A bowl team that went 6-7 last season, Cal hopes its Heisman Trophy candidate, running back Jaydn Ott, can get a jump-start on the competition against a UC Davis squad that went 7-4 last year. Ott topped 150 rushing yards five times last season en route to 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Ott’s 92.2 rushing yards per game rank second in the nation among returning backs. The junior begins the season with 2,202 career rushing yards; only one Golden Bear — J.J. Arrington with 2,452 in 2003-04 — had a higher total in his first two years in Berkeley.
UC Davis, which has earned Nos. 17 and 18 national rankings in preseason FCS polls, returns a star running back of its own in senior Lan Larison, the preseason Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year.
The Idaho native rushed for 1,101 yards and 13 touchdowns in just eight games last season, going for 255 against Eastern Washington and later 264 against Idaho State.
“There’s a lot that Lan still has to show,” Aggies coach Kevin Burke said of his All-American candidate. “He is becoming a more versatile player for us.”
Fifth-year senior Miles Hastings, a veteran of 34 games and more than 6,000 career passing yards at UC Davis, returns at quarterback.
UC DAVIS AGGIES over CALIFORNIA ... In recent years, the upstart Aggies have taken down the likes of Stanford, Tulsa and San Jose State, but they've had 11 shots at the Golden Bears and failed every time. Take the Ags by 2.
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