ABOUT THE GAME
Coming off two road wins at Tulsa and San Diego, No. 12-ranked UC Davis returns home for its Community Day contest against first-time opponent Dixie State Saturday night... The game will air on Sports 1140 KHTK and is the first to stream on the Big Sky Conference's new deal with ESPN+... University Credit Union, namesake of the newly renamed University Credit Union Center across campus, is the game's presenting sponsor.

Who: Dixie State
When: Saturday, Sept. 18 • 7 p.m.
Where: Davis, Calif.
Venue: UC Davis Health Stadium (less than 10,000)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Listen: Sports 1140 on Varsity Network app
Watch: ESPN+

COVID POLICIES
Although UC Davis Health Stadium is an outdoor venue, certain protocols are in place in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic... Face coverings are required for any unvaccinated guests, and encouraged for everyone when social distancing is not possible... They will also be required for all guests and staff in any indoor spaces, including the restroom, training room, press box and operations headquarters... Anyone in close contact to coaches and student-athletes – including sideline personnel and media on the field – must be masked at all times, regardless of vaccination status... Additionally, the field will be closed to fans during and after the game... For a full overview of game-day policies and protocols, please visit this guide.

UC DAVIS LAST WEEK
The Aggies claimed a commanding 53-7 win at San Diego for their final non-conference road game... The 46-point margin of victory ranks 10th in school history, matching a 46-0 shutout of Humboldt State back in 1984... In the program's Division I era (since 2007), Saturday's win ranks second only to the 73-24 margin against Cal Poly last spring... QB Hunter Rodrigues captured his second Root Sports Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week award for his performance: four TD passes plus a 28-yard rushing score... He threw for a career-high 322 yards, spreading 27 completions to nine different receivers... QB Trent Tompkins claimed Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week... He ran in a 2-point conversion, hit Garren O'Keefe for another such 2-ptr, then took over for Isaiah Thomas as punt returner in the fourth quarter... In the final minutes, Tompkins returned a punt 85 yards, matching Jesse Oliva's 2004 runback against Weber State as the program's No. 2 punt return in history.

TE McCallan Castles caught back-to-back TD receptions in the first half, bringing his Aggie career total to six in just seven games... The Cal transfer hauled in scoring strikes against Weber State, Cal Poly and Eastern Washington last spring, then opened the Tulsa win with a 12-yarder from Rodrigues.

MAKING BIG PLAYS
Despite a 53-7 win, UC Davis scored "only" 10 points from the red zone at San Diego Saturday... As offensive coordinator Cody Hawkins noted, six of the Aggies' seven touchdowns were for 20 yards or more: passing strikes of 21, 49, 23 and 39; a rush of 28 yards, plus Trent Tompkins' 85-yard punt return... The last time UC Davis scored six TDs of 20-plus yards was the Sept. 6, 2014 home opener against Fort Lewis... Corey Galindo scored two 20-yard receptions, Jermale Jefferson ran for TDs of 43 and 68 yards, Colton Silveria ran in a 72-yarder, and Shamawn Wright returned a kickoff 89 yards in that 52-17 victory.

DEJA VU?
Speaking of big plays, Tompkins' 85-yard punt return likely brought back memories of his 86-yard run against Cal Poly last spring, a play that earned him a spot on SportsCenter's nightly top 10 list... In fact, Tompkins became just the sixth Aggie in history to have scored two touchdowns of 80 yards or more... RB Shola Adeyemo had rushes of 85 and 90 yards in his senior year of 1990... WR Onome Ojo caught passes of 86 (1999) and 80 (2000)... WR Mike Sellar posted catches of 88 (1987) and 80 (1988)... Jason Holleman made the NCAA record book with back-to-back 90-yard kickoff returns against CSUN in 2001... Finally, until Tompkins on Saturday, WR Calvin Ellison was the only Aggie to have scored 80-plus TDs in two different methods... The former high school track star pulled in a 99-yard Mike Moroski pass against Puget Sound in on Sept. 30, 1978, roughly a year after scoring on an 89-yard kickoff return against Humboldt State (Oct. 22, 1977).

MOVING ON UP
RB Ulonzo Gilliam picked up 54 rushing yards and another 7 ticks in the air, raising his career all-purpose total to 3,447 yards in just 30 games played... He moved ahead of Michael Oliva (3,393 from 1999-2002) and Shola Adeyemo (3,441 in 1987-90) for 7th in school history in that category... Gilliam also has 124 career receptions, adding to his school record for RBs and inching him closer to the Aggies' overall top 10 list... However, WR Jared Harrell will almost certainly get there first... With games of 8-for-136 (at Tulsa) and 5-for-95 (at USD), the 2018 All-Big Sky honoree heads into Saturday's game with 132 total catches for 1,835 yards... Brandon Rice (2005-08) holds the No. 10 spot of the career receptions list at 136, while Bakari Grant (2006-09) ranks 10th in receiving yards at 1,937.

ABOUT DIXIE STATE
A former two-year college, Dixie State competed as a Division II program for 15 years, and now begins the four-year reclassification period to Division I... The Trailblazers went 2-3 in a shortened spring season, with two of those losses coming to an FBS program (36-29 to New Mexico State) and a recent FCS powerhouse (37-27 to Kennesaw State)... UC Davis will mark Dixie State's third straight opponent from the Big Sky Conference, having lost to Sacramento State and Weber State during the first two weeks... 

Located in St. George, Utah, the Trailblazer program draws a fair share of Californians, including locals WR Emoni Karriem-Lewis (Modesto Christian HS/Sierra College) and CB Amari Duncan (River City HS)... Perhaps the most familiar name on the staff for most football fans is assistant head coach Mike Fassel, son of the late Jim Fassel, whose inspirational work in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks were featured on the NFL media last weekend.

For more notes, plus roster, depth chart, stats and other tidbits, download the full set of Game 3 notes here.
 

ABOUT UC DAVIS:
Centrally located between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, over 700 student-athletes across 25 teams enjoy an unrivaled undergraduate experience at the fifth-ranked public school in the country.

Ranked annually in the nation's top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis and its innovative Aggie EVO system helps student-athletes develop passions, connect with a comprehensive network of alums and industry leaders, gain real-world experience and thrive as a young professional following a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school.