Dangit. Tough game to watch. Defense gave up some bombs but there were also a bunch of missed opportunities in the redzone. Could've traded more scores. Special teams needs so much work and got exposed. That said, Illinois State is def better than the one the Aggies played last year. They beat NDSU!

Still a great year for the Ags. The competition only gets tougher the higher you go and the longer you stay in it. And I'm happy they got this far while still not putting together what coach would call "perfect game."

It was hella cold. My friends and I brought our kids. I wore my 9-month old in a carrier. It was a funny sight trying to use the bathroom with a baby on your chest and a beer in one hand.

I'll be back and will be happy to support the team next year.

Excellent action items (coming from a guy who has to run staff meetings)

I'LL BE THERE NEXT WEEK

I second your comment. Thank you Dwight and Brock!

HAVE A GREAT DAY AT THE GAME YOU GUYS! My god I wish I could go. I'm a part of my aunt's 60th Birthday celebration ceremony... in San Carlos! I even risked my marriage asking my wife what she thought if we drove separately and I left early to drive to Davis to catch the second half while she deals with her in-laws and our three kids.

I wish the students would get their asses out there!

welp, they should've played a tougher schedule and got a higher seed :naughty:

I'm going to miss this playoff game. Gutted. Long-planned family event that day and I'm part of the show. I was there for Ill. St last year. Enjoy the game--and Go Ags!

Man, Montana State is the least pleasant opposing team to watch... worse than Sac. And their fans drank all the beer the last time they were in Davis. :lol: Anyway, on to next week.

I use www.thetvapp.to (with a VPN and an incognito browser).

THIS GAME IS NUTS

So many uncalled holds on NAU, it's crazy.

Sac is committed to FBS and leaving the Big Sky, so probably no Causeway for a while.

I'm ready for a 52-point reality check courtesy of the high flyin' Ags.

Why? Cuz I'm hella stoked and biased. In reality it might be very close :lol:

This is the one of the strongest and well-rounded Aggie teams in years.

Graduated a four year starting QB and Lan Larison at the same time. There was a chance that we'd be calling this a rebuild year. Instead, we have a mobile QB and a 1-2 (and even 3) punch with the RBs. The WRs and TEs are in sync with their QB. The Aggie Offense met some resistance in the beginning of the game but quickly adapted and had their way all night. Remember last year when literally the whole offense was Lan?

The defense is stout. They bend but don't break. And they do enough to keep the Aggies in the game. Helps to still have the senior Connors brothers still, as well as a few key transfers. Was it risky trying to build Rex's NFL highlight reel? Yes. I hope he heals up quick.

And for special teams, it's amazing the strategic opportunities that open up when you have the best kicker in FCS on your team. You can almost count on at least getting 3 when you're in the redzone. It isn't like that for every team. Kick return coverage needs some work.

I see the one critique about Plough's strategic decision-making as a coach and I just can't agree. He's brought his fun and exciting playstyle back to Davis--the same one we saw when Plough joined as O.C. and was calling plays for Maier & Co. The same playstyle that was glaringly absent from the Aggies after he left for Boise.

Plough and his team have recruited so many great student-athletes and acquired so many great transfers from other programs, both FCS and FBS, that you really have to understand that he's made Davis a destination, hopefully not a stepping stone, but a place to play all four years. Hawk brought Aggie Pride back and Plough is making it make sense in this more challenging era of NIL and the transfer portal.

I was sitting in the parking lot of the IHOP in Richmond listening to this game in my Nissan Sentra. My friends were wondering what was taking me so long to go inside the restaurant. The good ol' days.

I know neither team was trying to start the season like this... But what a stupid start to the season.

Can't they all lose?

I agree about the indirect benefits of a move to FBS and upgrade of stadium. Many have suggested waiting for more success in FCS before making a move. My thing about waiting for an FCS championship before a move up or facility upgrade is... More teams *don't* win the FCS championship, or even make the playoffs regularly, than do. And they still maintain their programs. And many of the good programs have or are considering a move to FBS. Not that I think this is who we should be following, but never winning an FCS championship never stopped Coastal Carolina, which has only had a football program since 2003, from moving to FBS. And I think we're in a better position for success than them. Heck, we never won a D2 championship before we moved to D1.

Once in the FBS, most teams (and there are SO many) *don't* make the FBS playoffs. But their programs exist anyway. And they still get to enjoy national coverage with smaller but still televised bowl games. The world gets to be reminded that they exist. Their programs, and thus their schools, remain nationally relevant. Cal, who finished 6-6 this year, is playing UNLV this year in a televised bowl game on ESPN. Our quarterfinal, after our best season ever, is on freakin' ESPN+, which apparently many of our members don't subscribe to (in spite of it being easy to sign up for--it's bundled with Disney+!!). It's an existential thing for the program as well as a prestige thing for the whole athletic department and university as a whole.

(I moved my comment to the more recent thread)

haha, that was me... I wrote that. It was based on all the information shared in this thread (eastbayaggie's reply on page 2). But yes, it sounds like the rule really means that they would have to delay an announcement for a whole other season AT LEAST... which would give only a very small window of time to find people to open up their pocketbooks to make a stadium expansion + move happen. And remember how long it took to build the current Aggie Stadium? It would've been bigger but by the time they were done with all the back and forth, the price of steel went up and up so they had to cut down the overall size. By the way, this is all speculation. Maybe they'll stay in the Big Sky forever!