UC Davis Rallies from 21-0 Down to Beat Portland State
Portland State led 21-0 at halftime, with a punt return for a touchdown in the bag. UC Davis had zero points. The Aggies still won 31-24, scoring 31 of the game's last 34 points.
The Vikings did their damage early. Tyrese Smith ran in from a yard out with 59 seconds left in the first quarter, and as the quarter expired Cru Newman took a punt back 78 yards. Smith added another 1-yard score with 8 seconds left in the second, and it was 21-0. That is where UC Davis started from.
The comeback began with a safety midway through the third, then Jordan Fisher scored from a yard out and again from 4 yards with 6 seconds left in the quarter, so it was 21-16 going to the fourth. Joshua Hossmann Lees kicked a 24-yard field goal with 9:35 left to make it 24-16. Treynor Cleeland then threw 15 yards to Samuel Gbatu Jr. and found Laviel Pickett for the two-point conversion, tying it at 24 with 2:19 to go. Cleeland hit Pickett from 22 yards with 27 seconds left for the go-ahead score, the only time UC Davis led.
The yardage was close (Portland State 389, UC Davis 375), and each team threw one interception. UC Davis threw for 287 yards and ran only 25 times for 88, so the comeback came through the air, with two sacks on defense helping. UC Davis starts 1-0 and Portland State 0-1.
Fantasy managers: Fisher and Gbatu both topped 25 points.