UC Davis beats Portland State 31-24

UC Davis1-031
Portland State0-124Final
Sat, Aug 29 · Hillsboro Stadium, Portland, Ore. · Crowd 2,367ESPN+

UC Davis beat Portland State 31-24.

Box score

UC Davis 31, Portland State 24

Portland State covered +25.5 by 18.5. The total, 55, stayed under 60.5.

UC Davis leaders

  • Passing Treynor Cleeland 22 of 39, 287 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
  • Rushing Jordan Fisher 14 for 65 yds, 2 TD; Matteo Perez 5 for 17 yds
  • Receiving Samuel Gbatu Jr. 8 for 107 yds, 1 TD; Laviel Pickett 3 for 53 yds, 1 TD

Portland State leaders

  • Passing Tyrese Smith 23 of 36, 268 yds, 1 INT
  • Rushing Delon Thompson 15 for 48 yds; Tyrese Smith 13 for 33 yds, 2 TD
  • Receiving Devon Anderson 6 for 99 yds; Cru Newman 7 for 66 yds

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last three games · 2025 season

UC Davis · 9-4

Rated 116th in our preseason ratings.

L 31-42 vs Illinois State #93 of 667

lost by 11 as a 3-point favorite

W 47-26 vs Rhode Island #100 of 667

W 31-27 vs Sacramento State #109 of 667

won by 4 as a 5-point favorite

UC Davis won 31-27 vs Sacramento State. Chance to win started at 72%, low 31%, high 99%.

L 17-38 @ Montana State #44 of 667

lost by 21 as a 19-point underdog

W 28-14 @ Idaho #162 of 667

won by 14 as a 2.5-point favorite

L 36-38 vs Idaho State #194 of 667

lost by 2 as an 11.5-point favorite

W 27-16 @ Northern Colorado #201 of 667

won by 11 as an 8.5-point favorite

W 45-24 vs Northern Arizona #179 of 667

won by 21 as a 7-point favorite

W 34-27 @ Cal Poly #172 of 667

W 34-12 vs Weber State #192 of 667

won by 22 as a 16.5-point favorite

W 50-34 vs Southern Utah #163 of 667

won by 16 as a 6.5-point favorite

L 10-70 @ WashingtonTop 25 #34 of 667

lost by 60 as a 29.5-point underdog

UC Davis lost 10-70 at Washington. Chance to win started at 2%, low under 1%, high 2%.

W 31-24 @ Utah Tech #229 of 667

won by 7 as an 18.5-point favorite

Last three games · 2025 season

Portland State · 1-11

Rated 252nd in our preseason ratings.

L 13-24 @ Northern Colorado #235 of 667

lost by 11 as a 10.5-point underdog

L 17-63 vs Montana #70 of 667

lost by 46 as a 30.5-point underdog

L 24-52 vs Sacramento State #102 of 667

lost by 28 as a 20.5-point underdog

W 40-35 @ Cal Poly #195 of 667

won by 5 as an 18-point underdog

L 6-45 @ Idaho #154 of 667

lost by 39 as a 21.5-point underdog

L 27-43 vs Weber State #205 of 667

lost by 16 as a 6-point underdog

L 27-35 @ Eastern Washington #199 of 667

lost by 8 as an 11-point underdog

L 17-31 vs Northern Arizona #144 of 667

lost by 14 as a 21-point underdog

L 3-23 @ Hawai'i #147 of 667

lost by 20 as a 36.5-point underdog

Portland State lost 3-23 at Hawai'i. Chance to win started at 1%, low under 1%, high 3%.

L 20-50 @ North Dakota #143 of 667

lost by 30 as a 36.5-point underdog

L 0-69 @ BYUTop 25 #53 of 667

lost by 69 as a 44.5-point underdog

Portland State lost 0-69 at BYU. Chance to win started at under 1%, low under 1%, high 1%.

L 0-42 vs Tarleton State #104 of 667

lost by 42 as a 16.5-point underdog

The series

UC Davis leads the series 7-6

13 meetings since 2004 · UC Davis has won the last 4

Portland State wonUC Davis won2004: Portland State by 172005: Portland State by 22007: UC Davis by 92008: UC Davis by 142009: UC Davis by 32010: Portland State by 82013: Portland State by 312014: Portland State by 92016: Portland State by 222017: UC Davis by 232019: UC Davis by 172023: UC Davis by 142024: UC Davis by 120042024
  • 2024UC Davis 27-26
  • 2023UC Davis 37-23
  • 2019UC Davis 45-28
  • 2017 · neutral siteUC Davis 37-14
  • 2016Portland State 51-29

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

Our model and the betting line don’t fully agree on Portland State’s chances here.

50-50Model · 30%Line · 2%UC DavisPortland State

UC Davis favored by 25.5 · Total 60.5

The market

The spread moved 1 point toward UC Davis.

opened +24.5now +25.5

The total fell 2 points.

opened 62.5now 60.5

Spread: +24.5 → +25.5 · Total: 62.5 → 60.5

The books’ cut: 5.3%, the margin built into the odds

Home field

Portland State is worth +1.4 points (±6.4) more at home than on the road since 2018 — bottom tenth of FBS, 9th percentile.

0% at home, 11% on the road against FBS opponents (0-2 home, 2-17 away).

Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads -1.2 at home vs. away over 56 games — inside the ±8.4 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.

The visitors travel about 488 miles to get here.

Where next

Conference standings

Place in the conference, then conference record.