Agreed, there was nothing wrong with the classic solid blue-gold but if it was a foretold conclusion that we would follow the trend of stylish new uniform patterns then this is about the best possible outcome.

Re: health, someone on reddit mentioned SDSU has injuries on the DL.

Additionally I read in the paper that who sat out for how long due to pox affected who got the starting position for WR (I think it was). Also the starting TE is coming off a foot surgery and one of the backup RBs is questionable.

So the short of it is that SDSU is not playing with the ideal list of starters and backups, and some of the ones who are there might see limited reps.

Edit: Also, I really dig the new uniforms. I wonder if we'll be seeing new away jerseys on Saturday too?

Going to the alumni tailgate but (reluctantly) rooting for SDSU starting at kickoff, though my primary hope is for a competitive game with no injuries. SDSU needs to keep NY6 hopes alive with a win and UCD needs to prove that it can hang with a respectable program. A win by 1 or 2 TDs for State will mostly satisfy everybody I think.

As I said in a different thread I don't think it'll turn into a massacre and the Ags may even have a slim shot. There shouldn't be any doubt that Coach Long will try to pound the ball up the middle a lot, including on third and long sometimes, so there will be opportunities to get stops. I've seen arguments both ways that the SDSU defense should be fine or worse compared to last year, so I don't know exactly how that would go but do hope that the new-look Aggie offense can make a few big plays.

What happened in the FCS game last year was that New Hampshire stacked the box effectively and eventually State started resorting to long bombs with the expectation that our WRs could beat the DBs in 1v1s. It worked, but it's not what this offense is built for and airing it out like that with a QB who doesn't usually throw that much could turn sour very fast with some good defensive plays and a little luck for the Aggies.

I also really want to see what Hawk does with Spencer. Wildcat? Multi-QB sets? Lining up as a WR? If he's as versatile as I've been hearing that opens up a ton of interesting possibilities.

Also I wonder if there will be a replay on FB. Really want to see what that coverage will be like.

Eh, I tend to give them some slack. I remember applying to college even as a non-athlete is a huge information overload and reps from every school are always pressuring you to apply/commit early or jump into stuff without adequate information.

Once a recruit signs the paperwork their rights basically vanish, so better to seem slightly disingenuous now by reversing a non-binding decision than hastily lock yourself into situation you can't easily get out of.

SDSU finished #25 last year and got as high as #19 but voters are unconvinced this year after graduations at RB, OL, the D in general. Ironically Pumphrey leaving is probably the least problematic thing for SDSU but it's the change that voters are probably aware of the most.

Highly doubt Aggies will be taken to the woodshed. SDSU's offense isn't built to run up the score and I think/hope that Hawk's offense will be explosive enough to move the chains against even good defenses.

I expect the game to stay relatively close for the first quarter or two until State starts wearing the Aggie defense down and pulls ahead by a couple of TDs. Of course soon after that Long will pull Penny (if he hasn't already) and then later the entire first string.

This is of course the "no new cases of chicken pox" scenario. Anything goes if that comes back.

While Blue is doing a great job it's worth noting this is a MWC thing and it's likely UCD had little say in it.

You may need a Facebook account to stream, but it's quick to sign up. You don't have to make any info public if you only want to create a dummy account to stream.

I think sports bars might have a little trouble streaming this if they don't have a computer hooked up to the tv. I'm pretty sure the grad does have that setup but I don't know if that's exactly common.

Well if it leads us to eventually getting more FCS opponents for OoC games then that's a plus in my book.

I understand if there's a financial necessity to fbs games but if they can keep it down to a MW school then one of those and two fcs opponents would make for a challenging but still manageable slate.

To my knowledge the game isn't televised. Normally ooc games for MWC teams have been streamed online on MW Network or Twitter but this wasn't one of the events SDSU announced for streaming.

Per Twitter, all but 3 SDSU players had vaccines according to parents. Same guy said elsewhere that confirmed case count is still at 5 but 3 more players are having cultures done.

So if this is true then that means some players who got vaccinated caught it. Though if UCD players got shots this week it might be a bit better protection than shots 17-20 years ago if it's true that it weakens over time.

