The teams were only separated by three points on the field, but their post-game emotions were a world apart.

UC Davis (8-0) held on to a 13-10 victory over Sac State (5-4, 3-3) at Hughes Stadium on Saturday, as both teams battled through heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 20 mph.

The weather scared many fans away from the game at Sacramento City College, as it drew only 9,700 people, over 11,000 less than last year?s game held at Fred Anderson Field. This was the lowest attendance for a Causeway Classic game since the Sacramento State Sports Department began keeping track, dating back to 1980.

The empty seats at Hughes Stadium were noticed by the players.

“It didn?t seem as big,” Aggies? senior running back Matt Brown said. “It wasn?t the normal atmosphere.”

The Hornets had plenty of chances but the field conditions took away the kicking game. This proved to be key in the end as Sac State was forced to go for the win from 26 yards out on the last play, instead of attempting a 43-yard field goal.

“We couldn?t have made it from that distance,” Sac State coach John Volek said.

Volek had already seen two earlier attempts go awry, as Sac State had one field goal blocked and missed on another attempt.

“I would have done the same thing (not attempted the field goal),” UC Davis coach Bob Biggs said. “I just think it was too wet and muddy.”

The game ended when Sac State quarterback, Ricky Ray, was sacked, giving bragging rights for the year back to UC Davis.

“It?s definately special,” Davis quarterback J.T. O?Sullivan said. “Especially after they took it to us last year.”

Despite the heartbreaking loss, Sac State will try to muster up enough strength to win its remaining two games and improve on last year?s record of 6-5.

“This is a very hard loss for where we?re trying to take our program,” Volek said. “But, we still have a chance to go 7-4.”

Sac State?s center, Terence Wagner, knows that it doesn?t help to cry over what might have been, when there are still games to be won.

“If we could just get 7-4, and improve a game every year, that?s good,” Wagner said. “This is not the time to quit and give up. 7-4 is a great improvement from two years ago.” Wagner?s teammate, quarterback Ricky Ray, also feels that something can still be made out of the last two games.

“We still have a shot to do big things in the Big Sky but our playoff chances are pretty much done now,” Ray said. “It was pretty bad out there. We were limited to very basic plays and the ball weighed like five pounds.”

Although Davis went into the game averaging 55 points per game, Sac State held them to only one touchdown and two field goals.

O?Sullivan didn?t expect his team to score 50 points against the Hornets.

“Going into games, we?re not thinking we?re going to score 55 points. All we do is concentrate on the week?s opponent and win that game,” O?Sullivan said. “This is a great win against probably the best opponent on our schedule.”

The teams played as even a game as they could have, but in the end only UC Davis was smiling.

“We support each other in close games, because that is what you do. You come together as a family,” Biggs said. “Coming into this game at 7-0, there were a lot of expectations that we were expected to win. But Sac State is a couple of fumbles away from being in the top ten.”

Biggs realized that to defeat the Hornets, his team would have to stop the run, as they allowed Sac State?s Charles Roberts to run for 211 yards last year. Although the Aggies allowed senior running back Charles Roberts 118 yards in 27 carries, Biggs was still pleased with his defense?s performance in that area.

“The goal is always to stop the run first,” Biggs said. “We did a great job.” With Roberts? performance, he became the all-time Division 1AA career-rushing leader as he boosted his total to 6,209.

“Scott (Towne) and Charles had a huge effort,” Volek said about Roberts and Towne?s last Causeway Classic.

Towne caught seven passes for 126 yards and the Hornets? lone touchdown in the loss. Last year, Towne also had a big game versus Davis as he hauled in seven of Ray?s passes for 167 yards and scored two touchdowns. Towne?s performance in these games does not surprise Ray at all.

“Scott is a guy who plays with a lot of emotion,” Ray said. “And with the Davis game, it is even higher.”

Towne did not want to talk about his performance with such a devastating loss so fresh in his mind.

“It?s a tough loss,” Towne said. “Davis is a real well coached team and we had a couple of penalties.”

Sac State jumped on the board first with a 26-yard field goal midway through the first quarter. Barely into the second quarter, UC Davis tied the score at three and the defensive battle was on.

At the end of the half, Sac State drove down the field and appeared ready to score a touchdown going into the break. Roberts rattled off a 16-yard run and Towne caught a 33-yard pass, putting the Hornets at the Aggies? four-yard line. But two false start penalties and a blocked field goal kept the score tied at three at the half.

“The blocked field goal got them the momentum at the end of the half,” Volek said. “For some reason, we kept going offsides.”

In the third quarter, Ray hit Towne for a 38-yard gain to get inside the Aggies? 10-yard line. But again a penalty moved them back and kicker Jimmy Sanchez missed a 35-yard goal on the muddied field.

On the very next play, O?Sullivan threw an 80-yard touchdown to Onome Ojo, and Davis led 10-3.

Davis led 13-3 heading into the fourth quarter and the rain really started to come down hard. But at the same time, the Hornets also finally found the end zone. Towne scored on a 25-yard pass from Ray and the Hornets trailed only 13-10 with 9:42 left.

Sac State began its last drive with three minutes left. Ray moved the team down the field with a 29-yard run and Lamont Webb caught a pass with six seconds left at the six-yard line. Ray was then sacked and Davis had won the Causeway Classic 13-10.

Sac State will host Cal State Northridge at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday at Fred Anderson Field, in its final home game of the year.