Jayden Stanley could not care less about leading UC Davis in tackles. The safety had four tackles in the Aggies’ 38-36 loss to Idaho State last Saturday to boost his total to 46. That is one more than fellow senior Rex Connors, who is stuck at 45 after not recording one in the past four games.
That is because Connors has not played since a nine-tackle effort on Sept. 27 against Weber State. And he had all nine in the first three quarters. Connors’ final season came to an abrupt end on the third play of the fourth quarter after scoring the first offensive touchdown of his career at UC Davis.
Connors had never carried the ball on offense and his only touchdown came on defense with a 35-yard interception return against Cal Poly last year. Head coach Tim Plough designed a play just for Connors before the Weber State game and called it on first-and goal at the Wildcats 4-yard line.
Plough called it again on second down at the 2 and Connors scored after plowing through a pile of bodies. The cheers subsided, however, when Connors had to be helped off the field. What Plough first called a leg injury turned out later to be a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Connors’ left knee.
Losing the all-time leading tackler in Aggies history because he played on offense has been difficult to swallow. Connors averaged 11 tackles per game and was on pace to eclipse his season high of 115 in 2024. He was second to David Meyers (122) in tackles only because he missed two games.
UC Davis has also lost Connors’ twin brother Porter and Grant Garretson at linebacker, offensive tackle Ernesto Nava, tight end Winston Williams and running back Matteo Perez. Four are starters and Perez was a key contributor. Walking boots are becoming quite popular in Davis these days.
Stanley is like Plough in that he refuses to use the injuries as an excuse. The Aggies did not lose to Idaho State because of the absent players. They lost because the Wildcats returned a blocked punt for a touchdown that Plough said jacked the odds of losing to “80 percent.”
They lost because Caden Pinnick threw two interceptions in a game for the first time and lost a fumble. They lost because they settled for field goals on two trips inside the 10-yard line. And they lost because they did not expect the Bengals to run the ball and the visitors did for 219 yards.
UC Davis had better expect Idaho will run Saturday because the Vandals average 182.9 rushing yards per game. And the Aggies had better be prepared for the Big Sky’s top two rushing teams – Montana State (228.8) In Bozeman on Nov. 15 and Sacramento State (249.8) a week later in Davis.
The Aggies will be ready if Stanley has any say in it. And he often does. Connors led by example in the secondary. Stanley tells his teammates where they need to be and what they need to do once they get there. The players do not take the field until Stanley implores them to remember what it takes to win.
“I’ve always been a vocal guy. I want to make sure we’re in the right mind-set,” Stanley said. “We win the game on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (in practice). We want to be the best version of ourselves. We worry about us. I’m not uptight because I know the answers before I take the test.”
