UC Davis Aggies at Sacramento State Hornets

Miles Hastings, Lan Larinson help UC Davis escape with 42-39 victory over Sacramento State

The Aggies (10-2, 7-1 Big Sky Conference), ranked No. 5 in the FCS coaches poll and awaiting an at-large bid to the playoffs, survived an upset effort by the Hornets (3-9, 1-7) and another letdown after getting within a two-point conversion of forcing overtime in a 30-28 loss to undefeated No. 2 Montana State with the conference championship on the line last Saturday.

It was a one-score game until Hastings connected with Winston Williams for an 8-yard touchdown, putting UC Davis up 35-24 with 7:32 left in the fourth quarter.

Carson Conklin answered with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Tau-Tolliver then hit Anderson Grover for the 2-point conversion to get Sacramento State within three points with 4:21 left to play. Conklin had with a 30-yard scoring strike to Danny Scudero with 60 seconds remaining following Larison's long touchdown run. The Aggies used three plays to run out the clock.

Hastings finished with 398 yards on 27-for-36 passing with one interception for UC Davis. He had touchdown throws covering 29 yards to Samuel Gbatu Jr. in the first quarter and 5 yards to Williams in the second. Gbatu finished with five receptions for 143 yards.

Larison totaled 148 yards on 23 carries for the Aggies, adding a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and a 12-yarder early in the fourth.

Conklin, a freshman, completed 32 of 44 passes for 389 yards with five touchdowns and an interception for the Hornets. His yardage and scoring throws were season highs. Scudero caught seven passes for 140 yards, while Grover finished with 10 receptions for 102. Jared Gipson had two touchdown grabs among his four catches for 53 yards.

The Hornets have not won since beating Weber State 51-48 in overtime in a mid-October home game.