The Causeway Classic, named for the Yolo Causeway that connects Davis to Sacramento, is an annual football game where UC Davis plays against their rival, Sacramento State. The game is analagous to the Big Game where Cal plays Stanford.
2010 Causeway Classic
In 2010, the Sac State Hornets were heavily favored to win and the game was played in a downpour from the 2nd quarter on. Sac quickly went up 13-0, including a score due to a blocked punt... But a fumble by Sac State let to a 13-7 deficit for the Ags. Then a Touchdown strike made it 14-13. The conditions at Aggie Stadium were very bad; there were several missed field goals. Finally, Sac State got a FG to end the first half at 16-14 Sac State. Then, at halftime, lightning and hail moved in. The lightning came very close to the stadium (possibly even as close as a 1/2 or 1/4 of a mile). The game was delayed at the end of halftime for 47 minutes due to the lightning danger. Everyone was cleared out of the seats due to the threat of lightning plus wet aluminum seats. Most of the crowd left to go home and/or watch the rest on tv at this time due to the lightning and heavy rain but those who stayed were rewarded in the end. The 3rd Quarter was sloppy and nothing happened. In the 4th, The Ags punted to Sac after blowing a scoring chance, but a freak play saved the Ags. The the ball bounced off the arms of the returner from Sac State and it was caught PERFECTLY by the aggies who ran into the end zone (but were given possession at the 7 by rule). The ags kicked a fg to make it 17-16 UCD with about 6 mins left. A few drives later, with less than three minutes left, the Ags were pinned down inside their own 10 yrd line and were forced to punt from their own end zone. The Aggies needed a long, good punt in order to prevent the Hornets from chewing up the clock and scoring the final field goal or touchdown without time for the Aggies to respond. They needed every yard. Sacramento State brought in their quarterback from last year as a sub (He led the Hornets to a comeback win at the Hornets Nest in 2009 against UCD in a game that is controversial b/c of a Chris Carter catch that was not called, which led to a collapse in that game. It is recalled with angst among many aggie faithful who witnessed the game last year). This year, he threw many long, successful passes and it looked bad for Davis. Sac State was within the 30 yard line of Davis with about a minute to go and a timeout or two remaining. However, the Aggies forced a Sac State sack at the 37 that put them out of field goal range. State called time out and was forced to pass on 2nd and 17. On 2nd and 3rd down, the Ags nearly picked off the pass both times. Finally on 4th and 17, UC Davis prevailed on an INTERCEPTION that sealed the deal for UC Davis' first win since 2007 and first win over Sac State at Aggie Stadium. The win crushed Sac State's hopes for the playoffs.
There is also a track dual meet between UCD and CSUS that is called the Causeway Classic but the two events do not take place at the same time.
To add to the confusion there is also a pizza served at Woodstock's called the Causeway Classic.
Some more history of the Causeway Classic can be found on the Sac State webpage
The State Hornet, Sac State's student newspaper posted an timeline with clickable game capsules for every regular season meeting of the two teams up to 2010 as a preview for the 2011 Causeway Classic at Hornet Stadium. It can be accessed here: http://www.statehornet.com/app/Causeway%20Classic%202011%20Timeline/index.html
