College football came to its senses in 1978 by finally realizing all Division I teams are not the same. The disparity was resolved by creating Division I-AA for what were considered to be second-tier programs, but the big boys remaining in Division I still picked on their little brothers in Division I-AA.
The bullying continues to this day with Division I now called the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Division I-AA being the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The acronyms do not mean much to most fans until an FCS little brother turns into David and takes down a Goliath FBS team.
That has already happened twice this season with Tarleton State beating Army in double overtime and Austin Peay knocking off Middle Tennessee. Most folks would be surprised to learn Army and Middle Tennessee are really FBS teams that will never be mistaken for Ohio State or Georgia.
Ohio State will turn an FCS team into a pseudo bye week by hosting Grambling State on Saturday. Oddsmakers have not set a spread because the Buckeyes would have to be favored by triple digits to draw any action. The largest college spread in history is 45.5 points.
UNLV was favored by 45.5 in 2017 against Howard, an FCS team, and lost 43-40. Howard’s victory does not rank as the greatest upset by an FCS team because UNLV will never be the FBS standard bearer. Michigan has been except for that one misstep in 2007 – a 34-30 loss to Appalachian State.
To this day, Michigan holds the dubious distinction of being the highest ranked FBS team (No. 5) to be upset by an FCS opponent. Four ranked teams have been victims of an FCS upset in the past 15 years with Washington being the most recent. The No. 20 Huskies lost 13-7 to Montana in 2021.
Therein lies a smidgen of hope for UC Davis in Saturday night’s game at Washington. The Huskies are not ranked, but their 38-21 victory over Colorado State last week was worth three votes in the coaches poll. Washington did not cover the 21.5-point spread. Betting lines are not set for most FBS-FCS games and that includes the first meeting between the Aggies and Huskies.
Colorado State has become easy FBS prey for FCS teams by losing to Sacramento State in 2022, South Dakota State in 2021 and Illinois State in 2018. The Hornets upset Stanford in 2023 after losing head coach Troy Taylor to the Cardinal and scored an overtime win at Oregon State in 2011.
UC Davis is 0-8 against Pac-10/Pac-12 teams since an improbable 20-17 win at Stanford in 2005. The Aggies took a bus ride to Palo Alto after losing to FCS brethren New Hampshire and Portland State. They trailed 17-0 in the second quarter against the Cardinal before roaring back and scoring the winning touchdown with eight seconds to go.
Aggies head coach Tim Plough was a backup quarterback on the 2005 team. He openly admits UC Davis plays FBS teams to earn thousands of dollars that “keep our athletic program afloat. I know that the role of the football team is to play games like that so that we can support our other teams.
“That’s really what this game’s about,” Plough added. His players are not Girl Scouts selling boxes of cookies, however. Recent history has shown UC Davis can give FBS teams a run for the money on the field as the athletic department is stuffing cash in its coffer. Here are five prime examples.
Aug. 31, 2024 – Cal 31, UC Davis 13: The Aggies’ first possession ended with Hunter Ridley missing a 46-yard field-goal attempt. The second ended with Miles Hastings throwing an incomplete pass on fourth-and-goal at the Cal 2 after the Aggies drove 65 yards in nine plays for first-and-goal at the 4.
Linebacker Porter Connors produced the first points for the Aggies by returning a fumble 6 yards for a touchdown with 16 seconds left in the first quarter. UC Davis trailed 7-6 after Connors’ big play, however, because Ridley missed the extra-point kick. Ridley was 56-of-58 on PATs in 2024.
Sept. 3, 2022 – Cal 34, UC Davis 13: Teddye Buchanan’s interception on the first play after the Aggies took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter gave UC Davis an opportunity to strike fear in the Golden Bears. The Aggies came away with nothing, however, when Trent Tompkins lost 2 yards on fourth-and-1 at the Cal 9.
Jack Plummer bounced back from the interception by Buchanan, who transferred to Cal in 2024, to toss two touchdown passes in the second quarter as Cal built a 17-7 halftime lead. Craig Woodson stretched the margin to 24-7 on the second play of the second half by scoring on a 39-yard interception return.
Aug. 3, 2019 – Cal 27, UC Davis 13: Chris Brown Jr. scored on a 6-yard run to cap an eight-play, 67-yard drive by the Golden Bears for a 20-13 lead in the third quarter. After squandering a 10-0 lead, the Aggies needed to get the offense going on their ensuing possession to slow Cal’s roll.
Quarterback Jake Maier was sacked for a 10-yard loss on first down and UC Davis did not recover. Daniel Whelan punted on fourth-and-19 at the 16, Nikko Remigio returned it 7 yards to the Cal 33 and the Golden Bears scored again by using the familiar formula of driving 67 yards in eight plays.
Sept, 15, 2018 – Stanford 30, UC Davis 10: Cardinal quarterback K.J. Costello’s pass to Trenton Irwin in the first quarter was initially called a lateral, which Aggies cornerback Devon King grabbed and returned for a touchdown. The call was reversed to Costello’s throw being a forward pass, however, so King and the Aggies were left emptyhanded.
Costello threw an interception on the next play, his second in the first quarter, but the Aggies failed to capitalize. The Cardinal responded with a 14-play, 63-yard drive to take the lead at 7-3. The Aggies did not reach the end zone until C.J. Spencer’s 26-yard touchdown catch on the game’s final play.
Sept. 3, 2016 – Oregon 53, UC Davis 28: The Aggies went three and out on their first possession, but Charles Nelson muffed the punt and Darryl Graham recovered at the Ducks 33. UC Davis led 7-0 four plays later when quarterback Ben Scott, a Vanden High graduate, scored on a 9-yard run.
UC Davis held the lead for nearly 10 minutes as Oregon fans began to wonder if they could get refunds on their season tickets. A 6-yard touchdown run by Royce Freeman with 25 seconds to go in the first quarter restored order in Autzen Stadium and ignited a streak of 33 unanswered points for Oregon.
