BROOKINGS, S.D. -- UC Davis fell 56-24 to South Dakota State on the road Saturday afternoon in an FCS Playoffs first round matchup in Brookings.
The Jackrabbits improved to 9-3 on the season and the Aggies finish the 2021 season at 8-4 overall.
Ulonzo Gilliam Jr. paced the Aggies rushing attack by accumulating 73 yards and one touchdown, a two-yard run in the second that saw Gilliam Jr. bounce off tackles and get over the goal line on a second effort stretch. He averaged 7.3 yards per carry, his highest of the season and most since going for 178 yards on 26 carries against Dixie State on Sept. 18. Gilliam also tacked on 55 receiving yards to total 129 total yards on the day. Hunter Rodrigues also added 62 yards and one touchdown on the ground, a 15-yard sprint in the fourth quarter and averaged 5.2 yards per carry.
UC Davis also got a significant contribution from C.J. Hutton, who reeled in four catches for 28 yards and one score, a four-yard touchdown reception from Miles Hastings in the second quarter that put the Aggies up 10-7 after an Isaiah Gomez point after.
Jordan Perryman led the UC Davis defensive effort, recording six tackles and one recovered fumble. Bryce Rodgers and Teddye Buchanan each had a tackle for loss and Chris Venable and Erron Duncan had five solo tackles apiece.
UC Davis limited the South Dakota State passing attack, holding the Jackrabbits to 99 yards through the air.
The Aggies struck first on Saturday, grabbing a 3-0 lead over South Dakota State after scoring on the first drive of the game. Hastings completed a 23-yard pass to Blake Thorpe and Gilliam Jr. had a 19-yard rush on the drive that ended in a 32-yard Gomez field goal. South Dakota State responded and went up 7-3 before the Aggies got on the scoreboard again on Hutton's touchdown reception with 12:57 until the half. On that drive, the Aggies took advantage of a muffed punt return at the South Dakota State 10-yard line to get back in the game at the end of the half.
South Dakota State came back to take a 28-10 lead before UC Davis responded with Gilliam Jr.'s touchdown to narrow the gap with 52 seconds remaining in the second quarter and make it a 28-17 game. Gilliam Jr. had 38 yards receiving and seven yards rushing on that scoring drive.
Game Notes
» UC Davis had their highest scoring quarter in the second period, when they put up 14 points.
» South Dakota State missed all three of their field goal attempts in the game.
» UC Davis converted 7 of 19 third downs.
» The Aggies had two players with more than eight total tackles in the ballgame led by Venable, who had 10.
» UC Davis went 3-for-4 on fourth down, converting on 75 percent of attempts.
» Rodrigues completed 70.4% of his passes on the day, going 19-for-27.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
