In just 8 seconds, UC Davis upsets college football's establishment
9.19.2005
On Saturday night at Stanford Stadium, the Aggies shocked most of the pundits and all of the Cardinal — but not themselves or their roaring, cheering, ultimately hoarse fans. We won 20-17 on a late touchdown, with just eight seconds left on the clock.
According to the Davis Enterprise, Aggie quarterback Jon Grant told his team in the huddle: "What better stage could we be on? We're in Stanford Stadium and we're about to have a game-winning drive." And they did, using a play that hadn't even been practiced during the week, when Blaise Smith caught a three-yard pass from Grant in those last eight seconds.
The Stanford team, barely able to extend the customary post-game congratulations to their UC Davis opponents, looked dazed and confused as they wandered off the field to the locker room. Left to celebrate were the fans in the stands and – out on the field under the stadium lights – the spirit squad, the stunt squad and the Cal Aggie Band-Uh.
One columnist who predicted, sort of, the possibility of the impossible was Sacramento Bee columnist Mark Kreidler. He said, "You only think they're not alike. You only think that because Stanford competes in the Pacific-10 Conference and has maybe 800,000 football players on scholarship, and UC Davis has this reputation as the mostly independent Little Engine That Could."
And now, other sports sages are saying UC Davis' win over Stanford may be the biggest college football upset in history. Sports Illustrated's web site, SI.com, has proclaimed UC Davis its "Team of the Week." That's probably sports writer hyperbole. We're just looking forward to our annual gridiron rivalry with the guys across the river over in Hornet Stadium, next Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Causeway Classic. See you there at 2:05 p.m. Go Ags!
Here are perspectives on the game:
- "The Inside Track; How're they going to live this down on the Farm," Los Angeles Times columnist Chris Dufresne, 9.19.2005
- "UC Davis stuns Stanford for improbable 20-17 Win," Associated Press, 9.18, 2005
- "Shocker on the Farm: Aggies stun Stanford with a late touchdown," Davis Enterprise staff writer Michael Mirer, 9.18.2005
- "Aggie duo helped take down Cardinal," Davis Enterprise staff writer C. Coulton, 9.18.2005
- "Mark Kreidler: These guys go by the book; UC Davis sees in Stanford a snapshot of where it hopes to go athletically," Sacramento Bee columnist Mark Kreidler, 9.17.2005