Zaire Collier’s No. 52 jersey was ripped in the season opener Aug. 29 at Portland State, so the UC Davis center begrudgingly switched to No. 64. He is again wearing No. 52, but the numbers on his new jersey are old. They were salvaged from his jersey that was torn beyond repair and discarded.

Nothing was salvageable for UC Davis in a 62-22 loss to Montana last Saturday. The Aggies were torn apart by the Grizzlies, who improved to 6-0 in Davis and 10-2 in the all-time series. The loss was yet another reminder of why UC Davis is a second-string contender in the Big Sky Conference.

That may be true for now, Collier said, but he added that all is not lost for the Aggies even after a blowout. “Obviously you don’t want it to happen at all, but it was fortunate for us that it happened early,” Collier said. “It’s better to have a game like that in September than in December or January.”

Collier mentioned those two months in reference to the FCS playoffs. UC Davis made the playoffs in each of head coach Tim Plough’s first two seasons and will likely do so again barring a disaster in the remaining seven Big Sky games. The first is 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Eastern Washington.

UC Davis is seeking its second consecutive victory against Eastern Washington after losing the first 10 meetings. The Eagles have had a tough go of it in recent seasons. They are 0-2 in the Big Sky this season and were 12-20 from 2022 to 2025. Eastern Washington went 30-8 from 2017 to 2021. 

Senior Miles Hastings passed for 329 yards and four touchdowns in the Aggies’ 48-38 victory over the Eagles two years ago in Cheney, Wash. Wide receiver Sam Gbatu Jr. was a redshirt sophomore in 2024 when he caught four passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns, including one of 90 yards.

Gbatu is now the top target for redshirt freshman Treynor Cleeland, who has thrown for 1,189 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Aggies (1-1 Big Sky, 3-2 overall). Gbatu has been on the receiving end of 38 passes for 571 yards and four touchdowns. He has had 100 receiving yards in four games. 

Cleeland is the third starting quarterback to take snaps from Collier in three seasons. Collier was a redshirt freshman in 2024 when he became the starting center with Miles Hastings at quarterback, Redshirt freshman Caden Pinnick succeeded Hastings in 2025, but he is now at Washington State.

The relationship between a center and quarterback is much like a pitcher and catcher. Collier and Cleeland have to be on the same page, especially with Cleeland being a redshirt freshman who is learning under fire. Collier has 32 starts under his belt, so he speaks from a wealth of experience.

Cleeland is such a “perfectionist,” Collier said, that he can get rattled when the offense sputters as it did in the first half against Portland State. The Aggies trailed 21-0 at halftime, but Cleeland threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter as UC Davis roared back for a dramatic 31-24 victory.

“I don’t say a lot to (Cleeland) because he’s already got so much on his plate,” Collier said. “He loves football so much that he takes everything so seriously. I try to get him to calm down. He’s my third quarterback, so now I’m the vet in the relationship. I help him out so he doesn’t have to think.”

Collier is much closer with Cleeland than he was with Hastings or Pinnick because Cleeland takes more direct snaps than his predecessors. Plough believes having Cleeland behind Collier gives the offense a different look and anything that can confuse an opposing defense is just fine with Collier. 

A direct snap also allows Collier to get “downhill” with momentum to block a defensive lineman or linebacker. Collier will gladly take any advantage he can get, especially if it means his jersey might survive a game in one piece.