No. 6 UC Davis Rolls Past NAU, 42-20
Nov 5, 2018, 12:00 AM | Updated: Feb 27, 2020, 10:02 am
DAVIS, Calif. – Senior sociology major Tehran Thomas finished with a single-game career-high 24 carries for 94 yards and a pair of scores (another single-game record), while senior sociology major Keelan Doss caught eight balls for 103 yards and two touchdowns for his 16th career 100-yard performance, leading the No. 6 UC Davis football team to its sixth consecutive victory, 42-20, over Northern Arizona in a Big Sky Conference battle on Saturday afternoon at Aggie Stadium.
Combined with his 56 receiving yards, Thomas finished with 150 all-purpose yards, another career high.
The six straight victories for the Aggies (8-1, 6-0 in the Big Sky) are the most in the Division I era and the most since the 2002 squad won seven straight en route to a 9-3 record, snapping a three-game skid against the Lumberjacks dating back to a, 38-24, victory in 2015.
UC Davis has scored 40-or-more points in each of its six consecutive victories — the longest such streak since the 2000 squad did so in the first seven games of the season en route to a 12-1 overall record and a trip to the third round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Northern Arizona, led by 179 rushing yards from quarterback Brandon Porter, fell to 3-6 overall and 2-4 in league play.
Defensively, freshman Montell Bland finished with a career-high 11 tackles, including two of UC Davis’ seven tackles for loss, while senior American studies major Mason Moe finished with six tackles and his team-high third interception of the season, returning it 37 yards to set up the Aggies’ second touchdown of the day.
Junior communication major Jake Maier finished 21-for-33 for 262 yards and three touchdowns, opened the scoring with a 25-yard strike to Doss just 2:19 into the game and capitalized on Moe’s takeaway, finding Thomas for a 39-yard catch and run on the team’s second drive of the day, as the Aggies were off to the races.
Thomas punched in his second score of the day on a five-yard burst just before the end of the first quarter for a 21-0 lead, capping a 13-play, 81-yard drive, before Northern Arizona answered to break up the shutout in the second quarter as Cory Young bounced in from one yard out as UC Davis led 21-6, at the break.
The two teams traded punts to start the third before senior managerial economics major Namane Modise burst through the line for a 43-yard score, and Doss added his second scoring grab of the day to start the fourth quarter from 16 yards out for a 35-6 advantage.
Emmanuel Butler’s 49-yard scoring grab and Porter’s 49-yard touchdown run brought the Lumberjacks to within 15 points late in the fourth before the Aggies capped the scoring, driving 58 yards, on nine run plays, culminating in a bruising two-yard dive by senior biochemistry and molecular biology major C.J. Spencer with 1:13 to play.
“I think it says something about our program when we win 42-20, but you are thinking ‘we could have played a lot better,'” said head coach Dan Hawkins.
UC Davis plays on the road for the final time this season next Saturday (Nov. 10), traveling to Cheney, Wash., to take on No. 5 Eastern Washington. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
