Exactly. More of an 11 personnel Offense, maybe even get into some 20 and 10? That would be a massive sea change from last season but with our RB depth, 20 can really cause people some problems.

Except for Williams, none of our tight ends have appeared in more than two games and none have ever recorded a stat. Three of the four are redshirt freshmen next year, but all the second year freshmen were three star recruits coming out of high school.

with you 100 percent in doubts with TE group. I’d argue next to QB it’s the most important group in a Plough offense. As good as our WR group is, championship teams use multiple TE’s. Also brings big defenders into game to open up shots downfield.

"More of an 11 personnel Offense, maybe even get into some 20 and 10?"

Can you educate me on what this means?

By the way, thanks for giving me a "War and Peace" answer from my previous question.

first # is the amount of RBs in formation. second # is the amount of TEs in formation. So '20' personnel would be two RBs and zero TEs in formation

defenses use this to determine which body types/skill sets they want on the field in response. One of the layers of football chess!

Good question and hit it on the head with his explanation. Who we have on the field on Offense generally determines who the Defense plays with (heavy, Nickel, etc.). 20 is an interesting grouping if the RBs will block for each other. Good in both run and pass, also an easy way to shore-up pass pro.

the "no go" offense at sac st was known for 20p. hah With those two RBs in the backfield next to the QB. maybe 21p too

I'm still all in on a DL beast slotted for late season, inside-the-5 Refrigerator Perry FB use. The guys love it, and another wrinkle the opponent has to game for, like The Fly Sweep.

BTW, Mark Speckman (70) is now the OC at Azusa Pacific.

As a follow up, do you or anyone know if our RBs can block well?

I’m of the opinion that Sac would have made the playoffs if they hadn’t chased Carson Conklin away. He was with Sac though Spring camp. The go-go offense had some things going for it. It wasn’t intrinsically a run only offense like it was in our game with Sac. Sac was trying to take advantage of our weak run defense at end of year, which combined with their inconsistent QB play seemed like the way to go.

4 FCS Wild Card Teams With Boom or Bust Potential in 2026
We take a look at four teams that are true wild cards entering the 2026 FCS football season.

UC Davis is another team that will have lofty expectations entering the 2026 season. The Aggies have made back-to-back quarterfinal runs under head coach Tim Plough, but it's now time to see if this program can take that next step, especially with a 13-3 Big Sky record over the past two seasons.

Some may question the wild card status for the Aggies, but it stems from the quarterback position. Let me preface this by saying, if there's a head coach I trust to find a quarterback, it's Tim Plough, but it's a major decision because of how much talent the Aggies return for next season.

Championship windows close faster than ever in the transfer portal era, and the Aggies return the 4th-highest percentage of significant contributors in the nation. They return over 70% of their key players on defense, including All-Americans Rex Connor and Porter Connors, who received an extra year from the NCAA.

Offensively, the Aggies have four starting offensive linemen returning, also with their two top receivers in Samuel Gbatu Jr. and Stacy Dobbins. Running back Jordan Fisher is also back after his 1,000-yard season in 2025. All the pieces are here for the Aggies. That's why the quarterback play could really make-or-break this team.

Luckily, the Aggies signed one of the top FBS quarterback transfers this offseason, adding Jackson Kollock from Minnesota. The redshirt freshman was a record-setting quarterback at Laguna Beach HS, where he threw for over 7,000 career yards and 94 touchdowns.

If Kollock lives up to the hype, the Aggies could be a real threat to make some noise in the playoffs, but if he experiences some growing pains, UC Davis could miss their shot to capitalize on one of the most talented rosters in the country.

The whole article including the other 3 teams (South Dakota, Lamar and NAU) here:

https://www.si.com/college/fcs/big-sky/4-fcs-football-wild-card-teams-with-boom-or-bust-potential-in-2026-uc-davis-lamar-nau-south-dakota?fbclid=IwY2xjawRhW_dleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEefbGMLKB48rAJC19wc56iEcYkZgo4sfPBmFksYsllwgWNpW365hZgBhO7nPg_aem_SPWcoSoYkIzQ9Rx5m06nhw

FCS football Central is wrong about the 4 returning starters on the offensive line. Jace Rodriguez decided not to come back after being in the initial Spring roster.

Except for Williams, none of our tight ends have appeared in more than two games and none have ever recorded a stat. Three of the four are redshirt freshmen next year, but all the second year freshmen were three star recruits coming out of high school.

Plough seemed very hesitant to rotate in TEs that weren’t starters (in 2 personnel) last year. I had expected someone like Pohlman would get some reps. He has the size (and I think speed) to be a real factor. I think someone on the board had mentioned he looked good in spring. I am not too worried about TE although I am not sure of blocking ability as a group. Programs like Montana State and Dakota States have just reloaded and I think that is the mindset that UCD needs to focus on. Maybe more playing time of subs especially in salted away games would be helpful and also reduce exposure to injury of starters.

That’s my opinion too that they need to develop more depth by playing more guys. Last year we were so loaded with all league caliber senior and grad tight ends that three junior tight ends barely touched the field annd two of the juniors graduated or retired Also we didn’t have many salted away games.

Man, I go home late last night and roll into the office a little later than usual and miss all the fun! So much to dive in on, there goes my Friday morning productivity...

and , I agree that the old Go-Go has some merit. Not sure I agree on what it would have taken for them to make the playoffs. Go-Go is essentially a misdirection, bastardized triple and double option scheme that requires the QB to run the ball some. From what I saw last year, I believe it is 21 personnel (2 RBs/1 TE) but it has variations. By the time they rolled into the Causeway, they were the worst passing college football team I have ever seen, and I've been to Army-Navy and watched it plenty of times on TV. They set the forward pass back by decades, that team did. Nasty.

, no idea if our RBs can block, but that is only a necessity in 20P on perimeter run plays like outside zone, maybe to seal an edge player on a split zone, but not much else. When they're both tailback types, an OC would likely limit the contact plays vs. the Defensive Ends, or at least I would. You could also start to see what is call "bash" plays; that is, gap scheme runs where a traditional fullback or tight end would normally kick-out the DE, but a lot of modern teams are leaving him unblocked as a read player. You can have a lot of fun with misdirection and QB runs like that, but that's another post unto itself. Google search "bash run play" or "power read run play" if you want to take a deeper dive.

, that's an interesting take the article has listing the Ags as a Wild Card, but my guess is that they're talking outside contender to Montana State more so than the NFL definition of a wild card team that barely makes the playoffs. I grew up buying all the old Athlon/Street and Smith/Sporting News college football magazines and loved reading it cover to cover (nerd), so I appreciate the efforts of these sites just throwing profiles and previews out there. It's a thankless job and in today's college football, thankless work because of roster turnover.

Good observation on the rotations and not developing the depth. From what I'm hearing on the board, Pohlman strikes me as a very similar player to Mitch in 2025. Not going to make any all-American lists but too valuable to ever take off the field. I think the "other 2", the Cal kid and the Orange County kid, will be vastly improved and ready for war when the Griz roll into town.

, do you think "playoff committee perception" has anything to do with rotations and keeping starters in the wider margin games?

And finally, , too soon to start talking about Defensive players in the backfield. Too soon. But man was there anything prettier in 1985 than William Perry lowering his head on some poor linebacker who had to step up against him, lined-up at fullback?!