FARGO, N.D.--UC Davis held a 20-0 lead near the midway point of the fourth quarter, but had to hold off a North Dakota State University rally as the Aggies defeated NDSU 20-14 in a Great West Football Conference game played Saturday, Oct. 22 before 16,193 fans at the Fargodome. The Bison lost their first homecoming game since 1998 when Northern Colorado turned the trick 29-19.

UC Davis (4-3, 2-1 GWFC) led 3-0 at halftime on Emmanuel Benjamin's 44-yard field goal with 11 seconds left. Jon Grant scored on touchdown runs of 1 and 30-yards to extend the Aggies' lead to 17-0 with 1:08 left in the third quarter. Benjamin then nailed a 32-yard field goal with 8:27 left to make it a 20-0 cushion.

However, North Dakota State (4-3, 0-2 GWFC) stormed back. Steve Walker threw a 28-yard TD pass to John Majeski to whittle the deficit to 20-7 with 5:56 remaining. NDSU's Kole Heckendorf recovered an onside kick but the ball went back to UC Davis on an interception. The Bison held and then covered 93 yards in 30 seconds capped by Walker's 39-yard scoring strike to Marques Johnson in the right corner of the end zone that made it 20-14 with 3:10 left. The Aggies then recovered another onside kick, picked up a first down and ran out the clock.

Defense and special teams were important in the UC Davis win. Nolan de Graaff's blocked punt and eventual recovery led to Grant's first of two touchdown runs. Two interceptions by Nevan Bergan stopped a pair of Bison scoring drives, while Adam Cook came up with another. The Aggies also came up with four sacks of Walker.

Both teams struggled to move the ball and had under 300 yards of total offense. UC Davis had 106 yards rushing and 292 yards of total offense compared to NDSU with 3 yards rushing and 295 yards of total offense. The Aggies converted 13 of 20 third down situations, while the Bison were 3 of 14. UC Davis lost the ball twice on fumbles.

Grant completed 24 of 38 passes for 186 yards, and also rushed nine times for 41 yards. DeMario Warren gained 51 yards on 12 carries. Blaise Smith was a favorite target, catching seven passes for 63 yards, while Warren made six catches for 39 yards.

Walker completed 22 of 42 passes for 292 yards, two TDs and three interceptions. All of Walker's statistics were career highs.  Johnson caught seven passes for 89 yards to move to No. 4 all-time at NDSU in pass receptions (95). Heckendorf hauled in five passes for 97 yards.

Joe Mays led the North Dakota State defense with 13 tackles including nine solo stops, three tackles for loss and a pair of quarterback hurries. Kole Zimmerman finished with 11 tackles including six solos, one tackle for loss and forced fumble. Craig Dahl and Nick Compton each recovered a fumble.