Flagstaff, Ariz. - UC Davis used a run of 26 straight unanswered points between the second and third quarters to pull away from the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Saturday afternoon, cruising to a 40-24 win in Flagstaff, Ariz.
With Saturday's win, the Aggies improve to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the Big Sky.
The Aggies trailed early after a 34-yard touchdown pass from the Lumberjacks' R.J. Martinez to Draycen Hall just over two minutes into the game, but the Ags began to chip away quickly.
Northern Arizona punter Derek Arnson stepped out of bounds punting from his own endzone after an Aggie defensive stand for a safety that cut the lead to 2-7.
Less than three minutes later, the Aggies used a bit of trickery to set up a touchdown pass from wide receiver
Carson Crawford to running back
Lan Larison for a 41-yard strike that made it an 8-7 game.
After trading field goals that put the score at 11-17, UC Davis engineered an 11 play, 81-yard drive that ended in a 16-yard touchdown pass from
Miles Hastings to
Justin Poerio, his first touchdown reception of the season, to tie the game at 17.
That kickstarted a run of 26 straight unanswered points for the Aggies.
Isaiah Gomez kicked a 24-yard field goal four seconds before the half,
Trent Tompkins sprinted 54 yards on a play-action fake up the middle for a touchdown, Gomez made a 31-yard field goal, and
Garren O'Keefe caught a one-yard touchdown pass from Hastings with 1:04 left in the third quarter.
All told, the Aggies outscored Northern Arizona 17-0 in the third and outgained the Lumberjacks 170-1 in the quarter to enter the fourth with a 37-17 lead.
Hastings had his second strong start in a row, passing for 220 yards and a touchdown in the first half and finishing with 279 yards and two touchdowns while completing 67 percent of his passes (24-36). Wide receiver
Jared Harrell had his best single game total since Week 2 against San Diego, finishing with five receptions for 78 yards. Tompkins led the Aggies on the ground, going for 76 yards on just five attempts.
After giving up an early score, the Aggie defense held Northern Arizona largely in check. The Lumberjacks were held to 117 total yards in the second half, including just 42 yards rushing. UC Davis had four sacks in the fourth quarter alone as the defense matched a season-high with six. Defensive lineman
Bryce Rodgers was a force up the middle all afternoon, finishing with four tackles and sack to bring his team-leading total to 4.5.
The Aggies finish the final two weeks of the regular season at home, beginning with Nov. 13's matchup against Eastern Washington at UC Davis Health Stadium.
