UC Davis does not need Rex Connors to carry the football. The Aggies do not need the senior to score touchdowns. Connors earns his keep by preventing opponents from reaching the end zone. And the safety is good at it. Connors might even be the best defensive player in UC Davis history.
Connors leads the Big Sky Conference and is sixth in the FCS with an average of 11.3 tackles per game. That does not include the 12 tackles Connors lost when lightning forced the season opener against Mercer to be halted in the fourth quarter and eventually canceled, wiping out all statistics.
Having 10 or more tackles in a game has become standard for Connors, who has reached double digits 16 times in his storied college career. He was well on his way to his 17th Saturday after collecting his ninth tackle midway through the third quarter of the 34-12 victory over Weber State.
That ninth tackle could turn out to be his last, however, because head coach Tim Plough called for Connors to carry the ball twice with the Aggies at the Weber State 4 early in the fourth quarter. Connors scored on the second carry for his first offensive touchdown. He had one on defense in 2024 with a 35-yard interception return against Cal Poly The Aggies will be without Connors on Saturday when they play the Mustangs in San Luis Obispo.
Connors sustained a knee injury on his scoring run, limped to the sideline and did not return. The Aggies led 20-6 before Connors scored, so Plough must have thought the game was well in hand when he unveiled his new goal-line package with Connors taking the snap in a Wildcat formation.
Plough defended the move by saying all the coaches were on board with trying it and the players were excited to see Connors play on offense. Losing Connors for the rest of the season would be a catastrophic price to pay, however, for allowing him to enjoy a few seconds of offensive glory.
When or if Connors will return was a question Plough could not answer Monday other than to say “we’re keeping our fingers crossed.” Plough sounded a bit more optimistic in his weekly press conference than he did immediately after the game when he feared the worst.
“Hope that’s not the last time we see him. Never want to see your leader go down,” Plough said amid a subdued celebration after the Aggies’ convincing win in their Big Sky Conference opener. UC Davis is 3-1, but rarely is a team shrouded in so much uncertainty as the Aggies are this week.
One player does not make a team, but the loss of a player who was a unanimous selection to the All-Big Sky team and an FCS All-American in 2024 could derail the Aggies’ aspirations. UC Davis was 11-3 in 2024, finished second in the Big Sky and lost in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs. The 2025 team might be better.
If nothing else, the Aggies are much more balanced on offense this season. Lan Larison had 346 offensive touches in 2024, so the ball was in his hands on 34 percent of the Aggies’ 1,018 plays. Larison led the Big Sky in rushing attempts with 284. No other player in the conference had 200.
If Larison was still an Aggie, Plough would have never pulled the stunt with Connors. The decision to do so stemmed from quarterback Caden Pinnick lacking the size for goal-line plays, Plough said, and the inexperience of running backs Jordan Fisher and Carter Vargas taking direct snaps.
That makes it seem as if Plough could not go with the Wildcat formation unless Connors took the snap. The Aggies have never had much trouble scoring short-yardage touchdowns without the Wildcat. And maybe the Wildcat is not worth it if the top three candidates to run it are incapable.
Connors already has enough on his plate. He was the Big Sky’s third-leading tackler last season with 115 and set a school record with 74 solo stops. He is on pace to have 82 solo stops this season after getting 33 in the first four games. And who knows how many he had against Mercer.
Whether Connors will have a shot at rewriting the record has yet to be determined. The longer it takes for Plough to issue an update about the possibility of Connors returning makes it more likely that the preseason pick as the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year might not make it back.
It would be a shame for Connors to finish his UC Davis career on crutches. It would truly be a shame to think that playing on offense is what took down a player has come a long way since once being known for his long blond hair.
