UC Davis entered its season-opener at San Jose State as a slight Vegas favorite. The Aggies built a two-touchdown halftime lead before holding on for the FBS victory.
Weber State had no such luck, building a 10-point lead before Utah smothered the Wildcats.
The Big Sky Conference opened its football season on Thursday night with an FBS win, a Pac 12 loss and Montana State’s hard-fought 26-23 victory over Missouri Valley foe Western Illinois
Big Sky Roundup
UC Davis 44, San Jose State 38 (AP) — Junior quarterback Jake Maier threw for 446 yards and three touchdowns and UC Davis beat San Jose State 44-38 on Thursday night for the first FCS-FBS upset of the season.
On the first play of the second half, UC Davis extended its lead to 16 points with its first safety since 2016. SJSU pulled within 37-31 on the last play of the third quarter as Bailey Gaither raced for a 79-yard catch-and-run touchdown up the middle. But UC Davis answered with a six-play, 65-yard scoring drive, culminating in Ulonzo Gilliam’s 18-yard touchdown catch.
SJSU went on an 80-yard drive to make it 44-38 with 1:24 left, but UC Davis ran out the clock.
Maier, last season’s Big Sky Newcomer of the Year, completed 25 of 34 passes for 354 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. Gilliam added two rushing TDs in the opening half. UCD outscored SJSU 21-7 in the second quarter for a 35-21 halftime lead.
Keelan Doss, last year’s Walter Payton Award national finalist, caught 11 passes for 85 yards for UC Davis. Gilliam became the ninth Aggie to score three touchdowns in a single game.
SJSU running back Tyler Nevens who scored two touchdowns, was taken off the field in a stretcher after a helmet-to-helmet collision.
Weber State linebacker Landon Stice
Utah 41, Weber State 10 — Weber State jumped out to a 10-0 lead thanks to a 42-yard field goal from Trey Tuttle and an interception by Landon Stice that turned into a touchdown run by quarterback Kaden Jenks.
After that, the Utes dominated their in-state rival, using a smothering defensive effort in the runaway victory in Salt Lake City.
Utah held Weber to 59 total yards, three first downs and three third-down conversions in 15 tries. Jenks completed 5-of-22 passes for 13 yards and rushed for 17 of Weber’s 46 rushing yards in his first career start.
“That’s as good a defense as anybody’s going to play this year. That’s an elite, big-time, Pac-12 — not just a good defense, that’s one of the elite ones in the country,” Weber State fifth-year head coach Jay Hill told the Ogden Standard-Examiner. “(Our offense) is only going to get better.”
Tyler Huntley threw for 253 yards and four touchdowns, Zach Moss rushed for 150 yards and his 86-yard score with six minutes left in the first half gave Utah a 14-10 lead before a dominant second half.
