i asked when i was up there at a practice (AgAlum was with me, so maybe he remembers better) and I don't remember a specific target date. Sounded more like 'its coming, just working on some details'.

Davis program has gotten stronger since the last meeting in 2019. (So has NDSU's if you can believe that).

I think Home and Home's like this are fantastic.

Tough OOC schedules coming up:
2026 SMU
2027 UCLA
2028 Washington State, NDSU
2029 UCLA, NDSU.

What haven’t you liked from a Freshman QB with all young weapons? Looks like the coaches said they game planned for wrong defense and he had to play on the spot.

my son's freshman year. we were watching from the sideline near the endzone the Bison scored to take the last lead. We went back to his dorm (Web-Em) and he shouted to his roommates 'I can't believe we lost that F**ING game'.

walked in the common space to his roommate saying 'uh, Brian, these are my parents'.

might have been the first and last time i heard my son drop an F-bomb!

Nice to get the Bison coming to Davis!

Did one of us comment the below?


Hahahaha

Before everyone goes into panic mode, last year against Utah Tech we scored 32 points! Offenses and young QB’s usually struggle early in seasons. By week 6 Pinnick will be a star mark my words and this offense will regularly put up 40.. he’s played 2 amazing halfs. Dont get me wrong I like Grant but you have a freshman star and we’re complaining that he isn’t playing perfect football. He’s literally showing flashes of things that no QB has in the past 10 years at Davis, especially Miles..

Zimmer: Sac State Hornets turned out to be all talk and no sting

"He [Dr. Wood] rankled the FCS community by referring to it as 'JV football' earlier this summer, and while everyone understands what he meant by that, you look pretty stupid when you call your opponents 'JV' then go out and get dog-walked by them in a game where said opponent wasn't even especially good. Wood also said earlier in a since-deleted tweet that if the Hornets played the USD Coyotes they'd hang 50 on them. Not with the offense you brought to Brookings on Saturday, big guy."

https://www.siouxfallslive.com/sports/college/zimmer-sac-state-hornets-turned-out-to-be-all-talk-and-no-sting

We definitely were thrilled with the result. It was pretty tense. Back in Vegas for the night, going to enjoy the rest of this weekend.

After what happened to me in 1971 I never give up on the Aggie football team. For those newer to this chat group, I left the Cal State Hayward game with the Aggies down by 15 with a few minutes to go so I missed Bob Biggs leading a 16 point comeback in the final two minutes. What I almost gave up on tonight was ESPN+

Back at the hotel and enjoying this thread a lot. Sucks that the feed was so bad! Really a roller coaster of a game, especially after dragging the family out to St George and down 7-24 at one point. But the comeback made it worth it.

Temperature was in the 90s but it didn’t really feel that hot. But that’s from a fan who was sitting in the stands and not playing on the field. Still, it did feel like Davis evening temperature so I would imagine the heat shouldn’t have had much of an impact on the team. Humidity wasn’t noticeable.

Proud of the way the team rallied and got it done!

Crazy how quickly yall lost faith. Go ags!

The video feed was a psychedelic nightmare in the second half until the last 5 minutes or so when it cleared up.

I miss Pluto. The station and the planet

The good news is that I can now see the game. The bad news is that I can now see the game.

Are we starting the year off with new experiences?

First time playing at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, AL
First time playing at Greater Zion in St. George, UT
First time playing at Husky Stadium in Seattle, WA

Good times, wild rides

Here's just a small breakdown on the Trailblazers

Quarterbacks
The Trailblazers return all 3 quarterbacks on their roster who took meaningful snaps last season. Redshirt junior, Reggie Graff, got the most burn as he led the team in starts as well as passing yards and rushing yards (56.9% completion rate, 1467 passing yards,10 passing TDs, 5 INTs, 565 rushing yards, 4 rushing TDs). He had an abysmal outing against the Aggies last season as he completed 7/21 passes for 95 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs. He did have 85 net rushing yards and a TD on 17 rushing attempts. The other 2 QBs Bronson Barben and Deacon Hill, comparatively had worse seasons than Graff. Unless these guys developed significantly since the last time we played, this should be an area of concern for the Trailblazers.

Running Backs
Similarly to the QB position, Utah Tech returns a lot of guys from last season. Statistically, their top returning running back is redshirt senior, Chris Street, who had a net of 237 yards on 70 attempts and a singular TD on the season. He had a net 6 yards on 8 carries last season against the Aggies. Their top 3 returning RBs combined had less rushing yards and equal rushing TDs compared to Graff. Another area of significant weakness unless they figured something out over the off season.

Wide Receivers
Their top WR from last season, Bryce Parker, transferred out of the program which leaves their top returning statistical WR as redshirt senior, Shamar Garrett, who had 250 yards and 1 TD last season. He had 4 catches for 19 yards against the Ags last season. They did bring in a couple of young FBS transfers from BYU and Utah State so comparatively they might be at least be a little bit more dangerous than the QBs or RBs simply from an unknown factor.

Tight Ends
The Trailblazers return their starter in redshirt junior, Eric Olsen. Olsen had 259 receiving yards and 1 TD last year. Olsen participated in the game against the Aggies last season, but recorded no receiving stats. They did have their statistical leader in the TE room transfer out of the program. Eni Falayi had 417 receiving yards and 5 TDs in only 6 games last season. They have a lot of young guys on the roster so maybe a new face steps up?

