Cooper Kupp deserves as much blame as any Eastern Washington player for how the Eagles have tormented UC Davis in 11 all-time meetings. In 2016, the senior caught 12 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns as the Eagles scored the final 35 points of the game for a 63-30 victory in Cheney.
Kupp was not the only future NFL wide receiver to play that day for Eastern Washington. Kendrick Bourne had seven receptions for 82 yards and matched Kupp with two touchdowns. Kupp is in his eighth season with the Rams and Bourne is in his fourth with the Patriots after four with the 49ers.
Eastern Washington has had its way with UC Davis since their first meeting in 2005. The Eagles are 11-0 against the Aggies, not that UC Davis head coach Tim Plough needs to be reminded of his alma mater’s futility. He experienced it as a player (2005) and assistant coach (2012 and 2017-18).
Plough also faced Eastern Washington three times during his four years as an assistant at Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks beat the Eagles in 2014 and ’15, then lost 50-35 in 2016 in what turned out to be Plough’s last season in Flagstaff. He returned to UC Davis to join Dan Hawkins’ staff as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Hawkins resigned after last season, so Plough returned again to become the program’s 18th head coach after being at Boise State in 2021-22 and Cal in 2023. Along with inheriting players he recruited to UC Davis such as Lan Larison and Miles Hastings, he was also bequeathed the 0-11 record against Eastern Washington.
The 12th meeting of the Big Sky Conference rivals will be Saturday in Cheney, Plough addressed the red elephant in the locker room this week by imploring his players to avoid thinking of the game as an opportunity to settle 11 scores. None of them had anything to do with the first eight.
“This team is not connected to those other teams, I think it’s a mistake to think about the past that way” said Plough, who added he took a similar approach in preparing to face Cal Poly last week. There was no mention of the Aggies’ seven-game winning streak against the Mustangs in the game plan.
“We told them this is your team and your team can make its own story this season,” Plough explained. The 56-10 victory over Cal Poly will be deserving of a chapter in whatever that story turns out to be. The offense produced five touchdowns and the defense added one for a 42-10 lead at halftime.
“We’ve talked about how we haven’t played our best,” Plough said. “I thought definitely in the first half that was our best, specifically offensively. Hopefully, we can build some momentum off that and some confidence. We’re going to need it going on the road to a very difficult environment.”
Plough is not one to reflect on results, but even he was impressed with how his team left no doubt in the homecoming rout. That was never more evident than when the Aggies received the second-half kickoff and needed just 43 seconds to go 75 yards in three plays to stretch their lead to 49-10.
Hastings accounted for all the yardage by going 3-for-3 with completions of 39 yards to Larison, 11 to Chaz Davis and 25 to Trent Tompkins for the touchdown. With a little more than 29 minutes to play, Hastings was 19-for-21 for 344 yards and had already tied his career high with four touchdowns.
“That was one of the best moments of the year,” Plough said of the drive. “I told the team (at halftime) that I expected them to come out and play hard and not focus on the scoreboard. It let (the Mustangs) know that nothing’s changed on our end. We were going to keep playing the same.”
Plough pulled Hastings and three quarters and a career-high 458 passing yards. Plough substituted freely in the second half and lauded the reserves on defense for not allowing Cal Poly to score with the game in hand. Plough excepted nothing less even if a score or two would have been harmless.
“How many games have you been a part of where you give up a touchdown or a couple late scores and no really cares? But we care,” Plough said. Even with reserves playing. the defense pitched its first second-half shutout since blanking Idaho State after the first quarter in a 43-3 victory on Nov. 5, 2022.
