I actually think we are much better all around than last year. Hawkins has found guys who believe in themselves and each other. The idea that others have trust in your talent increases the overall talent level of a player. I know, I was a basketball player. Though I didn't look like one, but could shoot lights out. It's funny how people get an opinion of you, before they even see you play. The lack of confidence in a player is detrimental to his performance. If there is confidence in a player, it can make all the difference in the world. I played on a team where they pretty much had me ride the bench (they lacked conficence in me from the get go). I asked for a release, signed with another team, and played against my old team and scored 43 points. Why? Strictly confidence in me, gave me the confidence to go out and shoot 27 footers. Something I never would have done on my first team, because of the distance, and if I missed I would surely hear about it. The team I played with later said if you are open shoot. Well, I was open a lot when I played against my old team. This confidence, that players and coaches have in each other, increases their ability to excel. So, it's funny how much a good coach and good teammates can make everyone better. This is what I am seeing in this group. They all know they will do their best for each other. Something I did not see with Gould's teams. The players seem to have fun under Hawkins, because he gives them a chance to win. Under Gould down 20 points late 3rd quarter and all we do is run up the gut. Did the players fveel likje Gould had faith in them to pull out a win? No!
That is why he was unsuccessful. He did not play to win. He played to try and keep a job.

Actually, I think the rush game depends more on the line than the back. The back just needs to make good decisions, after he gets through the line. Either way a mediocre back gets 3-4 yards and a very good back can get tons of yards.
I actually like drawing the defensive line one way, and let them take themselves out of the play if they are not letting you get holes opened for your back. The more success they are having stopping the run, the more agressive they get. Thus, making them susceptible to counters, and screens.

Never know the stars could be aligned just right, again!

Dr. Mike, already conceding the Stanford game?

I think Tehran may have been slightly banged up from what I read too. They said not 100%. I am sure they want him 100% when we start against the Big Sky teams. Why risk any form of reinjury? A fully healthy squad is what you want when you start conference play. You need to win conference games to make the palyoffs. Beating FBS teams is nice, but they are not the teams that yopu MUST beat. So, why risk Tehran if he is not 100%? But, don't let the other team know he is not playing. That makes another issue for the opposition that they need to prepare for.

hhere's anothe33r Ifound a you tube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DObRUjs-s68

Don't know for sure if this is any good, but it was posted 4 hours ago

stream athttp://www.skillet.com/node/222116

Well, the Spartans are saying they have all these 3,4, and 5 star guys. All we got are a few NFL caliber players on our team. Doss got no stars as I recall, so he must suck. And we have only a few 3 star players. So, they must be so much better than us.

I did find this about the game:
http://www.fbschedules.com/2018/02/uc-davis-san-jose-state-ssu-uab-thursday-aug-30/

The original schedule for this gane was 9/1, but moved up to Thursday 8/30 for television.

Most Spartan fans think this will be an easy win for them. Some even think a 5-6 TD difference

The 6'7" guy is great for a lob at the goaline. Tough to defend that.

RiverAggie, you pretty much sold my point about our receiving core being pretty good withut Doss./ Doos just makes our receiving core very,very, dangerous. Thus, opening holes in the line for Thomas. Arm tackles are not going to stop Thomas.

I think Hawkins is just trying to intimidate our foes about Doss. Doss is great, but if they are going to double team him the QB will need to spread it around. Our receiving core is not too shabby even without Doss. But, Doss puts tremendous pressure on the opposition just being on the field. I expect his numbers to be much or better than last year.

Tehran is our ace- in - the- hole. The other teams know about Meier and Doss. What they do not know is much about Thomas. Defend the pass- and the run opens up. He may not need that to gain his yards. He is a fast Dozer as Sac State saw last year in the second half. They could not stop him. You can defend the pass or the run, but difficult to do both. Sac tried to defend the pass. That is when Thomas went off. I expect UCD's offense should be better this year than last. Other teeams are onlkyt expecting Meier and Dodd. Tehran m,ay be our best offensive player this year if he stays healthy.

If their run defense is that bad, I think Tehran will be all over them. That will leave the WR's open for Meier. That could lead to an Aggies blow out, if the Ags can play a little D. The Spartans haven't decided on their QB yet. So, I would think they are going to try and run the ball on the Ags. That may be their best choice.
Tehran looks like a monster each time he has carried the ball. A sprinter at 230lbs is a load. If Tehran starts the Sac state game last year- the Ags win easily. Sac State was lucky the clock worked in their favor the second half. And his 90 yard catch and run was called back because of a push in the back.. Which wasn't even necessary part of the play for him to score.

I believe they moved to D1 not long after we played that game, and we were still D2 for many years.
That was a good reason for them not to play us. They could have lost a a game or two when we had O'Brien.

This is whi newspapers are failing. They no longer employ writers. They buy articles writeen by other publisher's and print them in their own papers. Then the people who buy papers are reading national news and there is very little local news. Hence, local papers are dying. If a newspaper wants to survive they need writers for local news. The editors want to make more money, and they use to find buying articles was less expensive than employing writers, so they gradually phased them out in hopes of continuing to get consumers, using a continuing methods that eliminated local news. It has now come back to bite them in the a**. A quality local paper would survive, but they have become non existent.

Maybe the run game will improve with Thomas. After seeing him in the Sac game it looks like he could definitely make the offense much better than last year. Not only fast, but he ran through and over people for extra yards.

I found this link:

https://ucdavis.247sports.com/Season/2019-Football/Offers

Actually if you have a 3 point lead you may as well foul give them two shots and you get the ball especially with only 10 seconds left