UC Davis is appearing in the playoffs for the second time under head coach Dan Hawkins with the Aggies receiving an at-large bid from the NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee. The Aggies will travel to Brookings, S.D. for a meeting with 8-3 South Dakota State on Saturday in what will be the eighth meeting all-time between the two teams. 
      
Who: South Dakota State
When: Saturday, Nov. 27 • 12 p.m. PDT
Where: Brookings, S.D.
Venue: Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium (19,300)
Live Stats: https://www.ncaa.com/game/5909471
Radio: Sports 1140 KHTK
Listen: The Varsity App
Watch: ESPN+

UC DAVIS LAST WEEK
C.J. Hutton caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Rodrigues with 1:41 to go but UC Davis fell in the 2021 edition of the Causeway Classic at UC Davis Health Stadium 27-7 to Sacramento State. 

The 68th meeting all-time between the two teams, the Aggies were led defensively by Chris Venable's seven solo tackles. Bryce Rodgers had one tackle for loss and Josiah Suani had his first sack of the season. UC Davis also got forced fumbles from Da'Von Frazier and Jordan Perryman. 

Hutton's touchdown reception was his third of the season. Ulonzo Gilliam Jr. rushed eight times for 58 yards, giving him 3,403 in his career.

12 AGGIES NAMED TO ALL-BIG SKY TEAMS 
12 Aggies were named to All-Big Sky Conference teams as the league announced the first round of 2021 season awards on Tuesday morning. 

Running back Ulonzo Gilliam Jr., offensive lineman Jake Parks, and defensive back Jordan Perryman represented the Aggies on First Teams at their respective positions. 

Tight end McCallan Castles, place kicker Isaiah Gomez, kick returner Lan Larison, offensive lineman Connor Pettek, defensive back Jaylin White, defensive lineman Bryce Rodgers, punt returner Isaiah Thomas, and punter Daniel Whelan all made the Second Team at their positions. Quarterback Trent Tompkins was selected as all-purpose player on the Second Team All-Big Sky Special Teams list. 

Gilliam Jr.'s selection comes following a season that has seen him continue to climb UC Davis' all-time lists. With 828 yards rushing, Gilliam Jr. is now second on the all-time career rushing list with 3,362 yards, 227 behind all-time leading rusher G.P. Muhammad's 3,589 yards. He's also second in all-purpose yards behind Muhammad and ninth in career receptions. Gilliam Jr. is the only Aggie in school history to appear in the top 10 of both the career rushing list and career receptions list. 

Parks has started every game for the Aggies at right guard and he and Pettek, who also started all 11 regular season games, were part of a consistent group that anchored the UC Davis offensive line all season. The Aggie offensive line played a significant role in UC Davis giving up the 29th fewest sacks in the nation during the regular season at 1.45 per game.

Castles finished the regular season as UC Davis' second-leading receiver with 363 yards and averaged 14.52 yards per catch with four touchdowns. He was also part of the blocking scheme for a run game that averaged 175 yards per game this season. 

A candidate who would have fit on numerous All-Big Sky teams, Larison made the cut as a kick returner as he built on a reputation as one of the more electric in the conference in 2021. He averaged 29.91 yards per return, including a 97 yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Eastern Washington two weeks ago. 

Perryman anchored a defensive second level that finished the regular season ranked 19th in the nation in interceptions. He was third on the Aggies with 42 solo tackles with 2.5 for losses while adding one interception, 12 breakups, and one forced fumble. White is the second Aggie defensive back to honored this season and led the Aggies with three interceptions. He had nine breakups, 29 solo tackles and one tackle for loss while starting all 11 games. 

A mainstay on UC Davis' defensive line, Rodgers was a model of consistency in leading the Aggies' push into the backfield each week. He led UC Davis in quarterback hurries with eight with eight tackles for losses, 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a blocked kick. 

