2023 UC Davis Aggies football team

2023 UC Davis Aggies football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 24
Record	7–4 (5–3 Big Sky)
Head coach	Dan Hawkins (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Cody (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Matt Coombs (4th season)
Captain	Teddy Buchanan
Home stadium	UC Davis Health Stadium
Seasons ←  2022 2024  →

2023 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Montana $^		7	–	1					13	–	2
No. 8 Idaho ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 9 Montana State ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Northern Arizona		5	–	3					5	–	6
No. 24 UC Davis		5	–	3					7	–	4
No. 13 Sacramento State ^		4	–	4					8	–	5
Portland State		4	–	4					5	–	6
Weber State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Eastern Washington		3	–	5					4	–	7
Idaho State		3	–	5					3	–	8
Cal Poly		1	–	7					3	–	8
Northern Colorado		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2023 UC Davis football team represented the University of California, Davis as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Dan Hawkins, the Aggies played their home games at UC Davis Health Stadium in Davis, California. The UC Davis Aggies football team drew an average home attendance of 10,562 in 2023.

Preseason

Polls

On July 23, 2023, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Aggies were predicted to finish second in the Big Sky by the coaches and fifth by the media. ^[1]

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana State	120 (10)
2	UC Davis	96 (1)
3	Sacramento State	94 (1)
4	Weber State	91
5	Idaho	89
6	Montana	84
7	Eastern Washington	52
8	Portland State	45
9	Northern Arizona	44
10	Northern Colorado	37
11	Cal Poly	25
12	Idaho State	15

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana State	447 (26)
2	Idaho	410 (8)
3	Montana	359 (2)
4	Sacramento State	334 (3)
5	UC Davis	330
6	Weber State	320
7	Eastern Washington	216
8	Northern Arizona	178
9	Portland State	167
10	Northern Colorado	109
11	Cal Poly	103
12	Idaho State	69

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	5:00 p.m.	at Texas A&M–Commerce *	No. 16	Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium Commerce, TX	ESPN+	W 48–10	4,227
September 9	6:00 p.m.	at No. 16 (FBS) Oregon State *	No. 15	Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	P12N	L 7–55	35,728
September 16	7:00 p.m.	Southern Utah *	No. 16	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	W 23–21	7,942
September 23	7:00 p.m.	Eastern Washington	No. 15	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	L 24–27	14,724
September 30	5:00 p.m.	at Cal Poly	No. 21	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA (Battle for the Golden Horseshoe)	ESPN+	W 31–13	8,744
October 7	4:00 p.m.	No. 17 Montana	No. 20	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	L 23–31	9,576
October 14	5:00 p.m.	at No. 22 Weber State		Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	ESPN+	W 17–16	7,121
October 28	1:00 p.m.	at Northern Arizona	No. 25	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	ESPN+	L 21–38	6,931
November 4	4:00 p.m.	Portland State		UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	W 37–23	8,945
November 11	3:00 p.m.	at Idaho State		Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	ESPN+	W 21–14	7,001
November 18	2:00 p.m.	No. 8 Sacramento State		UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA (Causeway Classic)	ESPN+	W 31–21	11,622
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

^[2]

Game summaries

at No. 16 Oregon State (FBS)

See also: 2023 Oregon State Beavers football team

No. 16 Oregon State Beavers (1-0) vs No. 15 (FCS) UC Davis Aggies (1-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 15 Aggies	0	0	0	7	7
No. 16 (FBS) Beavers	14	24	10	7	55

at Reser Stadium • Corvallis, Oregon

• Date: September 9
• Game time: 9:00 p.m. EST/6:00 p.m. PST
• Game weather: Clear, 79 °F (26 °C)
• Game attendance: 35,728
• Referee: Justin Elliott
• TV announcers (P12N): Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Lincoln Kennedy (analyst)
• Spread: Oregon State –24.0 • Odds to win: •

