I think Simpson might have another year of eligibility at TE? Between missing most of 2024 to injury and time at JUCO, decent chance he's playing (somewhere) next year

Looks like Caden finished 2nd in voting after Mercer's QB Braden Atkinson. Bummer, but Atkinson probably deserves it... Kid had a monster statistical year, no FCS losses since he took over in week 2, and he's a true freshman. Bonus: it reflects well on their Aggie OC, Soto.

https://theanalyst.com/articles/jerry-rice-award-mercer-qb-braden-atkinson-2025-fcs-football-freshman-of-year

While a lot of this plan is not football-oriented, it seems like Davis is positioning itself to be the premier college SPORTS program & venues in the Sac Metro. These facilities (and MW opponents) will draw fans across the board, and think about all the sports camps, HS championship games, etc. we can host.

The rising tide will float all ships, and I think that broad focus across athletics is the biggest contrast with the school across the causeway.

Jeff Bourque has been running Strength & Conditioning since 2017, and the Edwards Athletic Facility/Bobb Biggs Field opened in 2022.

Not sure about athletic training staff. Based on the nature of the injuries, this probably isn't on them? By that I mean: the injuries seem more like acute/traumatic stuff that leads to the season being unquestionably (i.e. broken bones and torn ligaments), as opposed to nagging injuries that the athletic trainers failed to resolve or scenarios where the trainers make a judgment call.

according to AI:

Over the past decade (2015–2025), the University of Montana Grizzlies have consistently ranked in the upper-middle to top quartile of FCS teams in strength of schedule, primarily due to the competitiveness of the Big Sky Conference and frequent matchups with ranked opponents such as Montana State, Eastern Washington, and UC Davis.

Historical Strength of Schedule Overview
Using data from Jeff Sagarin and Massey Ratings, Montana’s strength of schedule (SoS) usually ranged from **#30 to #70 out of approximately 130–135 FCS programs placing them between the 25th and 50th percentile nationally in most seasons.

I think Coach Hawk used to say something along the lines of "you cannot truly be great without facing adversity and overcoming it" i.e. the hero's journey. Maybe cheesy/overly optimistic, but by that logic, we should be grateful; this adversity gives the '25 Ags an opportunity to write a story for the ages.

We have the opportunity/challenge to change the identity of our team, develop a bunch of young talent, and fill a leadership vacuum. With 4 FCS wins under our belt and a bye after NAU, there's time to figure it out and put ourselves to the test vs. Idaho and Montana State. Our fate is in our hands for the playoffs.

NEXT MAN UP.

"Or are you saying Davis athletes that meet the minimum UC admission criteria, which is now close to the median HS graduate, face some additional filter?"

Precisely. We need transfers with (1) enough UC-eligible credits, that (2) want to come to Davis and (3) can clear our additional admissions hurdles, which are more difficult than UCLA/Cal.

So I'm not surprised UCLA can find 30 eligible transfers. Look at UCLA's athletic/academic pedigrees, location, playing in the Rose Bowl/on TV, etc. Relative to us, they have the pick of the litter and have more latitude to get guys admitted. We are not them.

Regardless of UCLA academic prestige (or Colorado for that matter), getting athletes admitted to UC Davis is demonstrably more complicated:
- fewer admissions-by-exception (ABE) utilized for athletes
- higher standards for approvals: "likelihood to succeed" (standard used by UCLA/Cal) plus an additional layer of comparability w/overall admitted student body
- additional layers of approval and relatively less athletics influence in decision-making (vs. UCLA/Cal)

Do we think that following Sac St's current course is even an option for UC Davis? I don't see how it's possible with our admission standards and difficulty finding eligible non-grad transfers (they need to have a certain % of their degree done with UCD-eligible credits). For those reasons alone, the Deion/transfer portal model will never work at Davis without major changes from Mrak (i.e. above the athletics admin).

Davis needs to figure out our own way, focused on landing the best possible, GPA-eligible, HS talent. And retaining them as long as possible. I think Plough is the right guy to do it.

looks like they took the 2025 roster down. Anyways, this was the punter they had listed: https://247sports.com/player/dylan-mauro-46154632/

Looks like we brought in a legit punter! That's more exciting than it should be ;)

I'm rooting for Sac State. It will be super entertaining, and the rising tide will float all ships. Whatever positive momentum they get will motivate the Davis admin to step up investment/focus on football, and we'll just get more credibility as we perennially beat them ;)

$2.5mm will get you about two public toilets in SF :)

I think we heard somewhere this year that a bunch of our players were in a grad program. I'm not sure if they get preferred admissions, though?

Didn't a few of our guys test the portal last year and decide to stay?

One of the biggest issues is that you feel so far from the game. The stands are soooo set back from the field and the seating is gradually sloped. We should demolish the sideline seating (at least on one side), move the stands closer to the field, and go steeper. It's a better experience for the fans & the players.

The Illinois St WR #2 seemed quite good (7/136, TD)

Pretty sure this is the last offseason of confusion due to the COVID year. I think the conditions to get another year of eligibility for '20 HS grads would be: (1) they took a redshirt year sometime between '21-'24 and (2) they get accepted into a grad program.

I'd speculate that getting into a grad program is the big wild card (especially at Davis). I'm not sure if there are any grad program admissions considerations for athletes, and I wonder about the timing for acceptance.

For example - have any class of '20 seniors applied to a grad program and don't know whether they'll get in? If so, would they have walked just in case? The uncertainty around grad school admission could explain Povey being around last spring but not Fall and also the late additions to this year's roster like Meyer.

imagine a 4-man front with Chubba, Toki, Bearden & Kennedy on some of those 3rd/4th downs vs. MSU

if we secure a bye for the first round (11/30), we'll be home on the 7th for sure. If we don't get a bye, play/win in the first round, we'll be away on the 7th.