The UC Davis Aggies lost to the California Bears 27-13 in their season opener Saturday in Berkeley, California. The Aggies had Cal on the ropes early but could not maintain the momentum. Cal’s Ashtyn Davis fumbled the opening kickoff, and the Aggies recovered on the Bears 21-yard line. UC Davis then went on for a short 21-yard touchdown drive which ended with a two-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Ulonzo Gilliam Jr.

The Aggies jumped out 10-0 lead in the first quarter turnovers helped them jump out to that lead. The Aggies forced four turnovers in the game but were not able to do too much with them. The Bears scored 13 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 3 point lead at halftime.

Cal’s secondary, which is one of the best in the country made it hard for Aggie star quarterback Jake Maier to complete passes down the field. Maier completed 19 out of 37 passes for 173 yards passing and averaged 4.7 yards per pass attempt. Maier now knows what he feels like to go up against a top-notch secondary and should take this as a learning experience and get better from it. UC Davis should not see a secondary like Cal’s for the rest of the season.

UC Davis Aggies defense held up pretty well in the beginning, but Cal’s offensive line started wearing on them. The Bears running Christopher Brown Jr. ran for 197 yards on 36 carries. Also, he ran for one touchdown and averaged 5.5 yards per rush. As a team, Cal ran for 233 yards to the Aggies 83. Ulonzo Gilliam did have a good day rushing the ball, he ran 89 yards on 18 rushed and added one touchdown. The game started to get out of hand so the Aggies could not run as much.

The Aggies were very competitive in the game against Cal; they have some stuff they need to work on. Like cleaning up the run defense and cashing in when creating turnovers. UC Davis came in the ranked eight in FCS; i do not think they will drop down too far. The Aggies will need to rebound next week when they travel down to San Deigo to play Toreros.

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