This was the last year of year for FCS “week 0” games, from now on everyone starts the same week.

I would assume the City of Montgomery, ESPN, and NCAA have some financial arrangement, kind of like why is the championship outdoors in Frisco.

In my part of Florida it is not unusual to get evening storms producing 400 strikes per hour with 0 second flash-bang, 3” per hour rain, and 60 mph wind that appear out of nowhere on radar. And it’s usually gone as fast as it appears. And then we finish outdoor football games and the parade at Disney World steps off. This was an unusual outcome even for the southeast. Anywhere you go there is risk. California could have unexpected wildfire smoke. During the Portland State game they discussed that heat on the field wasn’t far off from the 105 degree guideline to suspend the game.

Probably don’t need to worry about lightning here for these neutral hames

the INT? we blocked the following punt for a safety. That long TD run and our missed FG really hurt. Gave them life.

Mercer seemed to adjust well defensively in the second half. Loaded up the box, lots of pressure, dared us to throw deep and emphasize stopping QB runs. We were running well early in the 3Q but that disappeared - a couple false starts out us behind the chains and put more pressure on Pinnack.

From the Sacramento Bee article about the game:

Redshirt freshman quarterback Caden Pinnick, the pride of Del Oro High School in Placer County, dazzled in his Aggies debut after earning the job with a strong showing in the spring and in fall camp.

He completed his first nine passes in the first half as UCD stormed to a 21-3 lead. Pinnick passed for 141 yards and a touchdown, and he rushed for 62 yards on 15 carries and a score. Jordan Fisher led UCD with 84 yards rushing on eight carries, an average of 10.5 yards a carry.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/sports/college/article311826951.html#storylink=cpy

unfortunately, Caden was 4-14 after that hot start. He’ll get better - things seemed to speed up for him in the second half, and Mercer gets a lot of credit for that.

Re They have apparently removed the game from ESPN. The game is still viewable, it just didn’t show the game when I selected resume, but works on restart.

7 wins for playoff eligibility was my point. Will it take 8? Maybe, but this game will be taken into account by the committee for sure.

yeah, I think you are right about stats and official counting of the game. However, if we look at it from a glass half full angle, the team went on the road to the south, played really well for a spell, and didn't take a loss. A glorified scrimmage, but one that gives us data. And this is a good thing.

Agreed. The long pass was pretty much either chuck it or get sacked as there was a defender in his face and it was equivalent to a very good punt assuming if sacked it would have been third and long. That throw showed me that he has a pretty big arm.

The missed and blocked field goals were big. Missed one looked good from the stands but I guess wide left? It dawned on me that if it hadn’t been an ESPN game with the frequent and long commercial breaks the game would have finished prior to the lightning.

Mercer really dialed up the defensive pressure in the second half and we struggled with it and we came up empty on the 2 failed FG attempts and that hurt. As you said, Pinnick will get better and we certainly saw that he can make something out of nothing when a play breaks down. He's getting a baptism by fire playing against Mercer and Washington in his first 3 games so he'll certainly be battle tested by the time conference play starts. I hope the team takes their frustrations out on Utah Tech next Saturday.

what happens to the rankings from here granted UIW lost?

Fair. I'm always a little confused/skeptical about the 7-win rule because it seems more like a guideline. The committee has both left out 7-win teams and let in 6-win teams before, and I also don't know if the number of games on your schedule makes a difference (though this might be the last year where it's variable?).

Regardless, I think we're in agreement, we have to treat 7 wins as the floor but more would be better

It's almost the easier path to get the autobid now in the BSC, especially if we don't run the table against unranked FCS teams. MSU plays @ NAU and Wa Griz this year whereas we avoid Montana and get NAU at sea level.

The Massey computer ratings as of today granted a giant jump to Nicholls into the top 20 and shoved UIW down to the 40s. Big drop also for Portland State and some

I imagine voters will just shunt UIW out of the top 25, maybe give Nicholls a spot int he 20s, then move everyone else up a notch. Though I'm not sure what they'll do with Tarleton beating up on a potentially really bad PSU, or if they'll give subjective eye test consideration for Davis and Mercer.

