UC Davis covets breakthrough win against Eastern Washington

DAVIS, California – Eastern Washington will face another surprising team Saturday night.

That’s two in a row, which might make a few Eagles fans feel a bit unlucky.

They won’t get any sympathy from UC Davis, which is in the middle of one of the toughest stretches in school history.

Two weeks ago, the Aggies were waylaid by Weber State 41-3. They bounced back with a resounding win over Big Sky Conference preseason favorite North Dakota, and now host 10th-ranked Eastern before an expected sellout crowd at Aggie Stadium.

What would it mean for the 3-2 Aggies to finally beat the Eagles, who’ve won 37 of their last 42 Big Sky games and four Big Sky titles in the last five years?

“Well, that would be great,” said first-year coach Dan Hawkins, who spearheaded Boise State’s rise to prominence a decade ago and would like to do the same at his alma mater, which is 0-5 against Eastern.

“But I just don’t know that we have an answer for that team, or if anybody has an answer,” Hawkins said.

The question, which Eastern’s offense poses every week, is how an opposing defense can handle a complex scheme with talented wide receivers and a quarterback who’s among the best in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Eastern junior Gage Gubrud is coming off his third straight Big Sky Offensive player of the week award after leading a 52-31 dismantling of Sacramento State.

His stats: 35 for 50 for 447 yards and five touchdowns, which drew this response from one fan on social media:

“Slow Day for Gage.”

Call them fickle, but Eastern fans have grown accustomed to numbers like that from Gubrud. In 19 starts dating back to the beginning of last season, Gubrud has eclipsed 300 yards passing in all but five. On eight occasions he’s totaled more than 400.

Better yet, he’s finding more targets than last year, when Cooper Kupp, Kendrick Bourne and Shaq Hill dominated the stat line.

In a 56-21 win at Fordham on Sept. 16, Gubrud put the ball in the hands of 10 receivers. He found eight more at Montana and nine last week against Sacramento State.

“That’s what you like to see,” said coach Aaron Best, whose offense leads the conference in pass offense (358.4) and total offense (484.6).

The Eagles face their toughest Big Sky challenge to date in an Aggies defense that ranks first in the conference against the pass (181 yards per game). Leading the way is junior defensive back Vincent White, who has seven pass breakups.

Linebacker Ryan Bua has three fumble recoveries for a unit that is second the Big Sky in scoring defense at 24.8 points per game.

Perhaps more intriguing is the matchup between Eastern’s improving defense and Aggies quarterback Jake Maier, who was 33 for 38 last week for 415 yards and four touchdowns.

When is the last time Eastern faced an opposing wide receiver who leads the nation? That would be Aggies junior wide receiver Keelan Doss, who has 662 yards to top all FCS players.

“They will get after us and challenge our defense,” said Best, whose team is 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the Big Sky. “They have multiple players who are very talented on offense. They are multifaceted. They keep you guessing, they are creative in how they do it and they are difficult to defend.”