UC Davis linebacker Mason Moe broke up a fourth-and-10 Northern Iowa pass attempt with a little over two minutes remaining as the Aggies advanced to the third round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs with a hard-fought 23-16 win over the UNI Panthers Saturday at Aggie Stadium.
“We knew they would be looking for No. 86 (Briley Moore), so we were ready for it,” explained the 6-0, 210-pound Moe, who batted the pass away from the 6-3, 242-pound Moore with an assist from Aggie teammate Isiah Olave.
“I am so proud of our defense,” said Aggie head coach Dan Hawkins. “This might not have been our norm this season when people pay so much attention to our offense, but the defense was just outstanding. We stopped them in the red zone a couple of times and really had some big plays.”
UCD coach Dan Hawkins weighed in:
“In that second half they started playing a lot more outside the box, and I don’t want to say daring us to run — but they were saying ‘OK we’re going to take away (the passing) part of your game: the fly sweep, the top receivers, the slant routes…’ ”
Hawkins rethought his previous observation and pointed out that Farley probably thought, “OK let’s see if you can run it inside.”
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