The body language of the Aggies on the sidelines says this game is already over…

Mercifully, the first half is over…

Big crowd, beautiful day but not much to get excited about though…

Like Hawk says, I hope the Ags will simply be the best versions of themselves today. It sounds like the team was very disappointed after the EWU game and I really do think they will play their hearts out today. I believe this will be a battle royale today, Go Ags!

I think the talent is there. They're just playing together with focus and cohesion. I hope they get things straightened out before the Sac game next Tuesday.

Ags lose 73-46.

You can't sugar coat what we just saw. It was simply awful in every aspect of the game. The Ags had 26 TO's and were 4 of 18 from 3. But is wasn't the overall poor shooting that did them in, it was the unfocused play and TO's which led to 24 SF points. The Aggie defense broke down way too often also.

This is a very experienced team but something is way off at the moment. We only lost Trpcic and Gibbs and have several highly touted recruits but we're playing really sloppy basketball.

Jen has a problem at PG right now. Burns has been tossed into the fire at the point and, although she's quick and energetic, she's telegraphing passes and turning the ball over way too much...9 in this game alone. Sanders can play point but she struggles defensively and can get beat off the dribble too often. Burns is not alone in the TO category though. There were 26 tonight so the rest of the team isn't doing so well either.

I'd like to say that good teams are just going to have games like this sometimes but the Ags have not played well yet this year including their exhibition game. We've gotten spoiled watching the Ags dominating the Big West the last 5 seasons so you know the rest of the league is delighted with what they are seeing from the Ags so far.

About the only thing you can say right now is thank heavens we weren't playing Stanford or Oregon tonight...

And it is only getting worse: Ags down 22 at the end of the 3rd 56-34. 20 TO's by the Aggies...

Couldn't agree more. Jen was obviously trying different lineups to try and find some cohesion but it didn't help.

Ags trail 37-24 at the half. Really poor basketball on both ends of the floor by the Ags. 14 TO's already. We are really missing Trpcic at PG. Burns has 7 TO's from telegraphed and hurried passes.

Ags trail 20-12 after the 1st quarter. Poor shooting by both teams but poor shooting (25%) and sloppy play by the Ags (6 TO's) already.

I agree but, although Sac has steadily improved this season and comes into the game as the favorite, the Ags are licking their wounds from the EWU game and "a wounded animal is very dangerous" so to speak.

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.