UC Davis opens its 2020-21 spring schedule on the road at Idaho for just the third matchup between the two programs... Saturday's contest game will be streamed at WatchBigSky and Pluto TV... Pluto subscribers should check their app for the channel number... The Aggies are ending a 469-day layoff since their last game (2019 Causeway Classic), the longest drought from competition since World War II canceled the 1943, 1944 and 1945 seasons.
AT A GLANCE
Who: University of Idaho
When: Saturday, March 6 • Noon PST
Where: Moscow, Idaho
Venue: Kibbie-Asui Activity Center a.k.a. ASUI Kibbie Dome (16,000)
Live Stats: https://govandals.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
Listen: Sports 1140 on TuneIn app (http://tun.in/serGW) | Sports 1140 on website (http://player.listenlive.co/55401)
Watch: WatchBigSky (https://pluto.tv/live-tv/idaho)
MILESTONE SEASON
While the 2018 Big Sky Conference co-championship season marked the 100th in UC Davis history, this 2021 spring slate will feature the 1,000th all-time contest... The Aggies are a combined 524-440-33 seasons for 997 total games... The March 20 home opener against Cal Poly now has the honor of being the milestone 1,000th... The Battle for the Golden Horseshoe was originally scheduled for February 27, but was postponed to the first bye weekend after the Mustangs were forced to halt preseason practice for two weeks.
FALSE START
UC Davis' spring season was originally intended to start as a home game against Cal Poly on February 27... However, due to COVID-related issues in San Luis Obispo, the Mustangs underwent a two-week stoppage to their preseason practices... The Big Sky Conference built two bye weekends into the spring slate specifically for the purposes of rescheduling a COVID-postponed contest... UC Davis will now host the Battle For The Golden Horseshoe on Mar. 20.
UC DAVIS-IDAHO SERIES
The Aggies and Vandals first met on October 11, 1997, when UC Davis was a No. 19-ranked Div. II program and IU was still a member of the Big West Conference (back when it sponsored football)... The two teams met again almost 21 years later, this time as Big Sky Conference mates... QB Jake Maier threw for three touchdowns, RB Tehran Thomas rushed for 119 and RB Ulonzo Gilliam had 133 yards from scrimmage, while LB Mason Moe had a TFL and a 24-yard interception to lead UC Davis to a 44-21 win in that Sept. 22, 2018 contest.
CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD
After just two seasons, RB Ulonzo Gilliam, Jr. has already begun an assault on the school's career Top 10 lists... He enters Saturday's game with 2,225 rushing yards, sixth in UC Davis history... Gilliam needs 10 to pass Matt Brown (1998-2000) for fifth and 45 to move ahead of Shola Adeyemo (1987-90) for fourth... He also ranks seventh in rushing attempts (429), with Adeyemo (434), Brown (436) and Manusamoa Luuga (446, 2013-16) in striking range... Finally, the Merced High product has 25 rushing TDs, good for fifth in Aggie annals... G.P. Muhammad (1995-98) and Jermaine Rucker (1995-96) are tied for third with 28... Finally, Gilliam has also caught 57 passes in each of his first two seasons, a record for a UC Davis running back... He needs 22 more to match Brandon Rice (2005-08) and crack the school receptions list.
#PUNTERSAREPEOPLETOO
Punter Daniel Whelan entered the spring with a career 42.60 punting average (5,708 yards on 134 punts)... In comparison, the top two punters in UC Davis history are Colton Schmidt (41.12 from 2009-12) and Colby Wadman (40.96 from 2013-16), both of whom went on to NFL careers... The Dublin, Ireland product has 58 career punts inside opponent 20-yard lines... While no official records exist for this stat, Schmidt had 80 such punts while Wadman had 68... Wadman booted 49 career punts of 50-plus yards, while Schmidt had 40... Whelan had 17 in each of his last two seasons.
CAPTAINS OF THE SHIP
UC Davis announced its four captains during the 2020 winter quarter, first at the season banquet, then completing the panel at the end of its winter practice season... The 2021 spring captains remain the same: Gilliam, LB Connor Airey, DL Bryce Rodgers and OL Kooper Richardson... Airey continues a recent tradition and a point of pride for head coach Dan Hawkins: a former walk-on elevating to the role of captain... Nas Anesi held such honors in 2018 and 2019, then was joined by Tiger Garcia in 2019... Airey was a "winter walk-on" – that is, he joined the Aggies during the offseason workouts and has since emerged into a multi-year starter among the LBs crew.
