Sophomore quarterback Ben Scott made his debut as the UC Davis starting quarterback in a loss against No. 14 Montana State in which he gained 379 yards through the air and ran for 72 yards. Despite the loss, Scott is hopeful that the team will head in the right direction under his leadership.
As Scott begins his career as the starting quarterback for the Aggies, The Aggie sat down with him for a one-on-one interview to learn more about his new position on the team.
Scott was born in San Jose, Calif. but soon moved to Los Banos, Calif. which is where former starter senior quarterback London Lacy lived at the time. Scott and Lacy both played on the same Pop Warner (youth league) team, where Lacy was the quarterback and Scott played wide receiver. Scott was surprised to see London playing at UC Davis after the two had not seen each other for almost a decade.
After living in Los Banos, the Scott family moved to Vacaville when Scott was in the fourth grade. Scott admits not playing football every season in favor of playing baseball and basketball. Scott’s dad, Kevin, was a high school and college basketball coach, and he influenced Scott toward playing basketball.
When Scott started high school, baseball became boring to him. He had begun to play football in the eighth grade and decided to focus on it.
Scott met his first quarterback coach, Ted Martinez, after attending a few football camps, and was trained by Martinez. During his sophomore year of high school, Scott was called up to be the quarterback of the varsity team after the starting quarterback tore all the ligaments in his thumb.
During his senior year, UC Davis began to recruit him. UC Davis assistant coach Jason Fisk met with Scott, went to his games and was impressed. Scott was then invited for a one-day camp and was quickly offered a scholarship. After a few weeks Scott made his decision to commit to UC Davis.
After redshirting his freshman year, and not seeing any action as a backup during the 2013 season, Scott was given his chance at the starting quarterback role after a tough loss to Portland State on Oct. 4. Lacy had been struggling and UC Davis had lost four straight games. Scott became the starting quarterback during the Homecoming game when the Aggies hosted the Montana State Bobcats.
Scott mentioned that the transition was very easy: Lacy was very supportive and the two helped each other throughout the process. He believes that the team is moving in the right direction.
“London and I are really good friends, and so it was one of those [things] where we were competing, [and] we wanted the best guy to play. It was a friendly competition,” Scott said regarding the change in quarterbacks.
In addition, Scott commented on the supportive nature of his teammates, despite the midseason change.
“The teammates were very supportive,” Scott said. “London and I were fighting for the start, and the coaches decided that I was going to make the start on Saturday.”
“It’s just the mental mistakes, I don’t think teams are flat out better than us,” he said regarding the team’s tenuous season so far. “I think we are just shooting ourselves in the foot.”
