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 .
Previous season
The Aggies finished the 2017 season 5–6, 3–5 in Big Sky play to finish in eighth place.
Preseason
Polls
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
Preseason All-Conference Team
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 watch lists
Schedule
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance 7:00 p.m. at San Jose State * W 44–3812,675
September 8 7:00 p.m. San Diego * Pluto TV 245W 54–217,305
September 15 11:00 a.m. at No. 9 (FBS ) Stanford * No. 23 P12N L 10–3031,772
September 22 7:00 p.m. Idaho No. 21 ELVN W 44–218,179
October 6 11:00 a.m. at Northern Colorado No. 16 Pluto TV 241 W 49–364,155
October 13 4:00 p.m. Idaho State No. 14 Pluto TV 245 W 44–37 OT 10,849
October 20 4:05 p.m. at Cal Poly No. 10 Pluto TV 244 W 52–108,503
October 27 1:00 p.m. at Montana No. 6 SWX W 49–2124,141
November 3 1:00 p.m. Northern Arizona No. 6 Pluto TV 245 W 42–207,890
November 10 1:05 p.m. at No. 5 Eastern Washington No. 4 SWX L 20–598,789
November 17 1:00 p.m. vs. Sacramento State No. 9 ELVN W 56–132,482
December 1 4:00 p.m. Northern Iowa * No. 7 ESPN3 W 23–168,306
December 8 1:00 p.m. at No. 4 Eastern Washington* No. 7 Roos Field Cheney, WA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) ESPN3 L 29–345,503
^ The game against Sacramento State on November 17 was moved to Mackay Stadium in Reno, Nevada due to unhealthy air quality as a result of the Camp Fire in Northern California .[4]
[5]
Game summaries
at San Jose State
1
2
3
4
Total
Aggies
14
21
2
7
44
Spartans
14
7
10
7
38
San Diego
1
2
3
4
Total
Toreros
0
0
21
0
21
Aggies
7
13
7
27
54
at Stanford
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 23 Aggies
3
0
0
7
10
No. 9 (FBS ) Cardinal
0
17
10
3
30
Idaho
1
2
3
4
Total
Vandals
0
7
0
14
21
No. 21 Aggies
14
13
17
0
44
at Northern Colorado
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 16 Aggies
14
14
14
7
49
Bears
0
10
0
26
36
Idaho State
1
2
3
4 OT
Total
Bengals
9
14
7
7 0
37
No. 14 Aggies
7
7
8
15 7
44
at Cal Poly
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 10 Aggies
0
31
7
14
52
Mustangs
10
0
0
0
10
at Montana
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 6 Aggies
3
0
10
36
49
Grizzlies
7
14
0
0
21
Northern Arizona
1
2
3
4
Total
Lumberjacks
0
6
0
14
20
No. 6 Aggies
21
0
7
14
42
at Eastern Washington
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 4 Aggies
10
7
3
0
20
No. 5 Eagles
7
14
14
24
59
vs. Sacramento State
1
2
3
4
Total
Hornets
3
7
3
0
13
No. 9 Aggies
14
21
7
14
56
FCS Playoffs
vs. Northern Iowa–Second Round
1
2
3
4
Total
Panthers
6
0
7
3
16
No. 7 Aggies
10
6
7
0
23
at Eastern Washington–Quarterfinals
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 7 Aggies
0
14
7
8
29
No. 4 Eagles
7
7
0
20
34
Ranking movements
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ 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
References
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons
College Division / Division II I-AA/FCS
Northern Arizona (1978)
Montana State (1979)
Boise State (1980)
Idaho State (1981)
Montana , Idaho , & Montana State (1982)
Nevada (1983)
Montana State (1984)
Idaho (1985)
Nevada (1986)
Idaho (1987)
Idaho (1988)
Idaho (1989)
Nevada (1990)
Nevada (1991)
Idaho & Eastern Washington (1992)
Montana (1993)
Boise State (1994)
Montana (1995)
Montana (1996)
Eastern Washington (1997)
Montana (1998)
Montana (1999)
Montana (2000)
Montana (2001)
Montana , Montana State , & Idaho State (2002)
Montana State , Montana , & Northern Arizona (2003)
Montana & Eastern Washington (2004)
Eastern Washington , Montana State , & Montana (2005)
Montana (2006)
Montana (2007)
Weber State & Montana (2008)
Montana (2009)
Montana State & Eastern Washington (2010)
Montana State & Montana (2011)
Eastern Washington , Montana State , & Cal Poly (2012)
Eastern Washington (2013)
Eastern Washington (2014)
Southern Utah (2015)
Eastern Washington & North Dakota (2016)
Southern Utah & Weber State (2017)
Eastern Washington , UC Davis , & Weber State (2018)
Sacramento State & Weber State (2019)
Weber State (2020)
Sacramento State (2021)
National championships in bold