UC Davis holds off Texas A&M Commerce for coach’s first win
Miles Hastings passed for three touchdowns and UC Davis forced five turnovers, punctuated by a 60-yard interception return by David Meyer with 46 seconds remaining, as the Aggies beat Texas A&M Commerce 36-22 on Saturday night to give Tim Plough his first win as head coach at his alma mater.
The attendance was 8,743 at UC Davis Health Stadium. Ranked No. 18 in the FCS, the Aggies bounced back from their opening loss to the California Golden Bears in Berkeley, where UCD dominated statistically in the first half but was outscored 17-0 in the final two quarters of a 31-13 final.
Plough was the tight ends coach at Cal last season under his close coaching friend Justin Wilcox, and he was moved to be hired as UCD’s next coach last December. Plough replaced longtime coach and Aggies alum Dan Hawkins, who resigned to pursue other interests. Hawkins is an assistant coach at Idaho State, coached by his son Cody Hawkins, a former UCD assistant.
Plough was a four-year letterwinner at quarterback, starting for the Aggies as a senior in 2007. He had two stints as a UCD assistant coach, the second under Hawkins, rising to offensive coordinator. Plough commuted daily from Walnut Creek in Contra Costa County to UCD from December until May when he and wife Christine and their two young sons bought a house in Davis. Plough met his wife-to-be when they were UCD students.
Hastings completed 23 of 39 passes for 320 yards, hitting C.J. Hutton eight times for 84 yards. Hunter Ridley gave UCD a 9-0 lead on field goals of 28, 32 and 29 yards. Lan Larison rushed for 127 yards on 28 carries for the Aggies, who moved to 5-0 alltime against Texas A&M Commerce, a program that had 23 conference championships to its credit at lower levels before the move up to Division I in 2021.
Hastings found Chaz Davis for a 4-yard score and a 15-0 lead with 12:07 left in the third quarter. The senior extended it to 22-7 with a 54-yard strike to Samuel Gbatu. Hastings later found Winston Williams for a 14-yard score for a 29-7 lead with 9:02 left to play.
“I know it’s a dirty win, but I’ll take a dirty win over a clean loss anytime,” Plough said.
The Aggies will visit Southern Utah on Saturday in Cedar City before hosting Utah Tech on Sept. 21 on Back to School Day. Commerce hosts No. 8 Sacramento State on Sept. 21. UCD and Sac State are members of the Big Sky Conference.