looks good. i like the blue signage around the field. softens the gray concrete. scoreboard looks great. really looking forward to seeing it in person tomorrow.

instruction begins September 27, so move-in weekend is the 23rd. don't expect a large showing of students out there. I'll be there, with a full box, so we're doing our part to fill the west side. Football alum game, free-tickets to ex-players, so that should draw some more. staff appreciation and kids day. i'm expecting a better than average (compared to recent years) attendence, especially if the weather cooperates.

wow....signage. muscle milk, aquafina.

i noticed at the last scrimmage that the old 'Aggie Pride' donor board was down. i wonder if they are putting up a new one. that one dates back about 7 years, and i know we had some new significant donors added to the list this year.

i like that they gave the kids a chance to talk -> just highlights the quality students we have out there to root for. last week, i was talking to some staff and ex-staff about the exposure the university got from the NCAA appearance, and that was something that we all agreed upon -> aggie athletes really shine when they get on camera. well-spoken, intelligent, and have a real appreciation of being part of the campus. that came out last night during the coach's show. I liked Hawk's background story on Modise and his journey here. Kid worked at SFO from 10:00 PM to 3:00 AM to support himself, and was a good student and outstanding player. That's someone I can cheer for, on and off the field

last two games were the biggest margins (38-24 down there in 2010, and 31-3 here in 2011). we've always been able to score points against them. the loss down there was a very depressing night. played a lazy game and they took advantage of our mistakes and made many good plays. the results ALMOST ruined our trip to San Diego. ALMOST.

more like exploding. he was more hot-headed on the sidelines back then.

speaking of sidelines, prowling the USD sidelines that day was Marshawn Lynch -> Josh Johnson's cousin.

from the archives:

"Nov. 17, 2007


DAVIS, Calif. - Senior quarterback Matt Engle hit Brandon Rice on an 18-yard touchdown with nine seconds remaining in regulation to lift UC Davis to a 49-46 win over San Diego in a non-conference collegiate football game at Aggie Stadium Saturday afternoon. Engle finished the day with a career-high 409 passing yards and three touchdown strikes. "

Harbaugh was at Stanford 2007-2010.

Harbaugh was the coach when they played us at Toomey. They came in undefeated and were treating it like a bowl game. He probably spent more time on the field, then most of the kids who were suited up!

He was gone the next year when we beat them in the last seconds at Aggie Stadium. Josh Johnson, still in the NFL in think, led them down for a TD with about 90 seconds to go; Matt Engel led an incredibly quick drive to beat them.

USD has always seemed to have a good QB and at least one good receiver. We'll need to figure out a way of getting pressure on the QB without exposing our DB's to long passes. Not to replay the same old broken record, but this is one where we need to play a clean game. No turnovers, no big plays and eliminate the 15-yard penalties we had last Saturday. Have to get better in the kicking game, also. We had one long punt, the rest were less than 40 yards. Whelen had much more leg on the kickoffs, so maybe we'll see him more.

he was at the pregame get-together at Qualcomm, and came across as a straight shooter who is very excited to be at Davis, and excited about the future of athletics. I talked to several folks who were at a smaller gathering earlier in the day, and they all were saying that he is a very approachable guy, who values the role athletics can have in a university. he likes to use the expression that 'athletics are the front porch to a university' -> a way to present a great first impression to those not totally familiar with the school.

meant toned down. Ran that simple dive play after play. We didn't have speed to get to the edge on the simple give. Only remember a couple fly motions, one for solid gain another to Spenser for big loss.

One nice thing about Qualcomm is that trolley runs there from old town where we stayed. Trains every fifteen minutes. Very short walk to stadium the pa was as bad as ours and our new video board might be better than theirs

Maier looked okay for a first start. One bad int. Didn't see much fly actions on offense one was a big gain. Wonder if we failed it down to not show too much? That Aztec runner is good and qb killed us when we stacked the box. Stadium was absolutely dead even with big crowd.

i believe most will be there after halftime; apparently the fireworks are a big deal. getting into the stadium (i'm planning on the trolley from old town) will be easy, getting out might be a drag.

anyone else making the trip to San Diego for this one? Wife and I are heading down Friday. We'll make the CAA pre-game tailgate and game. Hoping for plenty of things to cheer for, besides the post-game fireworks.

i also remember driving out of the stadium onto Hutchinson and they had a Big Rig with their colors/emblem for their equipment. our kids were balancing their shoulder pads/helmets while riding their bikes from Hickey. they do things a little different down there.

some of their taligaters stopped by 6th tent to talk about the game. they had studied film and knew more about our players than we did. a memorable quote from one of them 'y'all got some good players but you need some more brothers.'

it was 45-14, but we were up 38-0 at the half. they weren't very good, and they turned the ball over a ton. one thing that i thought was interesting was the WS had a 'state trooper' on their sidelines, like you see in a SEC game surrounding their coaches. not sure what they were expecting from our 'rabid' fanbase.

i think we'll come out with alot of fire; there just seems to be a more agressive, competitive spirit out there than i have seen in the past. offense will come out winging things, and maybe we can get a couple of early scores and put a lilttle jolt into them.

i think Meier at QB is the real deal. he just has the look of a good quarterback. talking to some folks this week who have been watching practices, they say he never seems to make a bad decision and he puts the ball where it needs to be.

i think the Aztecs wear us down with the running game; hopefully, we don't give up any big scoring plays, so we can stick with them.

the 5:30 start was a little odd, since they were only out there for 90 minutes or so. 6:30 would have been good, but it was still pretty toasty then. plus side of a night start is the the seats and stadium club( food and drink) were in the shade. right now, you can't get shade from the scoreboard (its a skeleton) so there's no relief during the day time hours.

I was out there tonight. Not a real scrimmage, shorts and pads. 1st offense moved right down the field starting with long ball to Doss. Lot of situational work. Hard to assess without pads.

Not sure what to do about the heat. Had it been last Saturday the night would have been perfect. Morning start is tough for families or us out of towners. Biggest turnout for one of the ticket pickups that I've been to. Challenge for staff and team is to prepare but not get worn down in this week's heat

they seem very high on the running back, Perry, who gained over 1000 yards last year as a BACKUP to Donnel Pumphrey who in the NCAA career yardage leader. so, i'm kind of expecting them to run the ball often. those power running teams (like Stanford a couple years back) really wear down the defense.