Dunning takes the Ags by 4:

AGGIES over SACRAMENTO STATE … both teams appear playoff bound, but the Hornets have a shot at the Big Sky championship at stake as well. The Aggies, meanwhile, would hate to end the regular season with two straight losses, no matter the opponent. Take the Ags by 4, but pay the rent first.

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/bobs-picks-pay-the-rent-before-the-causeway-classic/

From today's Enterprise:

The Hornets have become a force under third-year head coach Troy Taylor, who was named to the position in December of 2018 but is only in his second full season due to the cancellation of the 2020 campaign.

In his first season in 2019, Taylor led CSUS to a 7-1 record and a share of the Big Sky title and was named as the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year, an honor UCD head coach Dan Hawkins earned in 2018.

Overall, Taylor is now 14-1 against Big Sky competition in a league many rank as the toughest in the nation. He is also 1-0 against UC Davis.

The Aggies are coming off a difficult 38-20 loss to Eastern Washington in a game they led 17-14 early in the second half before being outscored 24-3 the rest of the way.

“We battled and played well for a long time, but they had too much at the end,” Hawkins noted. “That loss hurt because our guys care so much, but they put UC Davis in the ring and it’s good to be in the ring. It’s been a long battle this season and it feels like we’ve been playing non-stop football for two years.”

More here: https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/a-lot-riding-for-uc-davis-football-on-2021-causeway-classic/

The general FCS fans' consensus over at anygivenday.com is that the Ags have been overrated all season and Sac has been underrated. Generally, they feel that neither team has played a very tough conference schedule and, in their toughest conference games, the Ags got solidly beaten by EWU while Sac beat Montana on the road. Consequently, the feeling is that Sac is the solid favorite.

I don't think we'll ever see bonfires again since California has been burning up the past few years due to persistent drought enabled by rapidly escalating climate change.

Mitchell and Mallette were daggers down the stretch hitting big shots that doomed the Ags. Mitchell is from San Jose and we offered him. Mallette is from Alameda and we did not offer him. He's an elite player and he originally committed to Penn State before decommitting and signing with Pepperdine a few months later. I wish Les would have offered Mallette. He's the type of impact player that can come in as a true freshman and elevate the play of the whole team.

:rofl:

I liked the way our defense brought us back after Pepperdine shot lights out in the first half. Their 2 freshmen guards, Mike Mitchell Jr and Houston Mallette are impressive and pretty much did us in. Mitchell is from San Jose and we recruited him. Mallette is from Alameda and we should have recruited him!

Anigwe, Pepper and Manjon continue to be the offense for the Ags. We're not getting much offensive production from anyone else and our 3 point shooting was not good again 5-17.

Well, at least we don't have to worry about going undefeated! :smirk:

We have had a tough time scoring with consistency for the past couple of years. I know Les emphasizes defense but you can't win on defense alone. We've had a bunch of good looks in the first half but can't score.

43-30 Pepperdine at the half. The Waves have been red hot the whole half shooting 67%. We're lucky to only be down 13 since we're only shooting 35%. If we don't slow them down in the second half and also make a few shots, they will win by at least 25.

Good to see Ba back on the floor. At least he can shoot a good percentage.

29-19 Pepperdine with 6:10 to go in the half.

The Ags can't buy a shot. Cold as ice. Shooting 31% to Pepperdine's 58%.

10-6 Pepperdine at the first media break. The Ags are going to have to step up their defense. The Waves have size and speed.

That would be a great thing for them to do in his honor.

I just stumbled upon it today. Never knew it existed before.

I think you're right.

Here's a link that shows the history of all the teams we have played over the years:

https://ucdavisaggies.com/sports/mens-basketball/opponent-history

Exactly. Rebounding seems to be struggle each year despite our length. I'm not sure why this continues to happen. I hate to say it but we just don't seem to be as aggressive and quick to the ball as many of our opponents. It's an area of concern for sue.

There's a very good article by Bob Dunning in Tuesday's Enterprise that covers a lot of the history of the rivalry between these two schools:

This is the annual rivalry game that began when Dwight David Eisenhower (I Like Ike) was president and Davisites were driving tractors instead of Teslas.

As I have noted here previously, while the Hornets can’t match UC Davis’ long-ago 18-game win streak in this series, they did remain for years as the only four-year school in college football history to defeat UC Davis twice in the same season. Until, of course, Eastern Washington accomplished the same feat in 2018.

