UC Davis head coach Tim Plough has never been one to get carried away when praising a player. That was again true last Saturday after redshirt freshman Treynor Cleeland made his first start at quarterback in the Aggies’ 31-24 win at Portland State. Plough knows when to pump the brakes.
Cleeland threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns as UC Davis erased a 21-0 halftime deficit to win its 2026 and Big Sky Conference opener. The son of former NFL tight end Cam Cleeland was 16-of-21 for 232 yards in the second half after going 6-of-18 for 55 yards In the first 30 minutes.
Pllough lauded Cleeland for remaining poised when the game was on the verge of slipping away. Plough also made it clear that Cleeland still has much to learn, just as Caden Pinnick did in 2025 when he started as a redshirt freshman and led the Aggies to a 9-4 record and the FCS playoffs.
“I’m always going to be hard on those guys,” Plough said. “(Cleeland has) got a lot of things he’s got to get better at. That’s a great learning lesson for a young guy right there. He’s going to build a lot off of his performance, but he’s got a long way to go. We don’t need to build a statue of him or anything. Let’s just take it one game at a time for now.”
Pinnick’s debut was similar to Cleeland’s in that UC Davis trailed Utah Tech by 17 points with 8:01 to play in the third quarter. Pinnick threw two touchdown passes to Sam Gbatu Jr., and one to Zach Jones. Pinnick’s 60-yard touchdown pass to Gbatu with 6:17 to go put UC Davis ahead.
At the time, the 31-24 win was the biggest UC Davis comeback since erasing an 18-point deficit to beat Montana 49-21 in 2018. Now it ranks second to last Saturday’s game, which the Aggies enterd as 25.5-point favorites and nearly trailed by that much before getting their act together.
Pinnick played well enough to be offered $600,000 to transfer to Washington State. The Del Oro High graduate will start for the Cougars on Sunday in the Apple Cup at Washington. Pinnick will face the Huskies for a second time after doing so last Sept. 6 in the Aggies’ 70-10 loss in Seattle.
Cleeland should have much easier time than his predecessor when UC Davis pays a visit to San Diego at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Aggies have a seven-game winning streak against the Toreros and the average margin of victory is 26 points. An easy victory would be welcome with SMU on deck.
UC Davis will finally have its home opener Sept. 19 against Stenson and second-ranked Montana will come calling the following week. UC Davis does not play No. 1 Montana State this season, so beating the Grizzlies would put the Aggies in the championship race if they can avoid any pitfalls.
One was dodged last Saturday when UC Davis erased a double-digit deficit for the second time in its past two trips to Portland State. The Aggies trailed 14-0 in 2024 before rallying to win on the final play of the game when Miles Hastings fired an 11-yard touchdown strike to Trent Tompkins.
Hastings was a third-year starter, so few fans were surprised when he delivered in the clutch. Cleeland had to overcome his nerves last Saturday before trying to dig UC Davis out of a 21-point hole on the road. He is a graduate of Jesuit High in Portland, so his former coaches and teammates were on hand.
And Cleeland gave them quite a thrill. “We’ve known he’s special for a long time,” Plough said. Now a few more folks know that as well.