I wonder if Pinnick got banged up in the second half. He took that one big blind sided hit. His passes were off after that.

I think as the season goes on, we’ll see that this Mercer Defense could be the toughest we face outside of Washington and maybe Montana State (we’ll see) but that Mercer D was really good.

Agree on Mercer. They are a qb away from being a contender. No way Davis would have hung with them without Pinnick’s mobility.

We have 11 games left not 10. And we if we finish 6-5 we don't deserve playoffs.

Pinnick looked good at first, but was pretty awful in second half. Some throws were straight into the ground, so that makes me worried. He had some incredible runs, but not sure if he is leaving the pocket too quick. With all the talk about our OL, seemed like Pinnick did not have a lot of time and had to scramble often.

I think there is a rule in which you can’t hit the field goal snapper while rushing the kick - at least initially. The guy that blocked the kick for Mercer looked like he contacted the snapper and bit him on his butt. Maybe the refs thought he mostly sneaked through a gap. Of course it is a moot point but at the time it was big - would have put the Ags up 2 scores

The ESPN announcers said that the defensive player did something on that partially blocked FG that was illegal and should have been a penalty.

Had to think about it. We looked pretty damn good for a “Rebuild Year”. Obviously we’re fans and critical but for a year losing what we lost, I’m not mad at all about the performance!

We have 10 FCS games left and going 7-3 in those games seems to be the minimum to make the playoffs. That was all I was saying.
7-4 total record seems to be the entry point, as we were a playoff team last year. I agree with you 6-5 isn't gonna cut it.

The last 4 games on the schedule are looking pretty tough.
This season is going to be a test for sure.

yes, this is nothing new, not getting to 7 wins will almost always leave you out.

If someone else talked about it and I missed it my apologies, but I just noticed that CP had a green sticker on his helmet and was holding his helmet near his ear like he had helmet comms.

I thought that wasn't allowed in the FCS, have the rules changed or is there dispensation for this being a neutral site game?

Edit -- also saw Porter Connors and the Mercer QB wearing the C2P sticker in addition to Pinnick.

From Bob Dunning's Substack article: "Montgomery, Alabama is a city that doesn't hide from its difficult past"

I noted above that I came to Montgomery to cover a college football game, but you should know that every UC Davis football player who made this trip - all 78 of them - spent the better part of Friday afternoon before Saturday's contest not studying the game plan or running practice drills, but paying rapt attention as they toured Montgomery's Rosa Parks Museum.

This is indeed the UC Davis way.

Four years ago before a game in Tulsa, the team toured that city's Greenwood Rising Museum that recounted the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre that killed hundreds and destroyed what was then known as the Black Wall Street.

https://www.thewaryone.com/p/montgomery-alabama-is-a-city-that?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2582284&post_id=171848134&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=31ratq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Despite the game ending early I think the defense showed up great given all the new faces. They really only let up one touchdown drive and showed great potential as to how good they can be down the stretch of the season.

they allowed helmet speaker’s this year. Plough is talking directly to CP up until about 10 seconds on play clock

Wally the Bronco all this fall for your FCS/FBS highlight needs: https://www.youtube.com/@WallytheBronco

A lot of slop on Saturday, a couple of huge plays given up defensively, the big pass, then the big run. A rough PI penalty on 3rd and 29 in the end zone. Seemed clear after the humidity and the game wore on, Pinnick was losing accuracy - Mercer had all the momentum. Need to finish!...and polish up those mistakes, also, the offense had like 4 or 5 illegal procedures? Very unsound, and the Aggies did not run the ball consistently at all - running backs were running hard, just didn't see a ton of push up front, and that's of course also a credit to Mercer, who from my perspective, had a ton of athleticism and toughness on defense.