‘Find Joy’: UC Davis QB Hastings looks to continue program’s storied history at position

At UC Davis, the enduring motto is simple.

Find Joy.

On the football field, quarterback play has brought varying degrees of good cheer to the Aggies and their followers over the decades, including: Bob Biggs, who engineered the greatest comeback in program history in 1971 (16 points in the final 20 seconds to upend Hayward); Mike Moroski, who fired a record 99-yard touchdown strike in 1978 and kept firing in the NFL; Ken O’Brien, who led the famed 1982 UCD team, was a first-round NFL draft pick in 1983 and became a Pro Bowler; J.T. O’Sullivan, UCD’s career touchdown leader with 96 from 1998-2001 and who logged nine NFL seasons; and, among others, Jake Maier, the program’s career yardage leader with 11,163 from 2017-19 and who now competes in the Canadian Football League.

The lot also includes a rejuvenated Miles Hastings. The senior from San Marcos has endured some ups and some downs, mostly ups, with glimpses of his promise last week. He leads the FCS-ranked No. 12 Aggies into Cedar City to play at Southern Utah on Saturday.

Hastings at the end of frustrating 2023 campaign pondered not returning to the Aggies, or to football at all. He had lost some of that joy. But Hastings knew his teammates wanted him back, that incoming coach Tim Plough needed him back The two have history as Plough recruited Hastings when he served as the Aggies’ offensive coordinator before stints at Boise State and Cal.

Plough knows the position and what Hastings has experienced. Plough played quarterback at UCD, starting as a senior in 2007, which was a nice achievement — but Plough will still tell you he owes the Aggies more wins. Quarterbacks are like this. They take the blame.

Hastings is a fixture in Aggies colors, voted by others in the locker room to be a team captain. It speaks to the reverence his teammates have for him.

“He’s great,” UCD All-American running back Lan Larison said.

“I’m glad to be back,” Hastings said earlier in the season.

UCD QB tradition inspires Hastings

Hastings is well aware of the quarterback legacy in Yolo County and became part of it with some tremendous games and fine seasons. He played in 10 games for the Aggies in 2021, starting the last five. He was a sophomore All-American in 2022 and earned the program’s Tony Kays award for Most Improved Player. He was a team captain, leading the Big Sky Conference with 3,048 yards passing and 20 touchdowns.

Hastings passed for 2,380 yards in 2023 with 14 touchdown passes, and he agonized over every one of his 10 interceptions as the Aggies just missed the FCS playoffs for what would have been the third time in six seasons. Hastings had a good fall camp and engineered a strong team showing in the first half of a season opener at Cal, which turned out to be a 31-13 Bears victory in Berkeley.

Hastings was intercepted three times, but Plough never wavered, saying days after that outing, “He’s our quarterback. He could throw 100 interceptions and he’s going to be our quarterback. We trust Miles a lot.”

Hastings last Saturday passed for 320 yards and two touchdowns in a 36-22 home victory over Texas A&M Commerce.

This week, Plough added of his leader, “Miles has had one bad quarter of the eight we’ve played, the third quarter at Cal. He’s been really solid. He had some plays (last week) that were tremendous. I’ll be harder on that position than any other.

“The quarterback tradition here is pretty renowned. Miles is aware of that. That’s one of the things I love about him. He’s well aware of the tradition of quarterback play here and how important it is to the team and the community. I know he’s got those names (of Aggies passing greats) written down. He just passed J.T. for all-time completions.”

That would be 673 career completions, good for fourth in the 106-year history of the program. If Hastings passes for, oh, 3,500 yards this season, he will have 10,716 career yards, which would be third on the Aggies all-time list behind Maier (11,163) and O’Sullivan (10,745). Hastings has 7,216 passing yards, which is sixth on the list and 386 away from fifth.

If Hastings throws 25 touchdowns, he will have 70 for his career, third most in school history behind O’Sullivan (96) and Maier (88). Hastings has 45 touchdown tosses, placing him eighth on the list and six shy of being fourth on the list.

The Aggies don’t focus on records, just the next game and practice. UCD has received strong line play and has a fleet of receivers, including C.J. Hutton, who leads the Aggies with 13 receptions for 152 yards. Other targets include Chaz Davis, Samuel Gbatu and the wildly versatile Larison, the star runner.

No. 12 UC Davis (1-1) at Southern Utah (1-1)

When: Saturday at Cedar City, 5 p.m.

On air: KHTK 1140 AM, ESPN+

Of note: UCD leads the series that began in 1993, 13-9. UCD linebacker David Meyer had a career-best 15 tackles against Commerce and returned the sealing interception 60 yards to seal it. He was named Big Sky Co-Defensive Player of the Week. After struggling a bit in the opener, preseason All-Big Sky kicker Hunter Ridley redeemed himself with three second-quarter field goals last week, and he made all three of his point-after touchdown kicks. Southern Utah opened with a 49-0 loss at FBS opponent Utah and beat UTEP, 27-24, for the program’s first FBS win since 2013. The Thunderbirds rushed for 268 yards, 183 of those from Targhee Lambson.