BOZEMAN — The UC Davis football team is 5-1 with a ranked FCS win and a strong showing against a winning FBS Power 4 team. The path to this point has hardly been that simple. For every strong performance against a good team, the Aggies have followed it up with a shaky one against an underdog.
The latest example came Saturday, when then-No. 9-ranked UC Davis needed a touchdown — and a couple breaks — as time expired to beat winless Portland State. “It's become almost a weekly thing for our team, to find ways to win games, which is great,” Aggies first-year head coach Tim Plough , “At the same time, you want the team to play to its best potential, and today we didn't do that.
” One week after beating Idaho for , the Aggies traveled to Oregon and fell behind PSU 14-0 in the second quarter. They scored two straight touchdowns to tie it up but entered halftime down 20-14 (it would’ve been 21-14 if not for a blocked extra point from Davis’ Kavir Baines, and that play proved to be crucial). The Vikings went up 23-14 in the third quarter, Davis cut it to 23-21 early in the fourth and PSU extended its lead to 26-21 with 5 minutes, 47 seconds left.
The Aggies’ chances looked slim when PSU’s Isaiah Green intercepted Miles Hastings and returned it to Davis’ 43-yard line with 3:04 left. Their defense forced a three-and-out, but the ensuing punt was downed at the 6 with 1:50 on the clock. Davis, which had two timeouts at the start of the drive, converted a fourth dow.
