Northridge Passed by Davis at Finish : College football: O’Laughlin throws for five touchdowns, but Aggies rally for 48-38 victory.

Too many opposing Js, not quite enough from J.J.

For Cal State Northridge, so goes the summary of its 48-38 setback against UC Davis in an American West Conference game Saturday night.

The Js, running back Preston Jackson and quarterback Khari Jones, accounted for all but 14 of the Aggies’ 519 yards of offense as Davis (6-1, 2-1 in conference play) shredded CSUN.

Jackson carried a school-record 37 times for 184 yards and four touchdowns. Jones completed 21 of 39 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns.

Together, they more than offset a career game by Northridge quarterback J.J. O’Laughlin, who tied a school record with five touchdown passes before a homecoming crowd estimated at 7,200.

O’Laughlin completed 20 of 42 passes for 337 yards--setting a personal best for the third consecutive week.

Unfortunately for the Matadors, during a key second-half stretch, even he went cold.

A 14-yard touchdown sprint by Jackson on the final play of the third period gave Davis its first lead since the first quarter, 42-38.

O’Laughlin, who completed 15 of his first 26 passes for 291 yards, struggled after he put the Matadors ahead, 38-28, with a 14-yard scoring pass to Duc Ngo six minutes into the second half.

On Northridge’s next three possessions, O’Laughlin completed only one of six passes--that for a loss of three yards--as the Aggies turned up the heat on their pass rush.

“We shut down,” said O’Laughlin, who became the first Northridge quarterback in four years to pass for more than 300 yards. “We didn’t make the plays when we had to.”

His touchdowns matched the school single-game record set by Bruce Lemmerman against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1967 and equaled by Fred Grimes against Cal State Los Angeles in 1974.

The loss dropped Northridge (2-5, 0-2), which had 459 yards of offense, out of serious contention in the conference race.

“If anyone had told me before the season our football team would score 30 points one game (last week) and then 38 points the next and lose two football games, I would not have believed it,” Northridge Coach Bob Burt said.

Davis scored on its first possession, but Northridge was ahead by as many as 10 points midway through the third period.

The Matadors led, 28-20, at halftime and would have been in command had the Aggies not turned turnovers into 13 points.

O’Laughlin’s first-half touchdowns went to Victor Prince from 24 yards, David Romines from nine and Saadite Green from 65 and 31.