Game 7 - Aggies 27 - Southern Utah 7

DAVIS, Calif. - Running back Marcus Nolan rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown and caught 12 passes for 71 yards, while the Aggie defense held Southern Utah to 129 total yards as No.18 UC Davis rolled to a 27-7 Great West Football Conference win before 7,805 fans at Toomey Field on Saturday.

The Aggies won their second straight game, improving to 4-3 overall with the homecoming victory, while evening their conference mark at 1-1. Southern Utah dropped its fourth consecutive game, falling to 3-5 overall and 0-2 in league.

Nolan, making his first career start for UC Davis, carried the ball 29 times for a career-high 134 yards, scoring a 6-yard touchdown in the second quarter that helped give UC Davis a 17-0 halftime lead.

His 12 receptions, most of them short passes out of the backfield, are tied for the third-most in school history and are the most-ever by an Aggie running back. Teammate Tony Kays holds the school record for single-game catches with 15. Nolan was also UC Davis' first 100-yard rusher since Nelson Doris picked up 100 at Eastern Washington last season.

Quarterback Jon Grant completed 26 of 36 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns, finding Kays six times for 61 yards.

Johnny Sanchez led Southern Utah with 38 rushing yards while quarterback Wes Marshall completed 12 of 23 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted and sacked twice each. Receiver Joey Hew Len had five catches for 36 yards and a 14-yard touchdown reception that helped the Thunderbirds avoid the shutout.

Junior kicker Emmanuel Benjamin had field goals of 27 and 43 yards, extending his consecutive games streak with at least one field goal to eight. His first boot, a 27-yarder midway through the first quarter, capped a 16-play, 78-yard drive for the Aggies and gave them a 3-0 lead.

UC Davis put together another long drive in the second quarter, covering 66 yards on seven plays, culminating in a 21-yard scoring strike from Grant to Chris Carter that led to a 10-0 lead with 9 minutes, 41 seconds left before half. Nolan's touchdown run made it 17-0 at the break.

The Aggies extended the lead to 24-0 early in the fourth quarter when Grant found leaping tight end Luke McDonough just inside the endzone. Southern Utah got on the scoreboard on its next possession, marching 60 yards in seven plays, picking up a touchdown on a 14-yard pass from Marshall to Hew Len. Benjamin's season-long 43-yard field goal with under three minutes to play capped the game's scoring and made it 27-7.

Nolan entered the game with 199 rushing yards and 101 receiving yards but picked up 205 all-purpose yards in Saturday's game alone. His previous rushing best was 65 yards in the season--opener at Northern Colorado while his previous high for receptions was three.

"We told Marcus all week we're going to give you the seams, you just do what you do," said Aggie coach Bob Biggs. "He played great."

The UC Davis defense was equally effective, allowing just 39 total yards in the first half. Southern Utah ran just 18 plays in the first half, a telling statistic evidenced by UC Davis, which ran 45 plays, holding the ball for nearly 20 minutes.

The Thunderbirds punted on four of their five possessions in the first half and threw an interception on the other. The second half was similar as UC Davis forced a trio of punts and picked off another pass. Southern Utah's two longest drives of the game were 8 and 7 plays, respectively.

Linebacker Tyler Pringle had a 32-yard interception return while cornerback Nevan Bergan picked off his 10th career pass, tying him for fifth all-time at UC Davis.

"Our defense had something going," said Biggs. "They were very fresh."

The Aggies outgained Southern Utah 372-129 in total offense, running the ball 41 times and passing it 36 times. It was the first time this year that UC Davis has ran the ball more times than they passed.

"People think we want to throw the ball 50 times a game," said Biggs. "I'd much rather call a game like today."

Defensive end James Amos had six total tackles for the Aggies while linebacker Mike Healey and defensive tackle John Faletoese each had a sack.

UC Davis returns to action with its final road game of the season, a noon (PDT) matchup at South Dakota State next Saturday.

Recap courtesy UC Davis Sports Information Media Relations

Southern Utah Game: Players Of The Week

• Offense - Marcus Nolan (RB)
• Defense - John Faletoese (DT)
• Special Teams - Anthony Sampson
• Offensive Scout - Joe Trombetta (RB)
• Defensive Scout - Mark Silva (LB)

Return to 2006 Game Summaries