On Monday, during Tim Plough’s weekly recap and preview of UC Davis football, the light-hearted media session included the bonus of the coach’s young son.
The little lad, sitting on pop’s lap and in a Detroit Lions jersey, didn’t last long. He dozed, tried to fight it and then conked out. Not because his father bored him with discussion of game-winning drives and the value of experience and team work, but because that’s what little ones do: They tucker out.
To be sure, the FCS-ranked No. 6 Aggies are not to be slept on. Shoot. You can’t even blink with this group. A week after holding off then-No. 4 Idaho with a late stop and an onside kick recovery for a 2-point victory, t he program’s first over a Top 5 FCS team , the Aggies again showed a flair for the dramatic.
In Oregon last week to face the tough-luck Portland State Vikings, UCD drove 94 yards in the closing minutes to produce a last-play touchdown, an 11-yard laser strike from Miles Hastings to Trent Tompkins over the pylon in the front-right corner of the end zone for a 27-26 triumph in one of the wildest finishes in the 106-year history of the program . The referees took four minutes to review it on replays, and then confirmed that it was in fact a touchdown.
That pushed UCD’s winning streak to five and its record to 5-1 overall, including 2-0 in the Big Sky Conference. The Aggies bound into Saturday’s homecoming clash with rival Cal Poly brimming of confidence with proof that veteran teams are the most likely to find a way out of any deficit. This is the 50th meeting between the programs, the Battle for the Golden Horseshoe, and in rivalry games, anything goes.
Plough’s theme is to keep pushing the tempo, to play smart, to execute — and to have fun as a motto in the program has been to “Find Joy.” And don’t nap., unless you’re under 7 years old You might miss something profound.
“The one thing we’re found out (about the Aggies) is that they’re extremely resilient, they believe in each other and they fight,” Plough said. “They showed an amazing amount of Aggie pride.”
The coach also offered this sobering reminder in a sport that demands darn-near perfection: “It’s the same song and dance: We have not played our best football this season by any means. As a coach, you get frustrated by those things, but at the same time, we’re finding ways to win and learn at the same time. We’re battle tested. That’ll help us down the road when facing teams that haven’t faced the same adversity as we have.”
Plough was pleased for all of his Aggies after the team’s first Big Sky road victory in a season that will require a lot of that in order to contend for the crown, especially for his seniors. This season is their final song and dance as UCD players. That lot includes Hastings, the third-year quarterback starter from Southern California; and Tompkins, the versatile burner from Fresno who has made plays for UCD as a quarterback, receiver, runner and return specialist over the years.
Plough said the Aggies “literally drew up plays in the dirt” in the final, frantic moments.
“For me, Miles and Trent are my guys,” said Plough, who helped recruit them to UCD in his previous role as an Aggies assistant coach and offensive coordinator. “To see those guys make that play, it was pretty emotional.”
Homecoming for Cal Poly coach, Paul Wulff
UCD and Cal Poly first met in football 85 years ago, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House, the country recovering from the Great Depression and college football was a feel-good moment to cap a trying week.
UCD won the first meeting, 28-0, and lost the rematch on the Central Coast in 1940, 20-7. The schools resumed the series in 1976 and have played every season since 1978. Since 2004, the rivals have competed for the Golden Horseshoe Trophy, which acknowledges the agriculture programs on both campuses.
UCD has won the last seven games of the series to take a 27-20-2 rivalry lead. The Aggies are 13-7 against the Mustangs since the trophy was created.
Cal Poly is 2-3 under second-year coach Paul Wulff, whose return to Yolo County will come with mixed emotions.
Wulff was a Davis High School football star, rooted in the trenches, inspired by his mother whom he longed to find. Football saved Wulff, who went on to play on scholarship at Washington State, thus launching a coaching career that saw him win Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year honors at Eastern Washington.
Delores Wulff, a mother of four and a beloved employee at Woodland High School, disappeared from her Woodland home in the summer of 1979 when Paul, the youngest child, was 12. The family long suspected Wulff’s father of killing her. In 2020, the case was finally solved through coach Wulff’s DNA.
Wulff was an assistant coach at UCD in 2019, where he got to know Plough and the Aggies.
“I have a lot of respect for Paul,” Plough said.
Cal Poly (2-3) at No. 6 UC Davis (5-1)
When: Saturday, 4 p.m.
On air: Sactown Sports 1140, ESPN+
Of note: Miles Hastings has passed for 1,728 yards and 12 touchdowns, ranking him third nationally in the FCS for yardage, and his 26.8 completions per game is tops in the FCS. UCD All-American running back Lan Larison is averaging 153.7 all-purpose yards, fourth best in the FCS. Against Portland State, he had 233 all-purpose yards, 124 rushing and 109 receiving. Cal Poly is coming off of a 41-38 loss to Idaho State, coached by former UCD offensive coordinator Cody Hawkins. In that game, former Rocklin High and American River College quarterback Richie Watts, as a backup, came in to rush for 115 yards and two scores. That’s right: rushed. The political science major who aspires to be a lawyer is versatile. His parents, Rich and Tina, are UCD graduates.
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