 24-yard TD reception by Tehran Thomas was called back after video review resulted in an offensive pass interference penalty... NDSU led 14-13 at halftime and just 20-16 for much of the second half before tacking on another TD with less than three minutes remaining in the game.

Senior QB Jake Maier posted his third consecutive 300-yard passing game (312 total), raising his career total to 18 – surpassing J.T. O'Sullivan's previous school record of 17 such games... Maier has thrown for 359 (at USD), 389 (Lehigh) and 312 (NDSU) in the three weeks leading into Saturday's meeting with Montana... Junior WR Jared Harrell hauled in a career-high 12 receptions (previous high was 10 at Montana) for 102 yards (his second career 100-yard game)... Among those receptions was a 21-yarder to convert a 4th-and-4 in the 1st quarter, resulting in Wes Preece's touchdown... UC Davis outgained NDSU by a 422-354 margin and held the Bison to 198 rushing yards – well below their average of 316.3 ypg and the lowest output since NDSU's 17-7 win over Youngstown State last Nov. 3.

GO WES, YOUNG MAN
Senior TE and co-captain Wes Preece scored the lone Aggie touchdown, a 17-yarder with 4:59 remaining in the first quarter... That brings his career total to 20, tied for 6th in school history with four other players: Brandon Rice (2005-08), Francis Montes (1995-98), Josh Weinstock (1989-92) and Tay Thompson (1970-72)... Preece needs two to catch Randy Williams for 5th on the school leaderboard... He previously surpassed NFL draftee Howard Gravelle (1967-69) as the all-time Aggie TD leader among tight ends.

FLOWERS BLOOMING
Senior LB Eric Flowers led UC Davis defensively with career highs of 9 total tackles, 7 solo stops and 2.0 TFLs against NDSU... He also posted his first sack as an Aggie, stopping freshman QB Trey Lance for a 1-yard loss near the end of the first quarter... Flowers, who Aggie ILBs coach Isaiah Jackson refers to as "the glue" for that unit, now leads the team with 24 total tackles thus far in 2019... The cognitive science major from Van Nuys also has another unusual distinction: he is the only Aggie to have played all four years under defensive coordinator Robert Tucker – one at LA Valley College and now three at UC Davis.

TURNING OF A CENTURY
Sophomore RB Ulonzo Gilliam, Jr. rushed for 73 yards and tacked on another 47 in the air for 120 total yards from scrimmage... That marks the 10th game (out of 17 total) that the biochemistry & molecular biology major has broken the century mark in his young career... Gilliam's three biggest games are 191 at San Jose State in the 2018 opener (132 rush, 59 rec), 167 in the NCAA quarterfinal (132 rush, 35 rec) and 163 in last year's Causeway Classic (138 rush, 25 rec)... With the official UC Davis record book only showing 100-yard rushing games, such dual-threat performances can get lost in the shuffle

JAKE MAIER RECORD WATCH
The Walter Payton Award candidate continues to rise among UC Davis career passing leaders, jumping ahead of Randy Wright (2010-13) in passing yards and both Wright and Jon Grant (2003-06) for total offense... Maier previously surpassed Wright for the school record in career completions, with his record-breaking 756th coming in his final attempt against Lehigh.

Entering Saturday's game with Montana, Maier needs two touchdown passes to move ahead of Kevin Daft (1995-98) for second... Maier now has career totals of 1175 attemps, 785 completions, 25 interceptions, 8,833 yards and 67 TDs... For a full summary of Maier's ascent up various UC Davis career lists, see page 19 of the official game notes.

THE UC DAVIS-MONTANA SERIES
The epic October 27, 2018 UC Davis win marked the eighth all-time meeting against the Griz... Montana won the seven previous contests, although a few by close calls: a Cole Bergquest to Marc Mariani TD with 3:36 left to claim a 29-24 win in 2008, then a 17-10 defensive battle in Davis a year later... Oddly, the Sept. 12, 2009 meeting stood as the opposite of the 2018 Aggie comeback affair: UC Davis held a 10-0 lead before the then-No. 4/5 Griz scored 17 unanswered during the final third of the contest... The game also ended in relatively unusual fashion: thanks to a 42-yard reception by Chris Carter (see below for more), the Aggies had marched down to the Montana 12-yard line in the final minutes... With 0:57 on the clock and UC Davis facing a 4th-and-7, the stadium lights went dark... The game was delayed for 16 minutes before the lighting returned, with Griz CB Trumaine Johnson intercepting a Greg Denham pass in the end zone to secure the win.

HONORING AGGIE GREATS
The aforementioned Chris Carter is one of three UC Davis football alums to be honored as part of the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame weekend on Saturday... Carter posted a then-school record 213 receptions during his career from 2006-09, earning two first-team All-Great West Conference awards and a share of the 2009-10 Colby E. "Babe" Slater Award... The 42-yard reception late in the 2009 thriller with Montana was his 18th of the game: still a school record despite multiple threats from Keelan Doss in more recent seasons... Carter was later an undrafted free agent for Seattle but did not make the 53-man roster after the 2011 preseason.

Defensive tackle Robby Flannery helped UC Davis combine for a 41-10 reocrd and four NCAA Division II playoff appearances from 1997-2000... He earned second-team All-America status as a junior in 1999, thanks to 22 TFLs and 11.5 sacks – the latter a UC Davis record for interior linemen... Flannery finished with 189 total tackles and 44 TFLs in his career, while earning a pair of Academic All-District honors... He later made the program's All-Decade team for the 1990s.

The Aggie Legacy Award, which honors post-UC Davis athletics achievement, went to quarterback Mark Grieb... A Harlon Hill Trophy finalist in 1996, the UC Davis biochemistry grad went on to post career totals of 47,896 yards and 922 touchdowns – including three seasons with at least 100 TDs – in the Arena Football League... He led the San Jose SaberCats to Arena Bowl titles in 2002, 2004 and 2007, and later had his jersey number retired by that organization... Incredibly, Grieb continued his schooling in the Arena offseason, earning a master's degree from Stanford (where he also served as a graduate assistant coach)... Arguably, his most unusual honor: he is the first Aggie ever to have a bobblehead doll created in his likeness (the second Aggie being Bob Biggs, who had one upon his retirement as UC Davis head coach)... Grieb was among the Aggie greats who Dan Hawkins brought in to coach the Quarterback Academy clinics last spring.