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.

come on

lots of good Cal preseason/camp info here: https://writeforcalifornia.com/

For Plough - re: the transfer portal, what's our strategy for taking advantage of the opportunities & managing the downsides?

Davis could benefit from developing some friendly back-and-forth mobility with Cal & UCLA (where I'd assume transferring is easier from an academic perspective), maybe Stanford/USC. We need to expect losing some guys every year in the portal, and I'd love to see them end up in-state w/ good academic institutions.

Does this make us just a feeder school for the big CA schools? Perhaps, but (1) maybe that's just the new reality of FCS football, (2) as long as it's a two-way street, we could gain more than we lose, and (3) maybe that's a great recruiting pitch i.e. come play high-level ball at Davis - if you really shine you can end up at Cal/UCLA with a fat NIL deal for your last year or two, get drafted, and excellent degree either way.

Between recruiting and film breakdown/analysis during the season, there's like infinite work that could be done

I share your frustration but I also know some coaches who would say: the less information our competitors can use to plan against us, the better. And if you win enough, you don't need hype.

We haven't won enough, so some additional hype sure would have been nice ;)

Especially a bummer given that we'll need to perpetuate the vicious cycle and convince someone else to leave their job and join us. Luckily there are so many good coaches in the Davis network at all levels, hopefully we can pluck someone good.

It's annoying that 247sports didn't have a lot of the guys we signed in their database (and hence their rankings for FCS all seem off)

Wowwww, Carter Vargas seems like a great get

Not sure, but historically Cal had way more flexibility to get athletes past academic admissions hurdles.

Hope he played enough games at the end of the season to qualify for a vet minimum salary.

I'm not sure if this is still accurate, but PWOs are de facto on the team (get the benefits re: admission, classes, housing) and they're like other redshirts, although some join the team in week 1, after Fall camp. "Regular" walk-ons join winter workouts after the season and try out for the team in spring. Maybe 10 would try out, and one would make it.

Knowing that admissions can be hard for undergrad transfers, I wonder if we can just focus/dominate the niche of FBS grad transfers (maybe guys who didn't get a lot of playing time or concluded the NFL is not a realistic outcome). Even if we can just break even with the departures, let alone get net gains/upgrades.

We really do have top-tier grad programs. I wonder how admissions work for grad transfer athletes?

Was anyone there to see which other non-seniors walked for Senior Day?

Yup, the TV broadcast for the Sac St game mentioned he walked for Senior Day, so I imagine he was transparent with the coaching staff and he's departing on good terms.

Keep in mind, 40 times will likely be slower at the combine compared with unofficial #s from UCD. The measurement tech is just way more precise in a combine setting and that usually means slower times.

Lots of former Aggie coaches on the EWU defensive staff - Jeff Copp (DC), Eric Sanders, Wes Nurse

The one thing I remember from Atmospheric Sciences 10 (Severe & Unusual Weather) is that no forecast is accurate beyond 3-4 days.