Agreed. What Plough does with our TEs in the passing game is really fun to watch. Sometimes slow-developing concepts though, and I'm sure he's fully aware that the ball has to come out QUICK! :rofl: I love our screen game; if ISU is going to heat us up, look for big plays in that area. Illinois State has had plenty of games where they allowed 200+ on the ground, and, consequently, lost every one of them.

Scholarships are one year contracts, renewed annually. Someone figured that out a few years ago and started cutting guys. Then the portal came along and not only allowed an opportunity for free agency, but also a dumping ground for the players cut.

OK, we know there will be butts in the seats, the freshmen will have beds to sleep in, finals will be over, the tailgates will be rockin', and there will be a football game played at 2pm. Time to start talking some ball!

If you're a stats geek, here is a nice and easy-to-read, side-by-side stat comparison of the Aggies and the Redbirds.

Here's my take and the statistics from that article in a brief summary:

He who runs the ball and protects the QB shall win. Who can impose their will, get their talented Running Back loose, and force the opposing QB into critical errors?

I think It's going to come down to pass pro and which QB can play within himself and not try do too much.

The portal is not as sexy as kids on Twitter make it sound. I read yesterday that 60-70% of the FBS/FCS kids in the portal never play football again

Great job by Coach Plough, Rocco, and the Chancellor to make the housing thing happen. Great message to the rest of FCS that UC Davis is serious about football.

I still think Taylor is the best fit by a mile, but does he fit what they're (Woods) looking for? Plus, he may not even want to be part of that mess.

Carter is interesting. He is an outstanding recruiter and very well connected, especially in NorCal.

From the Twittersphere: Montana State boards their band (yes, the marching band) during winter break for playoff games. Tarleton has offered student housing for students staying around on campus for the playoff run. And in case I forgot to mention it, $1 hot dogs and $1 beer. The longer we wait to do something, the more kids will go home. Not to mention the potentially homeless football players.

Good call by AggieFinn, these guys are putting in the work and getting the word out there about Aggie Football. Thanks to all, all signs of growth and positive movement

There are ways to do it without burning the place down. Set number of kegs, whatever. Overregulation won't be a problem for a state entity... That video cracks me up, hadn't seen those "highlights" in a minute!

Haha! Equal opportunity roasting in those deals. It is where thick skin is developed

Good. It doesn't have to be much, but there's something about each group having a "home". Some of your best bonding time comes in those rooms

Spot on. It has to be communicated then promoted and possibly incentivized.

Where'd they post this statement, I can't find it. I believe you, just sort of a Doubting Thomas on these sort of matters. There is also a Hyatt or something right there on campus, can't we just get 15-20 rooms comped/reduced rate through the playoffs for some sort of corporate partner recognition TBD?

Most of the students that I've met around the tailgates have been upperclassmen by a wide margin. CMT is onto something; hopefully the game marketing is ramped up in the common spaces and dining halls and around town. The good DrMike brings up a very valid point as well as far as rides out of town. Going to be interesting... $1 beer and $1 hot dogs would be epic. Crank it up to $3 or $5 or have some sort of package deal ($3 beers/$5 for a beer and dog until we float "X" number of kegs of cheap beer?). Tap it and they will come...

Could turn into Cleveland's infamous "Disco Demolition Night" back in the 70s

Tarleton is also offering $1 hot dogs AND $1 beer on Saturday! Priorities baby!

I'm with you, AggieFinn, on the potential for a crazy game in Missoula. However, I feel like the Yotes are hot and I wasn't that impressed with the Griz vs. Montana State. Just for fun, I'll take South Dakota in that one.

Bobcats roll.

Torn on Nova vs. Tarleton. I watched the first quarter of Villanova-Harvard, which probably skewed everything, but I thought Villanova looked the part. They totally dismantled Harvard in every phase. I have not seen anything on Tarleton other than how great they are. I'm guessing they're faster, which is typically my preference, so I'll take Tarleton at home, but I think the weird start time favors the visitors.

Alright, looking at that UND facility:

Football dorms attached to the building? BRILLIANT. Probably not moving out of there during a playoff run.
Team dining hall: NECESSARY. At a UC, you could probably combine all sports, or the sports that share a building, but that seems to be an area that bothers Plough.
Position meeting rooms: I'm not sure of how that works at Davis, but I don't think every group has their own room.
Weight Room: ours might be nicer. Not sure on the Nutrition Station. That is a MUST.
Locker Room: not sure, haven't spent time in ours but guessing the new one at UND is nicer.

All in all, we're probably not that far behind, but the housing/nutrition pieces are bigtime pieces that always seem to come up in the off-season or this time of year. We need to feed our guys at an elite level and figure out what to do with them if we're going to be playing during finals week every year!

Going rate in college hoops for young starters to develop is in the $300-400k range. Immediate impact starters from G5 schools to P4 schools is $1m. That comes from an agent acquaintance this afternoon. He doesn't do football but thought it might be similar. Said that BB has more money than FB except at the very top, especially in the mid-majors. Thought young football guys would be closer to $150-250k but that was a guess. Every case varies by school/need/perceived upside

All pure speculation. Good for the brands to be mentioned with MWC and conference re-alignments. I'm sure the artists formerly known as the Go-Go's across the Causeway would love to be mentioned with such regard. But hey, I hear applications are up (unlike their stingers)!

Holy crap! That is really impressive, way to go, Ty! That kid probably got bored covering the WRs in the NESCAC, that's bad football. However, you wouldn't want to bump into any of those teams in the Academic Decathlon or Spelling Bee. Glad he got out of there and is on our side! Three semesters?! That's incredible