Big Sky notebook: Aggies get best player back for EWU

Just in time for Eastern Washington, the UC Davis Aggies have their best player back at full speed.

Running back Gabe Manzanares, the Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year last season, is finally recovered from a foot injury suffered last spring. Second-year Aggies coach Ron Gould couldn’t be happier as his team opens conference play Saturday night against second-ranked Eastern Washington.

“Gabe is the heart of our team. … His football IQ is off the charts, and his passion for the game is something I truly admire,” Gould said Wednesday.

Last year, playing at his third college in as many years, the 5-foot-9, 195-pound Manzanares carried the offense on his back – rushing 259 times for 1,285 yards, moving to No. 3 and No. 5, respectively, on the Aggies’ single-season list.

On the way the being named to the All-Big Sky third team, Manzanares posted seven 100-yard games and scored 10 touchdowns. He suffered a foot injury that’s only now healed. He carried just six times at Colorado State.

“That was the plan, to get him acclimated, to hit him with some game-type situations,” Gould said.

Eastern coach Beau Baldwin also expects to see Manzanares in the spotlight.

“I think he’ll play and he’s a great player,” Baldwin said.

Manzanares, from San Francisco, played at Wesleyan in 2011 and at City College of San Francisco before transferring to UC Davis.

Even with Manzanares playing sparingly, UC Davis moved the ball well against Colorado State, amassing 379 total yards, including 179 on the ground. Colton Silveria finished with 97 yards on 14 carries, while Justin Williams, a redshirt freshman, had 60 yards on seven carries. Altogether, the Aggies averaged 5.4 yards a rush.

The Aggies also know how to take care of the ball. Despite a rugged schedule, they are plus-2 in turnover margin.

Unknown territory

For several reasons, Eastern’s players and coaches face a bit more mystery than usual as they prepare for UC Davis. For one, the Aggies are the only Big Sky team yet to face an FCS opponent. They opened with a 45-0 loss at Stanford, trounced Division II Fort Lewis 52-17 and fell 49-21 on Sept. 13 at Colorado State. Also, the Eagles haven’t faced UC Davis in almost two years, before Gould took over for the retired Bob Biggs, don’t have much film on Manzanares and are playing for the first time at 10,738-seat Aggie Stadium.

Fortunately, the Eagles know what they’re getting out of the Aggies’ offense: “They’re physical, physical, physical,” Baldwin said Tuesday. After three games, and despite trailing throughout the Stanford and Colorado State contests, the Aggies like to run – 91 rushes for 485 yards, and just 74 pass attempts for 485.