Sac State made it happen in 1988 when the Hornets ended those 18 years of Causeway futility with a come-from-behind, heart-stopping, last-second, 31-28 win on Toomey Field. The winning score came when quarterback Bryan Pendergast hit Mark Young with a short pass, then Young turned the corner and raced past everyone to complete a 53-yard touchdown play.

I remember it all so well, as thousands of green-and-gold clad Hornet fans poured out of the east bleachers and danced on the sacred Toomey Field turf until someone finally turned off the lights.

The long and painful hex removed, the Hornets followed that up two months later with a much more workmanlike 35-14 win in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.

Oddly, 1988 was the last season that Jim Sochor coached the Aggies and it was the only time he lost to the Hornets (twice, actually) after 18 straight wins.

During one five-year stretch, the series became absolutely non-competitive, with Aggie wins of 38-3, 34-0, 28-0, 39-0 and 32-7. Later, the Aggies posted back-to-back wins of 51-6 and 52-14.

In fact, the streak became so long and so dominant that Sochor once said “It’s not a rivalry until they beat us.”

More here: https://www.davisenterprise.com/news/local/dunning/bob-dunning-time-for-a-truly-classic-matchup/

That's a crazy way to win...

Lots of events planned prior to the Causeway Classic including a new Senior Sprint just prior to kickoff:

The celebrations get underway with a pair of events sponsored by the Cal Aggie Alumni Association leading up to Saturday's football game. The first is "Aggie Night" at J.J. Pfister Distillery in Sacramento (9819 Business Park Dr., Ste. #3, Sacramento, Calif., 95827) on Thursday (Nov. 18) from 5:30-7:30 p.m., featuring Causeway Classic related trivia, prizes, and raffle items, as well as a 20 percent discount on food and drinks with your CAAA membership card.

On Friday (Nov. 19), Aggie fans can enjoy a pregame celebration at Sudwerk Brewing Co. in Davis (2001 2nd St., Davis, Calif., 95618). Attendees will receive 15 percent off food and drinks, with light appetizers provided courtesy the CAAA.

Thursday's event at J.J. Pfister Distillery is free to attend, while a ticket to the event at Sudwerk is $5 per person. Fans can register for either, or both events, at alumni.ucdavis.edu.

Attention then turns to the field at UC Davis Health Stadium for a 1 p.m. kickoff in the 67th annual meeting between the Aggies and the Hornets as the two programs battle for playoff positioning in the regular season finale.

Prior to kickoff, current UC Davis seniors are invited to run the field as part of the inaugural "Senior Sprint" at 12:45 p.m., followed by "Senior Day" ceremonies honoring the departing Aggie senior class at 12:50 p.m. After the first quarter, be sure and stay in your seats as all-time UC Davis great Rolf Benirschke will have his name added to the "Aggie Pride Wall" alongside Ken O'Brien and Bo Eason.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2021/11/16/football-join-the-aggies-for-causeway-week-celebrations.aspx

I actually feel better about our performance in the game after watching these highlights. Our offense struggled, for sure, but we shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times also when we were moving the ball with a fumble and an interception too.

All the breaks also went EWU's way. The ruling on the potential Aggie interception that was ruled a fumble, or whatever they ruled that kept the ball with EWU, was a big break for them. It kept their drive alive. The Ags thought they had another turnover on a fumble recovery that was ruled in favor of EWU and another possible INT that the Ags thought they had went in favor of EWU also. No one could see whether the ball touched the ground on that possible INT by the Ags including the refs but the call went against the Ags with no replay. These breaks were huge for EWU.

Then there was the blatant personal foul by EWU's Keshawn King when he smacked Crawford in the face right in front of two refs. The refs were literally 5 feet away and neither one did a thing. We were driving deep in their territory at the time and a 15 yard penalty would have been huge.

EWU's offensive numbers were gaudy, no doubt, and, even if the breaks went our way, it may not have made a difference. However, despite the numbers being put up by EWU, we were in the game right into the 4th quarter and, with a break or two going our way, this game might have gone right down to the wire.

I'm glad I watched these highlights. We played better than I thought and we competed hard against a very good football team. We just need to put this behind us and take out our frustrations on Sac!