Nationally ranked UC Davis football holds off UNC

The championship started about as well as the University of Northern Colorado could ve hoped Saturday against nationally ranked UC Davis The No -ranked Aggies came to Greeley without their starting quarterback a Big Sky Conference offensive force in redshirt freshman Caden Pinnick UNC though couldn t convert points on a strong opening drive which seemed to switch particular momentum and a late-game rally never materialized in a - loss at Nottingham Field in Greeley The loss leaves UNC - - Big Sky still searching for its first home Big Sky win under third-year coach Ed Lamb whose unit and undertaking has made noticeable strides and progress this season The Bears held UC Davis - - Big Sky to three points in the second half but missed chances dropped passes special teams miscues and penalties ultimately kept the Bears from rallying for the upset We were not able to find a way to win a close battle in the end Lamb stated after the event What I m proud of is we made it a close challenge It certainly did not start out that way down - I felt that we had opportunities on offense and were not able to at least somewhat keep pace With Pinnick out with an illness the Aggies turned to senior Grant Harper for his first career start and he delivered in the first half guiding the Aggies to a - lead Harper was of for yards and three touchdowns in the first half and it looked as if the event was going to be another runaway for the Aggies UC Davis beat UNC - last year in Davis Calif and the Aggies led - at halftime Harper finished the contest of for yards with two interceptions and the three touchdown passes The Aggies ran for yards of which came from Carter Vargas UC Davis coach Tim Plough declared Harper had chosen time during the Aggies off-week last week to become more familiar with the offense He got into a good rhythm the offensive staff did a good job mixing things up and hit specific explosives the coach revealed On short notice I think he s a stud for what he did The Bears were much better Saturday Lamb declared the association revealed it s physically matching up with its conference opponents The band that beat us - last year we had no business being on the same field with them Lamb mentioned We couldn t cover them Couldn t tackle them Narrowing the gap Our young guys are getting older they re playing better they re playing more competitive The Bears grabbing a little momentum back for themselves scored with seconds left in the first half on a -yard pass from Eric Gibson Jr to Brayden Munroe Munroe caught eight passes for yards and the touchdown He dropped a pass on first down early in the competition with plenty of field in front of him for a long run Two plays later Gibson Jr was sacked by Sam Goligoski and the Bears had to punt on their second drive of the event UNC won the pregame coin toss and marched down the field on a really good first drive The Bears stalled in the red zone and set up for a -yard field goal attempt by Jacob Willig Aggies defensive lineman Rayne Mayo Jr got a hand on the ball and it went left for the miss The play killed a nine-play -yard drive and it proved to be a momentum-turning moment Willig also missed a point-after-touchdown late in the third quarter after a -yard touchdown run by running back Brandon Johnson cut Davis lead to - A University of Arizona transfer Johnson led the Bears rushing attack with nine carries for yards Sophomore Mathias Price was dealing with an ankle injury through the week and played limited time Lamb revealed after the encounter University of Northern Colorado football center Jack Ziebell on the field Saturday Oct during a Big Sky Conference match against UC Davis at Nottingham Field in Greeley The No -ranked Aggies beat UNC - Courtesy Lexie Martin UNC Athletics Taking advantage of a UNC turnover UC Davis got on the scoreboard first with a -yard field goal by Hunter Ridley late in the first quarter Gibson Jr rolled out under pressure from the UC Davis defense He was hit by lineman Trent Carrade and the quarterback fumbled the ball Jacob Psyk recovered for the Aggies near the UNC red zone as the first quarter ended UNC cut into the Aggies lead late in the third quarter off a Harper interception by linebacker Sione Tuha Tuha read the play perfectly circling toward the sideline at the Aggies and returning it for an apparent touchdown Executives ruled Tuha stepped out of bounds at the Two plays later Johnson scored from yards out Willig s PAT was blocked by Psyk and the points stayed at - Plough commented UNC did a better job in the second adjusting its pre-snap defense and presenting different looks to Harper A second Harper interception early in the fourth quarter set up another UNC figure The Bears defense pressured Harper and he threw a ball that sailed UNC safety Cam Chapa intercepted the pass at the Bears -yard line The interception was Chapa s third of the year University of Northern Colorado offensive lineman Levi Johnson appears to battle alone against UC Davis defenders during the teams Big Sky Conference event Saturday Oct at Nottingham Field in Greeley Nationally ranked No UC Davis defeated the Bears - Courtesy Lexie Martin UNC Athletics The Bears drive took them into the Aggies red zone but an offensive pass interference penalty on tight end Charles Garrison backed UNC to the UNC Davis Willig hit a -yard field goal and UNC cut Davis lead to - We didn t execute the way we needed to create a huge moment for our initiative Lamb announced UC Davis UNC UC Davis UNC st Q UC Davis Hunter Ridley field goal plays yards nd Q UC Davis Jordan Fisher pass from Grant Harper Ridley kick plays seconds nd Q UC Davis Samuel Gbatu Jr pass from Harper Ridley kick plays yards nd Q UC Davis Laviel Pickett pass from Harper Ridley kick plays yards nd Q UNC Brayden Munroe pass from Eric Gibson Jr Jacob Willig kick plays yards seconds rd Q UNC Brandon Johnson run Willig miss plays yards th Q UNC Willig field goal plays yards th Q UC Davis Ridley field goal plays yards