EARLY BUZZ
Gilliam was the lone Aggie to earn 2020 Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America status, claiming a spot on the second team...He was a third-team All-American by that very organization as a sophomore year... Whelan was selected to the FCS Punter of the Year Watch List for the second straight season... LB Nick Eaton, CB Devon King and DT Bryce Rodgers each picked up Preseason All-Big Sky honors as part of the conference's Virtual Kickoff event in July... Finally, the Aggies were listed among those receiving votes for the Stats Perform Top 25, and as an "on the cusp" team in Athlon Sports' Preseason 25... UC Davis received seven votes in the March 1 Stats Perform poll despite not playing in the opening weekend.
BIG SKY U
Freshman LB Teddye Buchanan and cornerbacks coach Cha'pelle Brown each were selected to the conference's new "Big Sky U" leadership and development program... A total of 65 opportunities were granted from athletes from all Big Sky Conference sports... Buchanan will take part in the "Aspring Administrators and Coaches" category, while Brown will participate in the "Aspiring Head Coaches" programming.
NEW FACES
The Aggie football coaching staff underwent some changes in the year-plus since the 2019 season wrapped up... Perhaps most noteworthy are the appointments of Cody Hawkins and Matt Coombs as offensive and defensive coordinator, respectively... Matt Coombs most recently served on the Oregon staff under then-defensive coordinator (and Dan Hawkins protege) Andy Avalos... Cody Hawkins previously coached the Aggie receivers, then moved up to OC upon the departure of Tim Plough... Plough was named as Avalos' new OC at Boise State in January, then offensive line coach Tim Keane soon followed...Anthony Arceneaux, formerly of Southern Utah, replaced Hawkins in the WRs room... Former UC Davis tight end Mike Cody joined the staff as a volunteer assistant coach during the winter 2020 camp, then was elevated to Keane's former spot on the staff roster a year later.Â
Paul Shelton and Evan Hicks were elevated to assistant coaching roles in February of 2020, with Jerry Brady moving from OLBs to defensive line... Shelton formerly served as a volunteer assistant while Hicks was a quality control staffer... The Aggies also welcomed former Aggie QB Randy Wright, former Oregon State team captain Drew Kell and former Azusa Pacific assistant Jacob Thomas to their quality control crew... Weber State grad and former Greensboro College assistant Alex Land, and Nevada alumnus and former ARC assistant Julian McElroy are also on board as volunteer assistants.
AGGIES ON THE AIRWAVES
UC Davis football returns to Sports 1140 (calls KHTK) for the 2020-21 spring season... With fans not permitted at to attend events at UC Davis Health Stadium, the three home games (Mar. 20 vs. Cal Poly, Mar. 27 vs. Idaho State, Apr. 3 vs. Eastern Washington) will be televised locally on CW31... Fans outside the local area can still find these games on WatchBigSky.com or Pluto TV (check your provider for availability on satellite and cable systems)... For TV games, Greg Wong will take on the play-by-play duties on Sports 1140 alongside Doug Kelly, who returns as analyst... Scott Marsh will move from the radio booth to the TV booth and call PBP with 1984 All-American and Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Famer Scott Barry providing analysis... Barry joined the Sports 1140 crew for home games in 2019... He and Marsh also provided the call for the October 19, 2019 road contest at Southern Utah.
More notes and information are available in the PDF version of the game notes, available here or at the link above.
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ABOUT UC DAVIS:
With the addition of equestrian and women's beach volleyball in 2018, more than 700 student-athletes represent the fifth-ranked public school in the nation on one of 25 intercollegiate athletics teams.
UC Davis, a national leader in Title IX gender equity and leadership, is centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley; and offers an unrivaled student-athlete experience that features the ideal combination of elite academics, Division I athletics and personal growth.
Ranked annually in the top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis is uncommonly committed to preparing student-athletes for life after graduation with Aggie EVO — an innovative student-athlete outcomes program that helps young women and men develop passions, gain real-world experience, and enjoy a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school. Through Aggie EVO, Intercollegiate Athletics provides unmatched resources and a vast network of working professionals to ensure post-graduation success for its student-athletes.
