Grand Canyon University, ranked No. 14 by FloRugby, made a statement in its push for a playoff spot with a 45-14 win over No. 24 UC Davis on Wednesday night in Northern California.

Stung by penalty cards in the first half, Davis was unable to halt an unrelenting GCU attack and went into halftime down 29-0. The teams were even for about 20 minutes until the Antelopes finally broke the deadlock with two quick tries.

"[UC Davis] just came out and bashed us," Grand Canyon head coach Cameron Wyper said. "Davis is a very strong side. We just stayed to our systems really well. On attack, we haven't always been doing that."

After GCU scored for its second try, the wheels came off for the Aggies as Tarik Siniora and Harrison Morrow were both yellow-carded—one for a professional foul in the ruck and one for a shoving incident that also saw Grand Canyon's Roddy Hamilton take a seat in the naughty chair.

For 10 minutes the teams were down to 13 on the UC Davis side and 14 on the GCU side. Three minutes later, Aggies wing Bradley Maples made a dangerous late tackle was shown a red card. Davis was down three of its best players, and while Morrow and Siniora returned (as did Hamilton), Maples was done for the day.

Following the Maples red card, the 'Lopes scored three tries in the space of 10 minutes. 

"Most of the damage was done in the first half," said Davis head coach Andy Malpass, pointing out how pleased he was that his squad rallied to play Grand Canyon basically even, 16-14, in the second half. "My boys fought hard and have boxed above their weight all season."

However, this was still a club side taking on a school-supported team, and that difference showed itself when GCU made its first-half run. 

With its third straight win, Grand Canyon is starting to hit its stride at the right time. The 'Lopes need strong results and a good ranking to get into the D1A playoffs since they don't belong to a conference.

But the strength of competition counts, too. GCU played D1A teams New Mexico and Arizona State, which are not considered strong teams, but at least won comfortably. The Antelopes' best results until Wednesday were a 48-34 win over Utah and a 22-18 victory against a San Diego State team that, at the time, FloRugby has ranked No. 15. A few weeks later, SDSU beat UC Davis and then tied UCLA. (Utah also tied UCLA.)

GCU's other key results have been losses, dropping identical 53-22 decisions to Arizona and BYU. Scoring four tries against those teams is not easy and showed the 'Lopes are competitive.

"It was one of the best performances we have put together," Wyper said. "I am really happy with how the boys played. One of our biggest issues has been keeping our structure. Defensively we get good spacing and get off the line, but in attack, we tend to just lose it and guys lose where they’re supposed to be. 

"This time, if anything did break down, we were able to get back on the system, and as a result, the game seemed to flow a bit better."

FloRugby D1A Rankings

GCU's backline is adjusting to the absence of one of his star players, Maceo Brown, who was picked up to train with the USA 7s team. As a result, former High School All-American Austin Taefu has slotted in at flyhalf to replace Brown and done very well. Last year's flyhalf, Brendon Curle, has blossomed at fullback, where his talents are better suited.

Dom Iacavino, the freshman highlighted by FloRugby earlier this year, continues to develop, while Suwaiter Poch is a force at hooker.

"Key for us has been depth," Wyper said. "If you can carry depth on your season and have guys who can roll off the bench and have little or no drop-off, then you can do something in the playoffs. We've been fortunate so far."

Next up for Grand Canyon is Santa Clara and then Cal Poly. Ranked at No. 14 by FloRugby and also by D1A Rugby, GCU looks good for a D1A playoff berth, especially if the 'Lopes win out.