Score:  No. 6 UC Davis 56, Cal Poly 10
Location: Davis, Calif. (UC Davis Health Stadium)
Records: UC Davis 6-1 (3-0), Cal Poly 2-4 (1-2)
 
The short story: Senior quarterback Miles Hastings threw for 458 yards (27-for-30) and four touchdowns, cracking the top five all-time in program history for passing yards in a single game as the Aggies crushed Cal Poly to retain the Golden Horseshoe on homecoming in front of 10,515 fans.
 
FIRST DOWN

• Hastings, who didn't play the entire fourth quarter, completed 27 of his passes on 30 attempts, throwing a long pass of 73 yards and adding his four touchdown passes to four different Aggies
• Senior running back Lan Larison added 82 yards on the ground (13 attempts) with two rushing touchdowns and he snagged 90 yards on five receptions, adding a receiving touchdown
• Senior wide receiver Chaz Davis had his second-career 100-yard reception game, finishing with 102 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown, snagging a career-long 73-yard pass
• Freshman wide receiver Stacy Dobbins had a career-day, finishing with 91 receiving yards and six receptions
• Senior wide receiver Trent Tompkins finished with 83 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown
• Junior Rex Connors snagged scored on an interception return in the first quarter, finishing with a team-high seven total tackles
• Senior Kavir Bains finished with five tackles, adding 2.0 tackles for loss
• Sophomore linebacker Sam Goligoski found himself in the backfield all game, finishing with 2.0 sacks and four total tackles

WHAT HEAD COACH TIM PLOUGH HAD TO SAY
"Hope we have a lot more games like that. The last few weeks have not been good for the heart. I'm thankful our guys came out strong and put things together so that we could finally play to our full potential. It was great to win on homecoming in a rivalry game on a special weekend where we honored former Aggies into the Cal Aggie Hall of Fame. We have been searching for a performance like we had tonight. Miles had an elite performance tonight against a team that is better than people think, and overall, I'm extremely proud of how he played today and how he led the team."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• UC Davis opened fast and kept up the pace for four quarters, scoring 28 points in the opening period to set a tone for the evening
• After shutting down Cal Poly's opening drive, Hastings hit Davis for 73 yards, before capping off a quick four-play 94-yard with a 14-yard toss to Davis to score the opening touchdown
• Cal Poly did answer with a field goal on the next drive, the last points the Mustangs scored in the quarter as the Aggies would score 21 unanswered points over the remaining time in the quarter
• Hastings got the Aggies down inside the 10 after completing four passes on what would be a 10-play 65-yard drive that was capped off by a Larison two-yard touchdown run
• On the next Cal Poly possession, just two plays in, the Cal Poly quarterback looked for a white shirt but instead from Rex Connors, wearing Aggie blue. The Davis safety then scampered his way to the endzone for a 35-yard interception return to extend the Aggies lead to 21-3
• After a three-and-out by the Aggie defense, Hastings used two big passes, first to Tompkins for 18 yards, before finding junior wide receiver Samuel Gbatu, Jr. for a 44-yard scoring pass.
• The late scoring drive, capped off by the 44-yard touchdown pass by Hastings, meant the Aggies took a 28-3 lead into the second quarter
• Midway through the Aggie second quarter opening drive, Hastings hit Dobbins for 28 yards to get the Aggies deep into Cal Poly territory
• And with the ball on the Mustang 23-yard line Hastings found Larison streaking across the field, and as the Aggie running back turned up the sideline he leaped over a Cal Poly defender, landing in the endzone to give UC Davis a 35-3 lead and cap off yet another scoring drive
• Cal Poly scored its lone touchdown, and final points of the game, on the next drive. The Mustangs went 85 yards in three plays to make it 35-10 halfway through the second quarter
• A 41-yard touchdown run by Larison finished off the Aggies first half, giving UC Davis a commanding 42-10 lead heading into the break
• UC Davis would punch it in two more times in the second half, scoring on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Hastings to Tompkins, capping off a three-play 75-yard 43-second drive
• The Aggies then finished a six-play 60-yard drive with freshman running back Jordan Fisher's first career rushing touchdown, scoring from seven yards out
• With the starters pulled, the Aggies coasted for the remainder of the game. And when the final whistle blew, the Aggies had given the homecoming crowd something to cheer about, taking home a 56-10 victory

GAME NOTES

• The Aggies finished with a program record 500 total team passing yards
• UC Davis racked up 671 total yards of offense, the most since finishing with 682 against Cal Poly in 2022
• UC Davis' 28 points in the first quarter are the most scored in a quarter since scoring 28 points against Northern Arizona in the second quarter in 2022
• The 28 points are the most scored in the opening quarter since the Aggies scored 24 points in the first quarter against Cal Poly in 2019
• UC Davis now has a takeaway in seven-straight games
• The Aggies have three defensive touchdowns scored this season, the most in a single season since 2016
• The 42 points in the opening half were the most by an Aggie team since the spring of 2021 when the Aggies scored 49 points against Cal Poly in the opening half
• Hastings threw for the second-most passing yards in a single game in the country
• His 458 passing yards places him fifth all-time in program history in single game passing yards and it was the third-most in the Football Championship Series era
• Hastings becomes the first Aggie to throw at least four touchdown passes in a game since 2022
• The 73-yard pass to Davis in the first quarter is longest play from scrimmage for the Aggies this season
• UC Davis has won eight-straight against Cal Poly, holding onto the Golden Horseshoe for the eighth-straight season
• This is the second-time in the last four meetings with Cal Poly the Aggies have scored at least 56 points

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