UC Davis
Cal Poly Accumulates 674 Total Yards in 55-38 Win Over UC Davis
11/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
DAVIS, Calif. – For the second time in his Cal Poly career, quarterback Chris Brown scored a touchdown by run, pass and receiving.
Duplicating his feat of a year ago at Weber State, Brown led Cal Poly to a 55-38 victory over UC Davis in the Battle for the Golden Horseshoe on Saturday inside Aggie Stadium.
Brown surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight year, rushing for 160 yards on 17 carries and scoring once on a 22-yard run. He now has 1,021 yards this season.
Brown also passed for over 100 yards for the first time this season, completing six of nine passes for 153 yards and three touchdowns – all to Willie Tucker spanning 56, 65 and 5 yards.
And for good measure, Brown caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Kori Garcia.
With the win, Cal Poly improved to 4-6 for the year and 3-4 in Big Sky Conference games. UC Davis fell to 1-9 and 1-6. The visiting team has won the Battle for the Golden Horseshoe three straight years and UC Davis still leads the series, 20-19-2.
Cal Poly amassed a season-high 674 yards in total offense, rushing for 491 yards and passing for 183 more. The Mustangs entered the game as the No. 1 team in the Football Championship Subdivision in rushing offense for the third straight year, averaging 401.8 yards.
The Mustangs never trailed, but were tied at 7-7 and 14-14 before the Mustangs scored three consecutive touchdowns to build a 34-14 advantage late in the first half.
UC Davis closed the gap to three points at 41-38 with 14 minutes to play in the game on a field goal and two touchdowns as Cal Poly fumbled the ball away twice.
The Mustangs, however, regained control with Brown's five-yard touchdown pass to Tucker and a 19-yard run by slot back DJ Peluso in the final 10 minutes.
Cal Poly assembled scoring drives of 64, 75, 68, 65, 74, 90 and 79 yards, but the one that stands out even more is a 99-yard, 20-play march that used up 7 minutes and 43 seconds in the second quarter and featured a pair of fourth-down conversions, including a fourth-and-one play from the Mustangs' 10-yard line.
Malcolm Davis capped the drive with a 15-yard run, his first touchdown as a Mustang, and Cal Poly led 27-14 midway through the second period.
Tucker produced a three-touchdown game for the first time in his Mustang career.
Kori Garcia scored on a 47-yard run for the Mustangs to snap a 7-7 tie in the first quarter.
Cal Poly converted seven of 10 third-down plays, both of its fourth-down plays and never punted.
Peluso, who scored his first touchdown as a Mustang, finished with 77 yards on nine carries while fullback Joe Protheroe added 75 yards on 12 trips. Garcia garnered 67 yards and Kyle Lewis had 46.
Tucker, Cal Poly's top receiver with three grabs for 126 yards, has 13 catches this season, six for touchdowns.
For UC Davis, Joshua Kelley and Manusamoa Luuga both rushed for 83 yards and combined for three touchdowns. Redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Spencer completed 25 of 37 passes for 311 yards and two scores and Luuga was his favorite target with seven catches for 59 yards. The Aggies accumulated 506 total yards.
Linebacker Tu'uta Inoke made 10 tackles for Cal Poly and Burton De Koning added eight. Marcus Paige-Allen notched the lone sack of the game. Darryl Graham notched 14 tackles for UC Davis and Zach Jones added 11.
Cal Poly wraps up the 2015 season next Saturday with a 6:05 p.m. Big Sky Conference game in Alex G. Spanos Stadium against North Dakota (6-4, 4-3 Big Sky), a 45-14 winner over Northern Colorado on Saturday.
Photos of Joe Protheroe at top of page and Chris Brown at left courtesy of Ian Billings
