UC Davis Aggies men’s football fall to University of Montana Grizzlies
Grizzlies outscore the Aggies 62-22
By ALEXIA NAVARRO GARCIA— sports@theaggie.org
On Sept. 26, No. 10 UC Davis football team took on the No. 5-ranked University of Montana (UM) Grizzlies at UC Davis Aggie Health Stadium, losing 62-22 in a Big Sky Conference matchup.
UM opened the game, scoring on their second drive of the first quarter. At the UC Davis 5-yard line, running back Eli Gillman rushed the ball down the middle of the Aggie defense to the endzone to give UM its first rushing touchdown of the night at 6:07. Kicker Jo Silver completed the point after touchdown (PAT), giving the Grizzlies the early 7-0 lead.
Two minutes later, after an unsuccessful drive by the Aggies, UM regained possession of the ball. Unable to get the first down, punter Everett O’Donnell punted for the Grizzlies on fourth and seventh from their own 23-yard line. Wide receiver Zach Jones, a fourth-year undeclared major, failed to get control of the ball on the return and the ball was recovered by Tanner Huff for UM at the UC Davis 31-yard line.
UM made quick work of the recovery to get another rushing touchdown. Gillman navigated toward the middle and around the right side of the line of scrimmage to score the touchdown and Silver converted the PAT and increased the UM lead to 14-0.
Two drives later, the Grizzlies sent out their special teams unit for a field goal attempt from the UC Davis 39-yard line. Silver drilled the ball high and through the posts for an extra three points to finish the first quarter 17-0.
In the second quarter, UM’s quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat completed a short pass from the UC Davis 2-yard line to wide receiver Landon Ransom-Goelz in the endzone within the first 10 minutes. With a successful PAT by Silver, the Grizzlies increased their lead to 24-0.
On the next UM drive, the Grizzlies made their way back into Aggie territory with deep passes from Ah Yat. On the UC Davis 7-yard line, Ah Yat scored a rushing touchdown with a keeper on the right side of the endzone. With 57 seconds left in the quarter, Silver completed another PAT, increasing the UM lead to 31-0.
With less than a minute left in the half, UC Davis worked quickly and scored in the final seconds of the drive. Quarterback Treynor Cleeland, a second-year managerial economics major, completed a deep pass from the UM 27-yard line to Jones in the endzone for a touchdown with two seconds to spare. The Aggies went for the 2-point conversion at the 3-yard line and were successful with a catch by wide receiver Laviel Pickett, a fifth-year sociology major, cutting into UM’s 31-8 lead.
In the third quarter, UM scored five minutes in with a 16-yard rush touchdown from Gillman. Silver scored with the PAT, increasing UM’s 38-8 lead.
UM came back four minutes later with a 3-yard passing touchdown from Ah Yat to wide receiver Brooks Davis. Silver drilled another PAT to successfully put the Grizzlies up 45-8.
On the next Aggie drive, running back Jordan Fisher, a fourth-year communication major, broke through the middle of the field and to the endzone for a 27-yard rushing touchdown. Kicker Robert Meyer, a second-year human development major, was finally able to get on the field and kicked a PAT to add an extra point to the 45-15 score.
UM responded on the next drive with a rushing touchdown of their own from Ah Yat with less than two minutes left in the third quarter. Silver kicked another PAT to increase the score to 52-15.
The Grizzlies opened the fourth quarter with a 58-yard touchdown from Gillman, who ran the ball through the middle and through Aggie defense in 13 seconds. Silver put away another successful PAT to strengthen the 59-15 UM lead.
On the next UM possession, the Grizzlies tried to make their way down the field and into Aggie territory, but were stalled around the UC Davis 32-yard line. In danger of a turnover on downs and in field goal range, the Grizzlies decided to punt the ball. Silver kicked a successful field goal, increasing the 62-15 UM lead with five minutes left in the quarter.
Quarterback Jackson Kollock, a redshirt first-year human development major, completed a short pass on the next Aggie drive. Wide receiver Xzavior Guess, a second-year english major, caught the pass in the endzone. Meyer buried the ball for the PAT, UM leading 62-22.
UM ran down the clock to end the game and secure their 62-22 win over the Aggie home team.
Ah Yat completed 21 of his 31 passes, threw for 241 yards and accumulated two touchdown passes for the Grizzlies. UC Davis’ Cleeland completed 18 of his 33 passes, threw for 194 yards, had one touchdown pass and was sacked three times.
Gillman had a career game, leading UM in rushing yards with 277 yards and four rushing touchdowns. Fisher led UC Davis in rushing with 104 yards and one rushing touchdown.
Silver had a busy night scoring all eight PATs he kicked and went two-for-two on field goal attempts. Meanwhile, Meyer scored two out of two PATs for the Aggies.
Defensively, linebacker Nai Mose led UM in tackles with eight solo tackles and one assist, while defensive liner Tyler King led the team in sacks with 2.5. For the Aggies, defensive back Brayden Rosa, a second-year undeclared major, led the team in tackles with 10 solo tackles and three assists.
The Aggies will travel to Southern Utah University on Oct. 17 to take on the Thunderbirds at Eccles Coliseum at 5 p.m.
Written by: Alexia Navarro Garcia — sports@theaggie.org