DAVIS, Calif. – Samuel Gbatu, Jr., and Jacob Psyk have been a force on both sides of the ball all season, and the top season by the pair of Aggies has earned the UC Davis football pairing FCS Football Central Second Team All-American honors.
 
Both Gbatu Jr. and Psyk each finished the season ranked nationally in numerous categories and their top performances across the year earned them both First Team Big Sky All-Conference honors at the end of the regular season. Gbatu Jr., and Psyk join Drew Cofield and Caden Pinnick who were both named FCS Football Central Freshmen All-Americans.
 
Gbatu Jr., totaled 1,169 receiving yards becoming only the seventh Aggie to finish with over 1,000 receiving yards in a season and the first to do it since 2018 (Keelan Doss). The explosive Aggie also totaled 11 touchdown receptions, tying for third-most in a single season in program history, and his 85-yard touchdown scoring reception against Weber State finished as the ninth-longest reception in the nation this season.
 
His numbers finished top of the Big Sky in receiving touchdowns, receiving yards, receiving yards per game (89.9) and nationally he finished ranked second in receiving yards, sixth in receiving touchdowns and seventh in receiving yards per game.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, Psyk was nearly unstoppable all season and his non-stop engine earned him unanimous first team all-conference honors. A Buck Buchanan Award finalist, Psyk ended his season with 9.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss, adding to his 48 total tackles (35 solo stops) while he added a pair of blocked kicks and five quarterback hurries.
 
With the most sacks by an Aggie since 2018 and the second most in a single season since 2013, Psyk made his presence known on every snap and he ended the season leading the conference in forced fumbles (three), total sacks and tackles for loss and on the national stage he ranked 13th in fumbles forced, 17th in total sacks and 16th in tackles for loss.
 
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS:
UC Davis, the No. 2 ranked public university by the Wall Street Journal, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked #1 in Agriculture and Forestry as well as #1 in Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. Over 650 Aggie student-athletes compete in 25 Division I varsity sports, with 16 sports transitioning to the Mountain West Conference beginning in 2026–27.
 
For more information, visit https://ucdavisaggies.com/.