Offensive Line
Per the Utah Tech 2025 preseason prospectus, the Trailblazers are returning 6 players who had at least 5 starts last season. Now they weren't a particularly strong unit as they were tied for 86th in FCS for sacks allowed and were not a strong foundation for any notable pass or run game, but at least they have game experience. This is the area on the offense where they brought in the most transfers from the FBS so maybe they see some improvement just from talent infusion

Defensive Line
The Trailblazer starting defense from last season as a whole got decimated by transfers and graduation so there will be a lot of new faces for better or worse. Their singular returning defensive lineman is redshirt senior, Layton Tanuvasa, who had 24 total tackles on the season with 1.5 sacks. He had 1 tackle against the Aggies last season. I count 4 incoming transfers on the line so they at least tried to load up with some experienced college players.

Linebackers
They return 1 linebacker who at least had play time from last season in sophomore Jace Sweeten who had 18 total tackles on the season last year. No starters from last season are returning. Otherwise every other player is a freshman or incoming transfer. Unknown for the most part of how they will perform this season.

Defensive Backs
Utah Tech returns 1 starter in the defensive back in redshirt sophomore Quncey Lejay had had 60 tackles (2nd on team) and 5 PBUs. Similarly to the rest of the defense they will be relying on mostly new names in younger players and transfers.

Specialists
They lost their starting punter from last season, but do return their placekicker in redshirt junior Ilya Uvaydov who only made 61.5% of his field goal attempts from last season. I wouldn't be surprised if a new face took over those duties because... woof...

Overall, I don't expect their offense to be much improved from last season unless young guys on the roster really stepped up their game over the offseason. The defense is almost a complete unknown. All but 2 starters are gone and a whole lot of transfers were brought in. Could be good, could be bad. Anything other than a big win for the Ags would be disappointing in my honest opinion.

Fisher is a SOLID 180. When i saw him at practice up close, he was really put together.

On the radio broadcast (simulcast with an Under-9 boys soccer game), Scott Marsh was talking about how the emphasis on our collective and Team Aggie was feeding the players. This was the first year that we fed the players all 3 meals and a snack. They weighed everyone the first day of camp, and the end of camp.....every player at least maintained their weight! That's huge. We have to continue to financial support to feed them THROUGHOUT the season. Unlike many/most collectives, our group is putting their cash toward practical things like feeding the players and providing summer housing (apparently their aid runs out in July-August).

After a few days, I feel like we would have won that game in 2024 Southern Utah fashion - doing enough to hang in on the road.

Mercer is a good opponent. A future home-and-home should be scheduled- need to settle this!

My prediction:

UCD 38 Mercer 17

Enjoyed listening to the interview with my son, Anthony Soto. This former Ag got his start at UC Davis. He is the current OC for Mercer University. Looking forward to being at the game.

Just signed up for youtube tv, new lawn flag representing the Ags here in Boise- Go Ags! 2025.

Great episode with Miles. I am pretty impressed with the effort and professionalism especially with you two having full time jobs and kids. From my perspective I would not be disappointed if you needed to spend a little less time on the podcast but know that we love what you are doing.

Hey everyone, thanks for keeping the board active and passionate - this community thrives because of your energy and insight. Just a quick reminder that we represent a university known not only for athletic excellence, but also for academic rigor and integrity. Let's reflect that standard in our conversations here. Keep the debates spirited, but respectful. Disagree without being disagreeable, and let's continue to make this a space we're proud to be part of.

So anyway......the Mercer game.....

I have a way-too-soon prediction. I feel like we surprise some folks and win by 13-17 points.

I'm about 5 hours away from Montgomery and will be going to the game. I'd love to meet up with other alums who are traveling to the game. Does anyone know the team hotel? I'll try to get a room there.

If you look over the last 30 years of Causeway, Davis fans boost attendance when it’s in Sac, and in some years outnumbered the home fans. But Sac fans are much less likely to come to games in Davis, even in years when tickets remained. As to why Sac fans don’t travel, I’d always assumed it was because they couldn’t get an out-of-county trip approved by their probation officer in time.

Sac Bee writers article, link to Fairfield paper:
What can UC Davis do to build on 2024's incredible success

“This is the best we’ve been on the offensive line,” Plough said

But a theme of the article is the continuity of the Davis program for 50+ years,
“The cool part for me,” Plough said after a recent practice, “is that Coach Sochor used to tell me that he felt like I was the perfect guy to be a bridge to this generation. I have relationships and I have knowledge of what was, and it’s important that I educate players and make them a part of what we do here and to continue the things that we’ve done for a long time.”

I was up there yesterday with AgAlum. Both lines are big and deep. The QB decision is going to be a tough one. Looks like Harper has been having a great camp. He's the safe choice....but... Pinnack has the higher ceiling that could lead to greater results.

I always walk away from practices with so much appreciation for the level of detail. We sat in on the team meeting where they dissected the weekend scrimmage. Very interesting level of coaching on tackling/blocking and playing 'winning football'. The practices are so well-planned out. Not a minute of wasted time out there, just two hours of teaching, hustling and hitting.

I was talking to someone connected to the program and his impression is that we are much bigger on both lines. Not just weight-wise, but just big, athletic guys. I'm going tomorrow so I'll get a first-hand look.