A rude welcome back

DAVIS, Calif. — Idaho was unable to party like it was 1995 on Saturday.

In their first Big Sky Conference football game in 23 seasons, the Vandals were blasted 44-21 by UC Davis before 8,179 at Aggie Stadium.

“Disappointing,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “Sometimes you get whupped, but I think some guys played hard, but I think some guys didn’t, and that’s disappointing. We’ve got to find enough guys that want to go out there and compete, and be physical for Portland State, and find a way to win.”

Senior running back Isaiah Saunders led the Vandals (1-2) with 102 yards rushing. It was Saunders’ first 100-yard game of the season and third of his career. Junior quarterback Mason Petrino finished 23 of 41 for 284 yards and three touchdowns — all career highs.

UC Davis (3-1) totaled 512 yards of offense, split evenly between 256 rushing yards and 256 passing yards.

Aggies quarterback Jake Maier completed 25 of 37 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns — to Keelan Doss, Ulonzo Gilliam and Darius Livingston for 20, 34 and 16 yards, respectively.

The touchdown throw to Doss came on the 11th play of the game-opening drive.

Tehran Thomas was the leading rusher at 119 yards on 15 carries, including one score from the 4, capping a 12-play, 84-yard drive after Idaho lost the ball on downs. The Vandals tried to convert on fourth-and-3 but Colton Richardson was sacked by Montell Bland for a loss of 14 yards.

Thomas’ touchdown with less than a minute left in the first quarter gave the Aggies a 14-0 lead. UC Davis added a special teams touchdown in the second quarter, blocking a punt by Lakeland High product Cade Coffey at the goal line and recovering it in the end zone.

The Vandals trailed 24-0 before Petrino found David Ungerer for a 14-yard touchdown late in the second quarter. Ungerer finished with a game-high 86 receiving yards on a career-high-tying nine catches.

“I thought David Ungerer played his tail off,” Paul Petrino said. “I think one drive, he made every single play — felt like it. Competed hard, made some great blocks.”

UC Davis scored the next 20 points to take a 44-7 lead at the end of the third quarter. Jeff Cotton and Roshaun Johnson each caught touchdown passes from Petrino in the fourth to provide the final margin. Cotton hauled in a 46-yard score and has scored in each of the first three games. Johnson’s 29-yard touchdown catch was his first career visit to the end zone.

“I think in the second half guys started making plays, and started competing,” Paul Petrino said. “First half, our first two drives we actually had decent drives, we just didn’t convert on third down. Second half we started converting, staying on the field ... ”

Idaho committed two turnovers, both coming inside the 5-yard line. On Idaho’s first drive of the second half, Mason Petrino had a pass intercepted at the goal line. Idaho’s first drive of the fourth quarter ended with an Ungerer fumble at the UC Davis 2 as he was fighting for the end zone.

“Should have had 14 more points,” Petrino said. “That’s just stuff we’ve got to quit doing. You can’t get a punt blocked for a touchdown. And you’ve got to tackle. That might have been as bad a tackling as I’ve seen since I’ve been head coach at Idaho.”

The Vandals return home Saturday for their first home conference game against Portland State. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. at the Kibbie Dome.

UC Davis 44, Idaho 21

Idaho 0 7 0 14 — 21

UC Davis 14 13 17 0 — 44

First Quarter

UCD—Doss 20 pass from Maier (O’Rourke kick), 11:32.

UCD—Thomas 4 run (O’Rourke kick), 0:53.

Second Quarter

UCD—Modise 0 blocked punt return (O’Rourke kick), 9:59.

UCD—FG O’Rourke 31, 5:52.

IDHO—Ungerer 14 pass from Petrino (Coffey kick), 1:50.

UCD—FG O’Rourke 29, 0:00.

Third Quarter

UCD—FG O’Rourke 35, 7:14.

UCD—Gilliam 34 pass from Maier (O’Rourke kick), 5:09.

UCD—Livingston 16 pass from Maier (O’Rourke kick), 1:35.

Fourth Quarter

IDHO—Cotton 46 pass from Petrino (Coffey kick), 14:19.

IDHO—Johnson 29 pass from Petrino (Coffey kick), 0:34.

IDHO UCD

First downs 20 28

Rushes-yards 32-117 52-256

Passing 299 256

Comp-Att-Int 25-46-1 25-39-0

Return Yards 78 58

Punts-Avg. 6-37.7 4-41.0

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-0

Penalty-Yards 10-80 11-106

Time of Possession 29:43 30:17

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Idaho, I. Saunders 20-102, M. Petrino 6-8, C. Elliss 3-8, T. Walker 1-7, R. Johnson 1-6, C. Richardson 1-(minus 14). UC Davis, T. Thomas 15-119, U. Gilliam 16-84, N. Modise 8-35, K. Doss 2-21, R. Martinez 1-3, E. Hicks 1-2, M. Layton 2-0, C. Crawford 1-0, T. Facey 1-0, J. Maier 5-(minus 8).

PASSING—Idaho, M. Petrino 23-41-1-284, C. Richardson 2-5-0-15. UC Davis, J. Maier 25-37-0-256, G. Faulk 0-2-0-0.

RECEIVING—Idaho, D. Ungerer 9-86, J. Cotton 5-79, C. Haywood 5-56, R. Johnson 3-41, D. Lee 2-32, K. Elliss 1-5. UC Davis, J. Harrell 4-66, U. Gilliam 4-49, J. Kraft 4-37, K. Doss 4-32, K. Vaughn 2-26, D. Livingston 1-16, N. Modise 1-14, C. Skeptaris 1-11, C. Crawford 3-6, T. Thomas 1-(minus 1).