Thomas earned his spot on the Second Team as a punt returner in large part due to his ability to turn nearly every return during the 2021 season into positive yards. Famous for rarely signaling for a fair catch, Thomas had the most punt return yards in the Big Sky and was a close second in average return at nine yards per on 27 returns. 

Another Aggie who could have made an All-Big Sky team at any number of positions, Tompkins wound up as the all-purpose selection on the Second Team All-Big Sky Special Teams list and all-purpose certainly defines Tompkins' output. The redshirt freshman rushed for 436 yards with a 5.7 yards per rush average and six touchdowns, passed for 102 yards and one touchdown, and caught 11 balls for 77 yards. He also returned a punt and a kick and was responsible for four two-point conversions. 

Gomez and Whelan continued a strong run of Aggie kicking in recent years with both making the All-Big Sky Second team for special teams. Whelan will finish his collegiate career as arguably the greatest punter in Aggie history, averaging 46.34 yards per punt for his career. He had at least one punt of 60 yards or more in seven games this season and had 21 of 50 or more. Whelan also handled kickoff duties with 35 of his 63 going for touchbacks. 

Gomez finishes the regular season as the Aggies' leading scorer as he went 18-23 on the season. He was perfect from 20 to 29 yards and achieved his season-long of 45 yards under less than ideal conditions against Eastern Washington two weeks ago. 

ELITE SPECIAL TEAMS
Behind Hawkins and special teams coach Paul Shelton, the Aggies spoted one of the best top-to-bottom special teams units in the nation during the regular season. 

The Aggies rank fifth in the nation in kickoff return yards behind All-Big Sky Second Team honoree Lan Larison at 27.21 per return. He ranks in a tie for fourth nationally with one kickoff returned for a touchdown coming against Eastern Washington. For the season he has three returns of at least 60 yards. 

Punt returner Isaiah Thomas was named to the All-Big Sky Second Team at that spot. Thomas ranks 15th in the nation in punt return average at nine yards per. He's signaled fair catch just 12 times this season and none in the Aggies last four games. 

Conversely, UC Davis is allowing 18.96 yards per return, though those are few and far between with Daniel Whelan averaging over three touchbacks per kickoff. 

Speaking of Whelan, as an All-Big Sky Second Team choice he's third nationally with a 46.6 yard average that is also the best in program history. 

RUNAWAYS
The Aggies are running at a clip of 175 yards per game, a Division 1-era high and the most since the 2002 Aggies finished with 2,143 yards and 178.6 per game. Averaging 39.5 rushing attempts per game and at 435 on the season, the Aggies are on pace to run more than any team in the Dan Hawkins era at UC Davis. 

UC Davis have done it via a balanced attack despite the presence of Ulonzo Gilliam Jr., one of the top running backs in college football over his career. Four Aggies have gained over 200 yards on the ground this season with the fourth, quarterback Hunter Rodrigues, only having his net yardage hurt by sacks. That group consisting of Gilliam Jr,, Trent Tompkins, Lan Larison and Rodrigues have accounted for 17 touchdowns.

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU
The Aggies have now outscored eight opponents by a combined 106-27 margin in the fourth quarter... In fact, Northern Arizona's score with 6:37 to go on Nov. 6 was the first touchdown the Aggies had allowed in the fourth quarter all season. Helping this cause is a 15-for-37 (40.5 percent) third-down conversion rate, while opponents have managed to succeed on just 13-39 (33.3 percent) in the fourth quarter, including Cal Poly being held to 1-5 in the fourth quarter on Oct. 23... However, the most dramatic statistical difference has been in turnovers: seven of the Aggies' 17 takeaways have come in the fourth quarter... Four have effectively clinched the game: Chris Venable's forced fumble at Tulsa, Erron Duncan's interception (tipped by Venable) at Weber State, Devon King's pick against Idaho, and Jaylin White's last second interception against Cal Poly. 

AMONG THE LEADERS
The Aggies rank tied for 16th in the FCS in first down offense having gained 248 on the season. Speaking to how difficult the Big Sky Conference is to compete in annually, three Big Sky teams rank in the top seven nationally in first down offense. 

