OGDEN, Utah — Defensive tackle
Bryce Rodgers contributed on two of three Aggie takeaways while redshirt freshman
Trent Tompkins scored the game-winning touchdown with 27 seconds left, lifting No. 12/10 UC Davis to a 17-14 win over No. 14/15 Weber State in Big Sky Conference football action at Stewart Stadium in front of a crowd of 6,802 Saturday night.
The Aggies move to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play, continuing their best season start since 2004. The Wildcats slip to 1-3 for the year and open Big Sky action at 0-1.
Weber State actually outdueled UC Davis in total offense (411-314), rushing yards (186-165) and passing yards (225-149), but the Aggies forced three key turnovers. Rodgers posted a strip sack of Weber quarterback Kylan Weisser on a 4th-and-6 play midway through the first quarter, then Rodgers pressured Weisser into an interception in the second. Weisser's pass fell right into the hands of junior cornerback and co-captain
Jordan Perryman on the WSU 26-yard line. This resulted in a 3-yard touchdown run by junior
Ulonzo Gilliam, Jr. with 3:20 left before the halftime break. The two teams went into the intermission locked in a 7-7 defensive battle.
"[Turnovers] are the number one factor, and we work the heck out of it," said UC Davis head coach
Dan Hawkins. "Both sides: not turning it over and getting turnovers. You have to keep emphasizing it. And it's strange – you don't want to make it a pariah. 'Don't fumble, don't fumble.' It's not like that. It's just emphasizing taking care of the football. You've got to give Hunter credit. He had some turnovers in the spring but he's done a great job this fall at not turning the ball over."
Weber State took a 14-7 lead five minutes into the third with an 11-yard run by Dontae McMillan, then UC Davis cut into the lead with Gilliam runs of 10 and 12 ultimately resulted in
Isaiah Gomez' 23-yard field goal. Early in the fourth, Gomez had a chance to cut the margin to a single point when he attempted to match his career long of 44 yards, but his field goal try missed wide.
The Aggies suffered a scare when starting quarterback
Hunter Rodrigues was shaken up on a play, sending backup
Miles Hastings into the game. On a pivotal 4th-and-6, Hastings hit
Carson Crawford on the right side to convert inside the Weber State red zone. Weber State was subsequently charged with a key pass interference penalty on Hastings' toss to
C.J. Hutton, putting the ball on the WSU 2-yard line. Tompkins followed with back-to-back one-yard runs, the second of which erased the Wildcat lead and gave UC Davis the 17-14 lead.
UC Davis then halted Weber State's final attempt at a game-winning drive.
Chris Venable tipped a Weisser pass, with
Erron Duncan pulling the ball in for an interception with just 14 seconds left.
Hastings finished the game with 50 yards and 7-for-9 passing. Gilliam totaled 83 yards from scrimmage, including 14-for-62 on the ground. Rodrigues had 145 yards in total offense upon his exit: 99 passing, 46 rushing (on 10 carries). Linebacker
Calvin Mouisset made his first start as an Aggie, responding with a team-leading seven tackles.
The Aggies entered the game with a share of the FCS lead in turnover margin.
UC Davis returns to action at home for a 7 p.m.. game against Idaho on October 2.