Game information

First quarter (12:09) OSU – Damien Martinez 64 Yd Run, Atticus Sappington Kick (Drive: 1 play, 64 yards, 0:10; Oregon State 7–0) (3:57) OSU – DJ Uiagalelei 3 Yd Run, Atticus Sappington Kick (Drive: 4 plays, 48 yards, 1:55; Oregon State 14–0) Second quarter (14:54) OSU – Rweha Munyagi Jr. 5 Yd pass from DJ Uiagalelei, Atticus Sappington Kick (Drive: 6 plays, 59 yards, 2:11; Oregon State 21–0) (12:29) OSU – Silas Bolden 65 Yd Punt Return, Atticus Sappington Kick (Drive: 3 plays, 1 yard, 2:25; Oregon State 28–0) (5:30) OSU – Silas Bolden 22 Yd pass from DJ Uiagalelei, Atticus Sappington Kick (Drive: 9 plays, 70 yards, 4:28; Oregon State 35–0) (2:09) OSU – Atticus Sappington 40 Yd Field Goal (Drive: 4 plays, 7 yards, 2:03; Oregon State 38–0) Third quarter (12:00) OSU – Atticus Sappington 40 Yd Field Goal (Drive: 7 plays, 30 yards, 2:47; Oregon State 41–0) (3:53) OSU – Riley Sharp 10 Yd pass from Aidan Chiles, Atticus Sappington Kick (Drive: 9 plays, 86 yards, 4:59; Oregon State 48–0) Fourth quarter (9:41) OSU – Aidan Chiles 1 Yd Run, Atticus Sappington Kick (Drive: 14 plays, 89 yards, 7:07; Oregon State 55–0) (5:06) UCD – C.J. Hutton 9 Yd pass from Grant Harper, Hunter Ridley Kick (Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 4:35; Oregon State 55–7)

Statistics	UCD	OSU
First downs	12	23
Plays–yards	59–166	63–450
Rushes–yards	29–47	37–269
Passing yards	199	181
Passing: comp–att–int	17–30–1	17–26–0
Time of possession	28:16	31:44

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
UC Davis	Passing	Grant Harper	4/7, 56 yards, TD
	Rushing	Lan Larison	15 carries, 55 yards
	Receiving	Andre Crump Jr.	2 receptions, 42 yards
No. 16 Oregon State	Passing	DJ Uiagalelei	8/13, 107 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Damien Martinez	7 carries, 104 yards, TD
	Receiving	Silas Bolden	4 receptions, 65 yards, TD

Eastern Washington

See also: 2023 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

UC Davis Aggies (2–1) vs Eastern Washington Eagles (1–2)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	0	0	0	0	0
Eagles	0	0	0	0	0

at UC Davis Health Stadium • Davis, CA

• Date: Saturday, September 23, 2023
• Game time: 10:00 p.m. PDT
• Game weather: • Temperature: • Wind:
• Game attendance: 14,724
• TV announcers (ESPN+): Scott Marsh, Scott Gordon

at Idaho State

See also: 2023 Idaho State Bengals football team

UC Davis Aggies (5–4) vs Idaho State Bengals (3–6) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	0	7	7	7	21
Bengals	7	0	7	0	14

at Holt Arena • Pocatello, Idaho

• Date: November 11
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. MST
• Game weather: None (indoor stadium)
• Game attendance: 7,001
• Referee: John Doe
• TV announcers (ESPN+): Dylan Carder (play-by-play) and Kody Graves (analyst)
• Box score, Recap

