Dropped like $30 on verizon overages watching from a campground in VA. Worth it though. Didn’t see first quarter but what struck me:
1. Cal poly played very conservatively but that is playing their strength (fullback Prothro). Aggie defensive scheme was spot on with personnel and alignment.
2. For the first time in a while the talent Chasm was quite large. UCD obviously had way more talent than Poly. It was like watching 2 levels of football. Run or pass was pick your poison for Poly. Yes the stats weren't That different but that was because of short fields etc. Never have been under less stress watching a game -and knowing there was virtually no way Ags would not win.
3. “Almost” felt sorry for Poly. Was weird seeing the 2 bands in the field together. When I was in band-uh they would not let us on field so we didn’t travel to their house - yet we didn’t reciprocate and they were in field at Toomey.
Yes, the Ags May lose in the coming weeks but if they pant anywhere near their potential they easily could run the table. Of course with 19 year olds and college football anything could happen. They are SO FUN to watch.
Yes, they lost a tight one to Western Illinois on the road, and then to Portland State at home. Tight games both, they're QB is a fantastic athlete, can really move and create. I think our passing game is a good attack against their defense, the X factor is the crowd and dealing with the noise when we're on O...I expect a feverish uptempo from the Ploughboys.
From what I was reading on their fan forum, they believe Maier is going to shred their secondary. I posted in the Montana thread that they have 2 LBs that are lights out so we are going to have to avoid that damage that they can do.
Suani our true freshman heavyweight D lineman started and played a lot of snaps, Is that a first for him?
Got to like all the young defensive players making their presence felt.
Aint it crazy how far one must walk at a Cal Poly home game? I'm getting total hip replacement in December and I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to park close this season with my temporary handicapped parking placard.
The exact sentiment of many Mustang fans and alumni right now. I'm not sure i've seen a more poorly coached/called game in my life. Constantly trying to run the fullback dive into the teeth of a 9 man front? Really??
I think Slostang said it best, congrats on the win with two teams going in opposite directions. This was the first UCD game I've seen this year and I suspect it was nowhere near their best football. I was surprised to see so many dropped passes and inaccurate throws by Maier. Very impressive play overall by the Aggies, I tip my hat. My son is a current player and when I asked him after the game who's better, EWU or Davis he replied EWU. However, he faced pretty much EWU's best football and I don't think he faced Davis' best. Good luck the rest of the way and the game in Cheney should be off the hook.
I think your son's observation is probably accurate at this point in the season. The toughest FCS opponent the Ags have faced is ISU and we were a chip shot FG away from losing to them. We'll find out just where we really stand when we travel to Montana and to EWU. Our biggest tests are yet to come.
I wonder what your son would have thought if only saw the last three quarters,
He may be right though. I think we are improving as our new players establish themselves. We have a lot of young players. So hopefully we’ll be a better team yet by the time we play EW
ISU is a very good football team. I see you guys moving the ball well on the Grizzlies, both rushing and passing. Despite losing by 21 points to Montana, the Grizzlies were unable to stop Cal Poly's running game and it took a couple of bonehead plays by the Mustangs to help Montana win that game.
He played every snap on offense in both games and we actually ran the ball fairly well most of the game against EWU, despite giving up 70 points. If you thought our defense tackled poorly last Saturday night, you should have seen us trying to tackle at Cheney. More bonehead offensive fumbles resulted in a couple of long returns for touchdowns in that game too, so it wasn't all bad defense.
I know this may sound weird after a 42 point Aggie thrashing, but I don't think the talent difference between UCD and CP is all that much. The biggest difference is coaching IMO. A+ for Aggies, F- for Mustangs.
The sluggish (and boring) play calling by Poly didn't help the Mustangs but I felt like our defensive line dominated the Poly O line after the first quarter and that was a big factor in the Aggie win.
Walsh has been successful before.
Despite occasional blowouts this is usually a very competitive rivalry.
We are a lot better than we’ve been of late becase we have so many offensive weapons. Example was toward the end of first half where we would all be expecting pass plays we had a series of runs in a long drive. It’s all coming together for us, pass protection, a QB who has four or five guys to throw to or two quality backs, and a defense that is now respectable overall and tough against the run in particular.
I hear what you're saying but Cal Poly allowing Davis to stack the line of scrimmage without any real consequence certainly helped the Aggie cause. With that said, I saw some pretty talented defensive linemen on the Aggies squad, certainly thick at the DT position.
The biggest surprise for me was Davis ability to run the ball. I fully expected the Aggies to be able to pass all over the Mustangs. Our defense is very young, with three freshman starting on the defensive line. You're right, this usually is a very competitive rivalry. Even last years game wound up close after the Aggies jumped out to an early lead.
Tehran Thomas was a freshman last year who really came on in the final game against Sac, he’s got speed and will run right over people, The surprising thing is he’s not our primary back because Gilliam is so versatile. O line has theee first year starters and now opens some holes. True Frosh is a mentioned as being
All Big Sky.
Since the Mustangs are out of the running, I'm throwing my hat in the ring hoping the Aggies take the Big Sky and show that teams with true student athletes can win this conference. Best of luck Aggie fans.