Overall, the Aggies are the 30th best offense in the nation averaging 414.5 yards per game. At 185.2 yards per game, the UC Davis rushing attack is also 22nd in the nation. 

Behind the leg of Daniel Whelan, the Aggie punting unit ranks second nationally, averaging 42.94 yards per kick. Whelan's average currently ranks as the best in shool history. 

Among the Aggies' notable national ranks: 

Scoring Defense: 22 (19.7)
Team Passing Efficiency Defense: 24th (117.70)
Red Zone Defense: 25th (.750)
Passes Intercepted: 19th (13)

GOING FOR TWO
Through 11 games, UC Davis has attempted six two-point conversions, with QB Trent Tompkins involved in five of them... He has sucessfully run for three and passed for one (to Garren O'Keefe), most recently a rush after UC Davis' first score against Northern Colorado on Oct. 16... While an official school record for such plays does not exist, records dating back to 1964 show the following program highs: the 1967 (3-for-8), 1991 (4-for-8) and 1993 (6-for-8) teams had the most attempted conversions, with that 1993 squad owning the benchmark for most successful tries... Shaun Ayers scored three in 1991 for the individual best... However, UC Davis archives are incomplete, with the number of attempts missing from final reports throughout the 1970s and 1980s; and no individual info prior to 1964. 

For the 2021 season, Tompkins (and UC Davis) are 4-5 with the lone incompletion a Tompkins pass attempt against San Diego. 

CHASING HISTORY
Gilliam also has 156 career receptions,putting him at No. 9 on the all-time career receptions list. 

With his performance against Eastern Washington, Gilliam Jr. moved past 'the other 34' Preston Jackson for second on UC Davis' all-time rushing list. He trails only G.P. Muhammad by 244 yards. 

Gilliam Jr. is the only Aggie to appear in the top 10 on both the career rushing and receptions lists.

WR Jared Harrell brought his career reception sum to 165... He ranks eighth at UC Davis, ahead of Massachusetts General physician Tay Thompson (1970-72)... Against Cal Poly, Harrell became just the ninth Aggie ever to reach 2000 career receiving yards... He also became just the second to do so in the program's Division I era: Keelan Doss totaled 4,069 from 2014-18... Chris Carter had 2,434 career rec yards, with 703 in the D-I reclassification period and the remaining 1,731 in the full-fledged D-I era.

ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
The Jackrabbits enter with identical overall and conference records as UC Davis at 8-3 and 5-3 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. 

The head coach of the Jackrabbits is John Stiegelmeier, in his 25th year in Brookings with a record of 182-110.

They're led by quarterback Chris Oladokun, whose thrown for 2,450 yards on 63.9 percent passing with 20 touchdowns to just five interceptions. The Jackrabbits also have a 1,000 yard rusher in Pierre Strong whose netted 1,317 yards with 15 touchdowns and averages 6.9 yards per attempt. Oladokun has spread the ball around with four receivers totalling at least 199 yards. The low man, tight end Zach Heins, is averaging a touchdown roughly every 3 catches with five touchdowns and 199 yards on 18 receptions. Jaxon Janke leads with 876 yards but Tucker Kraft and Jadon Janke lead in scoring with six and seven touchdowns respectively. 

South Dakota State are the ninth ranked scoring offense in the country at 37.3 points per game and the 12th ranked red zone offense, scoring 89.8 percent of the time. Strong ranks fifth in yards per carry and rushing touchdowns, second in rushing yards and second in rushing yards per game. 

Despite their offensive numbers, the Jackrabbits actually allow the fourth most tackles for losses in the country with 3.55 per game and nearly three sacks per game. 

One area South Dakota State has excelled in is run defense. The Jackrabbits allow just 97.8 yards per game. 

They have one opponent in common with the Aggies, defeating Dixie State 55-7 on Oct. 2.