Tehran Thomas – VACAVILLE INSIDER

Aggies in rush to rebound

UC Davis offensive coordinator Tim Plough has one goal each week in devising his game plan. He wants sophomore running back Ulonzo Gilliam to carry or catch the ball 25 to 30 times. Plough would also like 15 to 20 touches for junior Tehran Thomas. If the two combine for 40 or more, it usually bodes well for the Aggies.

Gilliam and Thomas came close to 40 against top-ranked North Dakota State on Sept. 21. Gilliam had 19 rushing attempts and caught seven passes. Thomas had 11 carries and one reception. Their combined 38 touches and 173 total yards are a big reason why the Aggies gave the Bison a run for the money in a 27-16 loss.

North Dakota State had won its previous eight games by an average of 36 points, with the closest score being a 38-24 victory over Eastern Washington last January in the FCS national championship game. UC Davis earned enough respect to remain fourth in the FCS rankings instead of dropping with the loss.

Tim Plough
Ulonzo Gilliam
Tehran Thomas

The drop came this week. UC Davis fell to No. 12 after being humbled at home in a 45-20 loss to Montana, which replaced UC Davis in the top 10 after vaulting from No. 18 to No. 9. UC Davis had been in the top 10 since cracking it for the first time after rallying for a 44-37 victory over Idaho State last October.

This week also brings a long flight to Grand Forks for Saturday’s game at North Dakota, which lost 38-7 at North Dakota State on Sept. 7. By the time the Aggies come home, they will have flown 7,000 miles in three weeks to face two teams separated by 80 miles. At least they should be accustomed to jet lag by now.

A 25-point loss is not customary for UC Davis. Fingers can be pointed in several directions after the Aggies’ worst home defeat since a 34-6 loss to Southern Utah in 2015. Rankings meant nothing in those days with UC Davis finishing 2-9. They went 3-8 in 2016 and then 5-6 in 2017 in Dan Hawkins’ first season as head coach.

A 10-3 finish in 2018 raised the bar for the Aggies, who earned a share of the Big Sky Conference championship and advanced to the FCS playoffs for the first time. That makes last week’s loss much more difficult to swallow. Start with three turnovers, nine penalties, poor tackling and no sacks. UC Davis sacked Montana’s Dalton Sneed five times last October in overcoming an 18-point deficit for a 49-21 victory.

Gilliam and Thomas combined for 147 rushing yards and each scored a touchdown that day. Thomas scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 56-yard run with 10:59 to play. UC Davis got the ball back 69 seconds later when Sneed was sacked and lost a fumble at the Montana 14. Gilliam scored two plays later on a 4-yard run.

The Grizzlies were not as generous last Saturday. The Aggies did not have a rushing touchdown, extending their losing streak when they do not have one to six games. Gilliam and Thomas did not come close to Plough’s goal of combining for at least 40 touches. Gilliam had 18. Thomas finished with just eight. They combined to run for 75 yards, and Gilliam was held to a season-low 2.7 yards per carry.

Learning more on Thomas would have made sense, but suggest that to Plough and he will explain that Thomas’ productivity is dependent on Gilliam. Thomas is 2 inches taller and 30 pounds heavier than Gilliam at 5-foot-11 and 215, but Plough said Thomas is more likely than Gilliam to score on any given play.

“We love when Ulonzo starts the drives because he has earned it. He’s going to get the ball more,” Plough said. “We look at Tehran in the middle of a drive when the defense is tired and maybe Ulonzo is a little tired. (Thomas is) as fresh as a daisy and they’re breathing really hard. We look at Tehran as more of a home-run type of back. If he gets in the open and gets to full speed, he’s going to go the distance.”

The longest run for Thomas in four games this season was 18 yards against Montana. He missed the Sept. 14 game against Lehigh with an injury. Plough figures it is a matter of time before Thomas busts loose. Saturday’s game at North Dakota would be as good a time as any.

Montana manhandles UC Davis

Photos

Montana had a score to settle with UC Davis on Saturday, and the Grizzlies did just that in a 45-20 victory. Montana avenged a 49-21 loss to UC Davis in 2018 in which the Grizzlies squandered an 18-point halftime lead. Top: Carson Crawford lunges for the goal line to score the Aggies’ first touchdown and Tehran Thomas implores the crowd to cheer. Middle: Kris Vaughn celebrates with Lance Babb II after his second touchdown reception. Bottom: UC Davis safety Tiger Garcia lays the wood to Jerry Louie-McGee to separate the Montana receiver from the ball.

Ex-Wildcat runs with Aggies

Photos

Daniel McFadden did not expect any favors last summer when he arrived at UC Davis. The 2018 Will C. Wood High School graduate was nothing more than a walk-on with the football team. The running back was about as low as he could go without having to put away equipment and sweep the locker room after practice.

Then again, McFadden asked for it. Several smaller colleges were interested in his services after he rushed for 1,086 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior in 2017. McFadden may have even received a scholarship. UC Davis had nothing more to offer than an opportunity to try out if he could qualify for admission.

His 4.1 GPA at Wood saw to that. Any chance of playing was out of the question, however. Even dressing for home games would have been asking too much. He was a walk-on and a redshirt. He was nobody.

As McFadden labored in the shadows, sophomore Tehran Thomas and redshirt freshman Alonzo Gilliam dashed into the spotlight in 2018 by combining to rush for 1,662 yards and 19 touchdowns. McFadden did not need a depth chart to figure out where he stood on game days. He knew that would be on the sideline in street clothes.

“It’s humbles you for sure,” McFadden said after practice Aug. 17. “You just have to put your head down and keep working hard. You can’t control when you’ll get (in a game), but you can control how hard you work.”

A demanding academic workload pushed McFadden to his limits as a freshman. “I took my first math class andI barely passed with a C-minus. After that, I had to buckle down,” said McFadden, who could have hardly been blamed if he began to contemplate whether football was worth all the time and effort.

McFadden chuckled when asked if he would been missed last season had he skipped a practice or two. That was when he revealed why he could have never done that. Thomas would have noticed if the walk-on was absent.

Thomas made a habit of having McFadden stay after practice for extra work to expedite the former Wildcat’s learning curve. Thomas took interest in a freshman who would have nothing to do with the Aggies finishing 10-3, earning a share of the Big Sky Conference championship and making their first appearance in the FCS playoffs.

McFadden appreciates the favor now as much as he did a year ago. He learned what it means to be a teammate. He learned a team is only as strong as the weakest player on the roster. He learned what is expected.

“That showed that the culture here is different,” McFadden said. “(Thomas and Gilliam) are such good role models. They work so hard. If that’s what I get to shadow and work up toward, that’s just going to make me better.”

Most importantly, McFadden learned he belonged. “I’m part of it now,” he said.

Last year was not the first time McFadden felt like a stranger in football. He came to Wood from Vacaville Christian High as a junior and was informed by then-Wildcats coach Carlos Meraz that any playing time he received would have to be earned. McFadden responded to Meraz’s challenge by running for 923 yards and nine touchdowns in 2016.

“He didn’t flinch,” Meraz recalled. “That’s exactly the kind of kid he is. We went from splitting reps to being the guy.”

McFadden is one of four Wood graduates who will play at Division I universities in 2019. Two are wide receivers – Arthur Jackson is a senior at Eastern Michigan and Tayvian Cunningham a junior at Arizona. Quarterback Carson Strong is a redshirt freshman at Nevada and will start against Purdue on Aug. 30.

“I definitely have pride,” McFadden said of the foursome. “I was only there for two years, but those two years were amazing.”