Six turnovers doom Aggies in FCS playoff loss at South Dakota
Aggie season ends in the DakotaDome in a 35-21 loss to the talented Coyotes
VERMILLION, South Dakota - "This one really hurts because I felt like we were good enough to make it," said UC Davis head coach Tim Plough after the Aggies dropped a 35-21 decision to South Dakota in the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs Saturday afternoon in the DakotaDome.
Put simply, the Aggies turned the ball over an uncharacteristic six times - five interceptions and a fumble - against a strong South Dakota squad that tied for the Missouri Valley Conference championship.
The Aggies finished the year 11-3 in Plough's first season coaching his alma mater, but Plough clearly had his sights set on moving on to the next around.
South Dakota, 11-2, advances to play Big Sky champion Montana State Saturday, Dec. 21, in Bozeman.
"We're not a pat on the back team. Never have been," added Plough.
"You have to give credit to South Dakota. That's a very good football team and they've earned everything they have. We'll have to learn from this and see what we can do to get back here again."
South Dakota, which turned the ball over three times itself, led 21-14 after a wild first half, but pushed the count to 28-14 on a 17-yard pass from Aidan Bouman to Carter Bell with 18 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Aggies, playing without running back Lan Larison, who went out with an apparent ankle injury in the first half, cut the deficit to 28-21 on a four-yard pass from Miles Hastings to Trent Tompkins with 7:47 remaining.
South Dakota, however, remained aggressive and put things away with a time-consuming 75-yard scoring drive with little more than three minutes remaining.
"There's only one Lan Larison and he can't be replaced, but I was really proud of how Matteo Perez came in and picked up the slack,” said Plough.
Perez finished with 59 yards rushing and a touchdown reception, as the Aggies outgained their hosts, 433 to 378.
"I came back to Davis because I wanted to coach in games like this," Plough noted.
"I'm very motivated right now to put in the work and come back next year and get us past this point."
The Aggies came up with a key stop to stay close at the end of the first half that ended with South Dakota leading, 21-14.
The Coyotes had moved to a first-and-goal at the Aggie 3 with 16 seconds left and were poised to take a two-score lead into the half, but Gaven Cooke made a spectacular diving interception in the end zone to end the threat.
South Dakota dominated the early going, breaking from a 7-7 deadlock on a two-yard scoring run from Travis Theis and a seven-yard TD pass from Bouman to JJ Galbreath.
The Aggies responded with a workmanlike 12-play, 58-yard drive to cut the deficit to 21-14, with the payoff coming on a 10-yard pass from Hastings to Perez.
South Dakota opened the scoring with the game less than five minutes old on an eight-yard pass from Bouman to Galbreath to cap a six-play, 37-yard drive.
UCD evened things midway through the quarter with a 75-yard drive that culminated with a 13-yard scoring pass from Hastings to Chaz Davis.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com
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Thanks for bringing this great season to us.
Phenomenal Season.
Mixed emotions yet your article put those mixed emotions to rest.
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