As you stated, it's not easy to play in such a dismal environment. Add in some drizzle, fog and cold and it gets even worse. SUU is another venue that can be a potential letdown environment for the visiting team. I was worried about how the Ags would respond to the conditions at PSU but they certainly came mentally ready to play. I think the additional week of rest and time to prepare must have helped us as well.

The hold against Eaton that you mentioned was so blatant that I yelled about it immediately and I was just watching the game on my computer... my wife promptly closed the door to the den on me then! The game would have been a much bigger blowout if we would not have dropped those big gainer passes and if the ball would have bounced our way on a couple of the 6 fumbles we forced. What are the odds that a team will fumble 6 times in a game and only lose one of them?

I hope we can carry the momentum into the Montana State game on Saturday. Hopefully, we'll have a great crowd too since will be senior day as well.

Gilliam's 242 yards rushing is the 5th most yards in a game in Aggie history.

Defensively, Fr LB Nick Eaton had a monster game: 8 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Also, Sr Brandon Jamison had 5 tackles, 2 TFL and 2 sacks and Fr Josiah Suani had 4 tackles and 2 TFL.

Santa Barbara beat CSUN 2-0 so the Ags will host the Gauchos for the Big West Tournament Title next Friday at 2 pm. Tickets are available now. I hope we get a great crowd out to cheer on the Aggies!

Great photo gallery of today's game here:

https://ucdavisaggies.com/galleries/?gallery=257

And while you're reading...the Aggie Men's Soccer Team beat Fullerton today 2-0 to advance to the Big West Tournament Title Game.

45-28 Aggies final. Sweet win for this team!

Ags: 649 yards of offense

Jake: 27-38 for 383 yds 4 TD's and 1 INT
Babb II: 10 receptions for 183 yds and 3 TD's
Vaughn: 5 receptions for 121 and 1 TD
Gilliam: 29 carries for 242 yards and 2 TD's...including a 75 yd TD run

Vikings score again. 31-28 Ags with 8:33 to go. We need to score.

7-0 Ags after the 1st quarter. 3 dropped passes that would have been big gainers and one pick...not great...

It's interesting that both the men and the women weren't ready to really get after with energy and intensity in their first games. The KDVS announcer, Greg Wong, said he'd never seen Jen Gross as "animated" as she was with her team near the end of the first half and early in the third. I think the team got the message...

Ags lose 77-65. Nice comeback from 28 down to get within 8 in the second half after a miserable first half.

Well that was a complete mess of a half of basketball. Sloppy on offense and essentially no defense. Ags down 48-28 at the half.

Ags down 25-12 with 8:40 to go in the 2nd.

Ragged first quarter for the Aggies and they trail 19-12. 5 TO's and shooting 30%.

Pluto TV is terrible...cuts away and hangs up a lot...

It would be nice to have another Morgan at some point! Our 3 post players this year are very different from Morgan though and Jen will need to find a way to play to their strengths. None of them are as agile and mobile as Morgan was. She was exceptionally quick especially with her spin moves and could score with either hand. Jen and her staff have a history of developing good post players though so it will be fun to watch our posts grow.

There's a lot of young, raw talent on this team but those players will take time to adapt to the speed and physicality of the D1 game. We saw that in the Loyola-Chicago game where we just got beat by a team who played much more aggressive and physical. I think it was an eye opener for some of our younger players although it was disappointing that our seniors struggled as much also. We came out hungry last night and it showed.

Our next three games in Jonesboro, Arkansas, against Idaho, Arkansas State and VMI will be interesting. Will we continue with our defensive intensity against better competition or will we get pushed around again? I think we are capable of beating any of these teams but, if we don't bring the intensity, we could come home with our tails between our legs. Arkansas State will be particularly tough in their house. They are a very strong, physical basketball team.

I'd forgotten about that. It was surprising how they started out losing their first 3 games but going on to end up 25-7 wasn't too shabby though!

It will be interesting to see what Jen and her staff have put together after losing 3 of the best players the program has ever had. I expect it will take some time to get everyone firing on all cylinders together.

Comments from Coach Les:

"I though the energy the guys played with on the defensive end was the difference between Tuesday's and Thursday's game," said head coach Jim Les.

"All five guys were engaged … our defense created offense for us. We ended up scoring 48 points in our season opener because we were focused on scoring. When we focused our efforts on defense, like the guys did tonight, we enjoyed a different result. We forced them to take tough shots, and responded by running the open floor."

Les added, "This is a talented group. The only way to create looks on the open floor is to force the other team to make mistakes and limit them to only one shot, as was the case throughout tonight's game."

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2019/11/7/mens-basketball-uc-davis-cruises-to-a-109-63-victory-in-2019-20-home-opener.aspx

Comments from William Jessop HC:

Coach Lance Von Vogt said the exhibition game was good for his team to play some better competition so early in the year. "Tonight we ran into a hungry team that played very well. Coach Les is one of the best and tonight his team responded with a complete effort."

The Warriors are currently missing multiple players for various reasons but most of them are expected to return over the next month which Von Vogt says will help his team tremendously. "Our depth isn't where it needs to be right now especially on the interior and we had a few guys playing out of position which Davis took advantage of. We're looking forward to our roster growing as guys get healthy and we hit semester break. "

https://jessupathletics.com/news/2019/11/7/mens-basketball-warriors-give-uc-davis-tough-first-half.aspx?path=mbball

I don't know but I would guess that if he gets his grades up this semester, he may be back for conference play.