Earliest post for a football game in AST history! Now that's the spirit, Finn!

I was shocked we’re traveling to play a D2 team. Finn, split the av gas and we can take my plane, wink. But i am planning on flying to Corvalis the next week. Extra seat if you want to go.

They're FCS

Crazy, i looked them up a few days ago and it said they were D2. Could they be D2 in some sports and 1 in others?

Transitioning? 2022 was their first year in DI.

https://www.tamuc.edu/news/texas-am-university-commerce-officially-joins-ncaa-division-i-and-the-southland-conference/

Ok thanks. I must have pulled up something a year old.

lol for what it's worth with this season's rosters Massey would have given the Aggies a 92% chance of winning... we'll see how things change going forward.

Trap game?

I read the article to say they are in transition limbo. Not eligible for most post season play for a couple more seasons.

So the Big Sky is looking different next year:

Sac State losing Coach Taylor and potentially some underclassmen in the portal...
Idaho State hires Cody Hawkins to run things...
Weber State HC Jay Hill stepping down...

It looks like it's Montana State on top of the mountain right now.

Don't forget, Sac St loses 2 QBs.

And their boards are worried Taylor is going to take his QB recruit, who is apparently top notch, with him.

https://www.roysecityheraldbanner.com/sports/texas-a-m-commerce-football-team-signs-eight-players/article_eeff1803-1f9e-524b-b171-2dbeaf7fdd09.html

If the initial notes on game time are correct, the Aggies will be playing in the East Texas heat at around 3 pm Central. I think this rivals UC Davis @ TCU in 2006 as the hottest (with all humidity factors mixed in) game time temps the Davis squad will experience in over 15 years. Fort Worth is only 100 miles west of Commerce.

Average temps in that part of Texas in early/mid-September are high-80's to mid-90's

worse than Arizona State in 2011? that was a blustery 104 at kickoff!

Okay, well that sounds horrible.

Shoot, when the 2017 or 2018 team went to Stanford at the new stadium, there was almost no wind in the stadium, and it was an early September, Noon or 1 pm kickoff...toasting in the bowl, and a majority of fans were up in the roundabout concessions area at mid-level in the shade for the entire game.

It's absolutely ridiculous to schedule athletic contests in the heat of the day in places where the heat can be not only oppressive but dangerous to the athletes and fans alike. The average high in Commerce, Texas for August 31st is 95 degrees. It was 100 last year with a low of only 76 overnight. Texas is hot and humid in August so the weather could be miserable and dangerous as well.

Not sure what you mean by "initial game notes" since there are no game notes released yet. All times I've seen are 5:00 p.m Pacific, so 7:00 CDT

The 2021 Tulsa game started at 6:30 and the temperature was 93 degrees. The Aggie fitness was really a high point of that game as we dominated at the end of the game.
The time currently listed on the Texas A&M Commerce site is 6:00 PM.

You know what, you're absolutely right. I got my hours mixed up. It's a 7 pm start local time in Texas, which is much better.

It'll still be humid as all hell, but yes, not as horrid as I painted it.

Did anyone comment that their next game after Davis is Sac State in Sacramento? Pretty tough scheduling for them, since they have some usually strong teams in conference as well.

Yes, they added a series with Sac around the same time they announced this one but in reverse order.

Just under 4 months now.

TAMC's spring game concluded late April. Some big boys down there.

Only 4 home games for the Lions next season, 7 away, tough treading when you're in the middle of a transtion.

https://lionathletics.com/news/2023/4/22/offense-defense-tie-30-30-in-2023-lion-football-spring-game.aspx

They'll be really tough. At least this schedule is a little less daunting than last year. 2024 looks favorable.

Idaho is only playing 4 home games this year by choice because they decided to cancel a game with DII Western Oregon and moved some games around.

To their credit, the Aggie administration saw the writing on the wall about 20 years ago and transitioned early...all the DII teams who didn't act and make hard decisions, dropped football.

Do I recall correctly that TAM Commerce came to Toomey probably 30 years ago in a playoffs game? These guys were huge and pushed us off the field. Then most of the TAM
PLayers were found disqualified from the team. This is A LONG TIME AGO so do not expect my memory to be anything close to right.

We had outgrown DII, and Chancellor Meyer retired. If I recall, he was a no growth Chancellor.

I know Davis played Texas A&M Kingsville a ton in the 80's and 90's.

TAMC has the two previous matchups with Davis from '98 and '99 on their Football History notes. in '98 the Aggies beat TAMC in Commerce, 36-0, in '99 the Aggies beat TAMC in Davis, 34-10.

Picked sixth in their conference, which has some good teams , Incarnate Word and S.E. Louisiana at the top. Statistically they had the top defense in the conference. They retained most of the defense staff, and feel good about their defense, with few holes to plug.
They have a new coach, Clint Dolezel, an alum, whose background is mostly Arena Football. His offensive coordinator is also a former Lion QB and several of his assistants have Arena football in their background.
They brought in 20+ Freshmen and 13 transfers.
Certainly a hard team to scout for the first game.
Their coach on Southland Conference Media day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DCUjp64SC8