Game information

First quarter (2:19) IDST – Christian Fredericksen 7-yard pass from Hunter Hays, Thomas Kopcho kick (Drive: 12 plays, 95 yards, 5:36; Idaho State 7–0) Second quarter (9:47) UCD – Lan Larison 3-yard run, Hunter Ridley kick (Drive: 8 plays, 87 yards, 4:33; Tied 7–7) Third quarter (8:22) IDST – Chedon James 5-yard pass from Jordan Cooke, Thomas Kopcho kick (Drive: 5 plays, 49 yards, 1:52; Idaho State 14–7) (1:05) UCD – Lan Larison 12-yard run, Hunter Ridley kick (Drive: 2 plays, 17 yards, 0:48; Tied 14–14) Fourth quarter (2:05) UCD – Lan Larison 23-yard run, Hunter Ridley kick (Drive: 10 plays, 92 yards, 5:18; UC Davis 21–14)

Statistics	UCD	IDST
First downs	17	19
Plays–yards	61–394	80–410
Rushes–yards	37–268	24–77
Passing yards	126	333
Passing: comp–att–int	14–24–1	33–56–2
Time of possession	32:11	27:49

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
UC Davis	Passing	Miles Hastings	14/23, 126 yards, 1 INT
	Rushing	Lan Larison	31 carries, 264 yards, 3 TD
	Receiving	Samuel Gbatu Jr.	4 receptions, 62 yards
Idaho State	Passing	Jordan Cooke	27/46, 297 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Soujah Gasu	6 carries, 55 yards
	Receiving	Chedon James	13 receptions, 108 yards, 1 TD

Sacramento State

See also: 2023 Sacramento State Hornets football team and Causeway Classic

No. 8 Sacramento State Hornets (7–3) at UC Davis Aggies (6–4) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Hornets	0	0	7	14	21
Aggies	14	3	0	14	31

at UC Davis Health Stadium, Davis, CA

• Date: November 18, 2023
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. PST
• Game weather: Sunny
• Game attendance: 11,622
• Referee: Jeff Reid
• TV announcers (ESPN+): Play-by-Play: Scott Marsh • Analysis: Scott Gordon
• Sources:

Game information

First Quarter (10:00) UCD – Lan Larison 3-yard run (Hunter Ridley kick) (Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 5:00; UC Davis 7–0) (0:46) UCD – Lan Larison 7-yard run (Hunter Ridley kick) (Drive: 6 plays, 50 yards, 3:54; UC Davis 14–0) Second Quarter (8:27) UCD – Hunter Ridley 42-yard field goal (Drive: 9 plays, 40 yards, 3:58; UC Davis 17–0) Third Quarter (0:55) SAC – Anderson Grover 16-yard pass from Kaiden Bennett (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 6 plays, 74 yards, 1:55; UC Davis 17–7) Fourth Quarter (9:54) UCD – Lan Larison 47-yard pass from Miles Hastings (Hunter Ridley kick) (Drive: 5 plays, 68 yards, 2:58; UC Davis 24–7) (5:46) SAC – Jared Gipson 14-yard pass from Kaiden Bennett (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 10 plays, 73 yards, 4:07; UC Davis 24–14) (3:30) UCD – Lan Larison 12-yard run (Hunter Ridley kick) (Drive: 2 plays, 18 yards, 0:53; UC Davis 31–14) (2:26) SAC – Carlos Hill 35-yard pass from Kaiden Bennett (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 4 plays, 55 yards, 0:57; UC Davis 31–21) Line UCD –2.0 Over/Under 53.5

Statistics	SAC	UCD
First downs	22	17
Total yards	388	308
Rushing yards	27	133
Passing yards	361	175
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	32–53–2	16–23–0
Time of possession	28:07	31:53

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Sacramento State	Passing	Kaiden Bennett	19/28, 232 yards, 3 TD, INT
	Rushing	Marcus Fulcher	10 carries, 23 yards
	Receiving	Carlos Hill	10 receptions, 144 yards, TD
UC Davis	Passing	Miles Hastings	16/23, 175 yards, TD
	Rushing	Lan Larison	28 carries, 121 yards, 3 TD
	Receiving		3 receptions, 54 yards, TD

References

1. "Montana State Tabbed Preseason Football Favorites". July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
2. "2023 UC Davis Football Schedule". FBSchedules. Retrieved March 7, 2023.