DAVIS, Calif., Oct. 11 ? Tysson Poots tied a Southern Utah record with four touchdown catches as Southern Utah had it going early and late but UC Davis reeled off 35 straight points to erase an early deficit, then held off a Thunderbird comeback in taking a 49-26 win in the Great West Conference opener for both teams.
SUU saw a two-game wining streak and as it dropped to 3-4 with the loss and 0-1 in conference play while UC Davis won its second straight in moving to 3-4 and 1-0. The loss also kept SUU winless in seven tries at UC Davis.
Poots finished with eight receptions for 144 yards yards and the four scores. The four receiving TDs tied the SUU record set by Ryan Moynier at San Francisco State back in 1991 and the receptions and yards were both personal as well as team season-highs. The four TD passes were a personal-high for quarterback Cody Stone, who completed 21-of-41 passes for 287 yards.
UC Davis took a 7-0 lead after blocking a punt but Cody Stone and Poots hooked up on 46- and 21-yard touchdown passes to stake SUU to a 13-7 advantage midway through the first period. A 53-yard Nick Miller punt return set SUU up on the UC Davis 25 yard line and it took just three plays for Stone and Poots to connect on the 21-yard scoring play.
The Aggies kept Poots without another catch in the half, however, and after SUU linebacker D.J. Senter, the team's leading tackler and the seventh-leading tackler in the nation with and average of 12.0 per game, UC Davis reeled off 35 straight points to put SUU in a huge hole.
UC Davis went got scores on a 5-yard pass from Greg Denham to Brandon Rice and a 5-yard Brandon Tucker run with five seconds to play in the first period.
In the second period UC Davis ran off an 18-play drive that took up 9:36 of the quarter to go up 28-13 on another Tucker run.
The Aggies kept their foot on the pedal in the third period, scoring on their first two possessions of the second half to go up 42-13 with 10:59 to play in the third period. Denham and Rice hooked up again, and after Mike Morales intercepted a Stone pass at the SUU 36 yard line, Denham hit Bakari Grant on a 10-yarder for the second.
SUU finally got back on the scoreboard when Poots got back into the offense, catching three passes in a nine-play, 76 yard drive. He caught an 8-yarder and a 39-yarder, then capped the drive with an 11-yard reception for his third touchdown of the game.
Poots and Stone pulled the Thunderbirds within 42-26 early in the fourth quarter when they hooked up on a 9-yard touchdown pass but that would be as close as SUU would get as Grant caught another TD pass late in the game to account for the final score.
The Thunderbirds rushed for just 13 yards and finished with 308 total yards while Davis had 468 total yards, 185 on the ground and 283 through the air as Denham completed 28-of-39 passes for 274 yards.
“Davis played really well with their defense, they put a lot of pressure on our offense, [but] ... we got enough scores, 26 points should be enough to win a football game,” SUU Coach Ed Lamb said. “Our defense wasn't aggressive enough, we didn't put enough pressure on them defensively. It was a long night for the defense.
“ Our receivers did a good job tonight, they really battled and were able to get things done, we took our share of advantage of their blitz,” he added.
-- SUU --
