2018 UC Davis Aggies football team

2018 UC Davis Aggies football
Big Sky co-champion
NCAA Division I Quarterfinal, L 29–34 vs. Eastern Washington
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 7
FCS Coaches	No. 8
Record	10–3 (7–1 Big Sky)
Head coach	Dan Hawkins (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Tim Plough (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Robert Tucker (2nd season)
Home stadium	Aggie Stadium
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Weber State +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 2 Eastern Washington +^		7	–	1					12	–	3
No. 7 UC Davis +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 17 Montana State ^		5	–	3					8	–	5
Idaho State		5	–	3					6	–	5
Montana		4	–	4					6	–	5
Cal Poly		4	–	4					5	–	6
Northern Arizona		3	–	4					4	–	6
Portland State		3	–	5					4	–	7
Idaho		3	–	5					4	–	7
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					2	–	9
Southern Utah		1	–	7					1	–	10
Sacramento State		0	–	7					2	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Although North Dakota was classified as an independent, games against them still counted as Big Sky Conference games. Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 UC Davis football team represented the University of California, Davis as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by second-year head coach Dan Hawkins, the Aggies compiled an overall record of 10–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, sharing the Big Sky titlewith Eastern Washington and Weber State. UC Davis received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs where, after a first round bye, they defeated Northern Iowa in the second round before losing in the quarterfinals to Eastern Washington. The Aggies played home games at Aggie Stadium in Davis, California.

On July 16, 2018, during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Aggies were predicted to finish in ninth place in both the coaches and media poll.^[1]

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	134 (6)
2	Weber State	124 (3)
3	Northern Arizona	121 (3)
4	Idaho	101 (1)
5	Sacramento State	94
6	Southern Utah	91
7	Montana	82
8	Montana State	76
9	UC Davis	64
10	Cal Poly	40
11	Northern Colorado	30
12	Idaho State	29
13	Portland State	21

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	651 (27)
2	Weber State	636 (19)
3	Northern Arizona	535 (1)
4	Montana	496 (2)
5	Idaho	483 (3)
6	Southern Utah	449 (1)
7	Sacramento State	415
8	Montana State	391 (1)
9	UC Davis	331 (1)
10	Idaho State	170
11	Cal Poly	169
12	Northern Colorado	166
13	Portland State	103

The Aggies had two players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.^[2]

Keelan Doss – Sr. WR. Also selected as the preseason offensive player of the year.

Wes Preece – Jr. TE

Award	Player	Position	Year
Walter Payton Award[3]	Keelan Doss	WR	SR
	Jake Maier	QB	JR

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:00 p.m.	at San Jose State*		CEFCU Stadium San Jose, CA		W 44–38	12,675
September 8	7:00 p.m.	San Diego*		Aggie Stadium Davis, CA	Pluto TV 245	W 54–21	7,305
September 15	11:00 a.m.	at No. 9 (FBS) Stanford*	No. 23	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	P12N	L 10–30	31,772
September 22	7:00 p.m.	Idaho	No. 21	Aggie Stadium Davis, CA	ELVN	W 44–21	8,179
October 6	11:00 a.m.	at Northern Colorado	No. 16	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	Pluto TV 241	W 49–36	4,155
October 13	4:00 p.m.	Idaho State	No. 14	Aggie Stadium Davis, CA	Pluto TV 245	W 44–37 OT	10,849
October 20	4:05 p.m.	at Cal Poly	No. 10	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA (Battle for the Golden Horseshoe)	Pluto TV 244	W 52–10	8,503
October 27	1:00 p.m.	at Montana	No. 6	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	SWX	W 49–21	24,141
November 3	1:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona	No. 6	Aggie Stadium Davis, CA	Pluto TV 245	W 42–20	7,890
November 10	1:05 p.m.	at No. 5 Eastern Washington	No. 4	Roos Field Cheney, WA	SWX	L 20–59	8,789
November 17	1:00 p.m.	vs. Sacramento State	No. 9	Mackay Stadium[a] Reno, NV (Causeway Classic)	ELVN	W 56–13	2,482
December 1	4:00 p.m.	Northern Iowa*	No. 7	Aggie Stadium Davis, CA (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	W 23–16	8,306
December 8	1:00 p.m.	at No. 4 Eastern Washington*	No. 7	Roos Field Cheney, WA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN3	L 29–34	5,503
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

^[5]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	14	21	2	7	44
Spartans	14	7	10	7	38

	1	2	3	4	Total
Toreros	0	0	21	0	21
Aggies	7	13	7	27	54

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Aggies	3	0	0	7	10
No. 9 (FBS) Cardinal	0	17	10	3	30

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vandals	0	7	0	14	21
No. 21 Aggies	14	13	17	0	44

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Aggies	14	14	14	7	49
Bears	0	10	0	26	36

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Bengals	9	14	7	7	0	37
No. 14 Aggies	7	7	8	15	7	44

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Aggies	0	31	7	14	52
Mustangs	10	0	0	0	10

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Aggies	3	0	10	36	49
Grizzlies	7	14	0	0	21

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	0	6	0	14	20
No. 6 Aggies	21	0	7	14	42

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Aggies	10	7	3	0	20
No. 5 Eagles	7	14	14	24	59

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	3	7	3	0	13
No. 9 Aggies	14	21	7	14	56

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	6	0	7	3	16
No. 7 Aggies	10	6	7	0	23

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Aggies	0	14	7	8	29
No. 4 Eagles	7	7	0	20	34

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	RV	23	21	19	16	14	10	6	6	4	9	7	7
Coaches	—	RV	RV	25	22	21	19	16	13	9	7	11	7	8