# 2018 UC Davis Aggies football team

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.

## 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.
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.
Keelan Doss – Sr. WR. Also selected as the preseason offensive player of the year.
Wes Preece – Jr. TE

### Award watch lists

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Walter Payton Award | Keelan Doss | WR | SR |
| Walter Payton Award | Jake Maier | QB | JR |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 7:00 p.m. | at San Jose State* | | CEFCU StadiumSan Jose, CA | | W 44–38 | 12,675 |
| September 8 | 7:00 p.m. | San Diego* | | Aggie StadiumDavis, CA | Pluto TV 245 | W 54–21 | 7,305 |
| September 15 | 11:00 a.m. | at No. 9 (FBS) Stanford* | No. 23 | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | P12N | L 10–30 | 31,772 |
| September 22 | 7:00 p.m. | Idaho | No. 21 | Aggie StadiumDavis, CA | ELVN | W 44–21 | 8,179 |
| October 6 | 11:00 a.m. | at Northern Colorado | No. 16 | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | Pluto TV 241 | W 49–36 | 4,155 |
| October 13 | 4:00 p.m. | Idaho State | No. 14 | Aggie StadiumDavis, CA | Pluto TV 245 | W 44–37 $^{OT}$ | 10,849 |
| October 20 | 4:05 p.m. | at Cal Poly | No. 10 | Alex G. Spanos StadiumSan 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 StadiumMissoula, MT | SWX | W 49–21 | 24,141 |
| November 3 | 1:00 p.m. | Northern Arizona | No. 6 | Aggie StadiumDavis, CA | Pluto TV 245 | W 42–20 | 7,890 |
| November 10 | 1:05 p.m. | at No. 5 Eastern Washington | No. 4 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | SWX | L 20–59 | 8,789 |
| November 17 | 1:00 p.m. | vs. Sacramento State | No. 9 | Mackay StadiumReno, NV (Causeway Classic) | ELVN | W 56–13 | 2,482 |
| December 1 | 4:00 p.m. | Northern Iowa* | No. 7 | Aggie StadiumDavis, 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 FieldCheney, WA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | ESPN3 | L 29–34 | 5,503 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Pacific time ||||||||
* ↑ 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.

## 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 movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | 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 |