After a 19-17 win against FBS opponent Tulsa, No. 14/12 UC Davis remains in the Golden State for a road tilt at San Diego, member of the Pioneer Football League and an annual opponent thus far in the Dan Hawkins era. The Aggies and Toreros have met eight previous times, with UC Davis winning all but the 2008 matchup. However, the Aggies escaped with close calls in both 2007 and in 2019.
Who: San Diego
When: Saturday, Sept. 11 • 1 p.m.
Where: San Diego, Calif.
Venue: Torero Stadium (6,000)
Live Stats: SIDEARM Stats
Listen: Sports 1140 on Varsity Network
Watch: WCC Sports
DAY DAY'S DAY
The previous meeting between UC Davis and San Diego delivered one of the most memorable plays from the 2019 season... With time running out and the Aggies holding a 38-35 lead, the Toreros had advanced to the UC Davis 4-yard line... USD running back Emilio Martinez collected a short pass from Reid Sinnett and seemed to have plenty of daylight toward scoring a game-winning touchdown... However, King (nicknamed "Day Day") hit Martinez mere inches from the goal line, jarring the ball loose and protecting the Aggie win... The Richmond, Calif. native, who also had an interception in that win, later earned Big Sky ROOT Sports Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors for his heroics in that contest.
UC DAVIS LAST WEEK
QB Hunter Rodrigues posted a career-high 311 passing yards, while WR Jared Harrell notched a career best of his own with 136 receiving yards in Thursday's 19-17 win at Tulsa... Kicker Isaiah Gomez tied a school record of four field goals, including a career-long 44-yarder to tie the contest at 10-10 going into halftime... Gomez' previous best was a 42-yarder at American River College... Rodrigues and Gomez subsequently garnered Big Sky Conference Offense and Special Teams Player of the Week honors, respectively... More facts about Gomez' feat are listed below.
SUBVERTING THE SUBDIVISIONS
The win at Tulsa marked the Aggies' fourth against an FBS opponent in the program's Division I era (2007-present), and the seventh all-time... UC Davis previously beat San Jose State in both the 2010 (14-13) and 2018 (44-38), and memorably scored a 20-17 upset at Stanford back on September 17, 2005... Honorable mention: the Aggies beat UTSA by a 38-17 final back in October 2011, but the Roadrunners were in their first year of transitioning to FBS status and thus still counted as an FCS foe.
In its Division II era, UC Davis posted three straight series wins against the University of the Pacific, each behind the arms of legendary quarterbacks: 31-14 in 1978 (future NFL veteran Mike Moroski), 23-22 in 1982 (future NFL veteran Ken O'Brien), and 45-41 in 1986 (future coaching great Chris Petersen)... The 1978 season was the first year of the new Division I subdivisions, then known as I-A and I-AA... That 1986 win, highlighted by Wayne Adkin's diving catch and a last-minute Petersen strike to TE Chris Mandeville, was made even more impressive given that Pacific had defeated eventual Liberty Bowl participant Minnesota just one week earlier.
I.G. SPECIALIST
Kicker Isaiah Gomez matched his entire 2021 spring total with the four field goals in the win at Tulsa... The feat puts him in a seven-way tie for Aggies with four field goals... Future San Diego Chargers Hall of Famer Rolf Benirschke was the first to hit that mark, doing so in 1976 against Chico State... That helped him lead all Division II kickers that season (14-for-19) and earned him a 12th-round draft selection the following spring... Rod Holmquist (1980), Eddie Loretto (1986), Ray Hill (1997), Emmanuel Benjamin (2005) and Brady Stuart (2013) later matched Benirschke's single-game record... Gomez' four are the most in a road game since Hill, who kicked his at Saint Mary's (Oct. 25, 1997)... Stuart (274) and Loretto (273) rank as the top two scorers in UC Davis history.
SAN DIEGO LAST WEEK
The Toreros faced the first of two Big Sky Conference opponents of 2021, falling to Cal Poly by a 28-17 at home... Terrence Smith (82 yards) and Emilio Martinez (76) helped USD win the ground game by a 171-44 margin, but Mason Randall (29-for-44, 254 yards) lost the QB battle to Mustang sophomore and Cal transfer Spencer Brasch (318 yards, 2 TDs)... Randall also threw a pair of interceptions, the second of which led to Cal Poly's go-ahead touchdown to start the fourth quarter... San Diego was picked second behind defending champ Davidson in the preseason Pioneer Football League poll, with seven players earning All-PFL honors.
HOMEWARD BOUND
Not surprisingly, a trip to USD also marks a hometown return for numerous Aggies, including DB Jaylin White (Vista Murrietta), WR Casey Granfors (University City), DB Evan Perkins (Helix Charter), LB Zach Jones (Grossmont)... DE Michael Ambagtsheer and Navy transfer LB Tysean White both graduated from St. Augustine HS, while Azusa Pacific transfer and TE/LS Antonio Olivieri originally came from El Capitan HS... Backup QB Miles Hastings hails from the North County community of San Marcos.
THE RIVALRY BEFORE THE SERIES
While UC Davis and San Diego did not meet on the field until the 2006 season finale (and final game ever played at Toomey Field), the two teams have a different sort of rivalry that dates back more than a decade before... The Aggies plucked two of their greatest running backs in history from the Torero program... Jermaine Rucker rushed for 1,332 yards and 13 TDs for USD in 1994, ranking among FCS leaders (or I-AA, at the time)... He then transferred to UC Davis, where he added another 2,044 rushing yards and 28 TDs in his two seasons... At the time, Rucker was just the fourth player in Aggie history to break the 2,000-yard barrier... Just one year later, the UC Davis snared Matt Brown, who had totaled 320 yards for USD as a freshman... Brown rushed for 2,234 yards while his 40 total TDs (38 rush, two receiving) remains tied for the school record.
ALUMNI UPDATE
Former Aggie WR Keelan Doss was signed to the Atlanta Falcons practice squad last weekend, following an Oakland Raiders preseason that saw him total 8-for-83 receiving in three appearances... Doss was a three-year All-American (14 total awards) during his Aggie career from 2014 to 2018... He holds UC Davis records for receptions in a season (118) and career (321), plus receiving yards in a season (1,499) and career (4,069).
Meanwhile, north of the border, Doss' Aggie quarterback Jake Maier has enjoyed quite a start to his CFL career... After beginning the 2021 season on the reserve squad, he took over the starting QB spot and responded with a 16-for-29, 304-yard game against Montreal (coached by Aggie great Khari Jones), then followed with 30-for-39 and 307 yards against Winnipeg.
For the full set of notes, plus roster, depth charts, statistics and more, click 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.