There's a vaccine and booster, but it was introduced from 1995-2000 so current college-aged adults are right on the edge of maybe having both, or one, or none. Even if they had it (especially just one I think) it's prone to wear off at around 20 years.

UC currently requires both doses of the chicken pox vaccine (CSU does not), though that rule was only introduced in like 2016 so the upperclassmen Aggies could possibly not have had it.

Daily Aztec is now reporting that 15 players caught it, though Athletics denied it. Supposedly players and staff have a gag order.

http://thedailyaztec.com/83295/sports/source-preseason-pox-outbreak-larger-than-reported/

We're still at the point where anybody catching it now wouldn't be contagious by season start. And presumably nobody showing symptoms on Game Week will be allowed or able to play, so UCD might only be at risk in the first place if any SDSU players started showing symptoms one or two days after the game. Although Hawk should perhaps consider taking players on a field trip to the vaccination clinic at the Health and Wellness Center after practice one morning. I assume expenses for medical issues incurred or at risk in games are covered by ICA for athletes?

That makes sense. From my reading on the disease it seems that these 5 guys will easily be at full health and no longer contagious by the game. But another issue is that the incubation period can be up to 3 weeks, so if anybody else caught it over the weekend then we might not see another wave of cases pop up until game week.

I'm seriously wondering if the CFP committee will take disease into account now.

I would not blame the coaching staff at all if they cancelled practices up until the home opener. Even if not it's hard to imagine SDSU at full strength Week 1 and that may roll over to the next game vs ASU.

I see it now: half the team gets infected, we lose to Davis, ASU, and Stanford, then recover and win out the rest of the schedule but miss NY6 and playoffs, and ESPN makes a 30-for-30 out of it.

True to an extent I think, though it hasn't seemed to concern coaches or pundits much.

I'm not sure if it's because they're confident in the unit's depth, planning to lean more on Chapman to make plays happen under pressure, or just hiding weaknesses though.

Sac Republic has done an incredible job with their branding and ticket sales (#2 attended minor league team in the US; sold out all but like 2 games in club history) so this might be a huge catch for the Ags if this guy had something to do with all that.

Their image and outreach is super slick as well -- for example they used reddit and an April Fool's joke to test the waters on a Quail mascot and then when people started liking it quietly let it become the unofficial team name. In all seriousness I can't think of a better pro team example for UCD to follow.

Edit: I see from his Linkedin that he also was the ticket sales guy at the Rivercats, the A's, and the Sharks. This sounds like a serious catch.

There could be some interesting options on the table with Spencer being a short-yardage wildcat QB, even if he doesn't get the starting job. I seem to recall he ran the Wing T or some other option offense in high school.

To elaborate on SDSU a bit...

Penny is a beast. Even last year we knew that he might eclipse Pumphrey as an NFL prospect, and that was largely through kick returns and getting carries in between Pumphrey's turns. However calling him a backup, while technically true, doesn't really capture how many carries he got with the first string.

SDSU runs a successful version of what Gould wanted the Aggie offense to be. Chapman (QB) is a game manager who only needs to throw 8-15 passes a game and can scramble when he has to. He has some decent targets who might provide matchup trouble for FCS CBs but really they're mostly there to keep the defense honest. Last year, FCS New Hampshire actually actually had one of the best defensive performances against our run game but that was because they were stacking the box. Eventually a frustrated Long ditched the original game plan and started airing it out to just press the FBS speed advantage.

The good news is that that State won't be looking or even able to run up the score necessarily and a stop every other drive might be enough to keep the game close in the first half, depending on how Hawk's new offense performs. The Ags have to sustain drives though because otherwise SDSU will chew the clock like crazy. The other good news is that a lot of the Gould recruits have a ton of practice with a similar offense so the practice squad is probably on point.

Sucks to hear about the pox; I hope those guys have a speedy recovery. I've been told chicken pox is worse as an adult than as a kid when most people used to get it.

I panicked when I first read the news because I'm starting work as an SDSU Athletics tutor in two weeks, but then remembered that vaccines exist. I wonder how many of the players haven't been vaccinated; and if it's that common to not be these days.

The travesty of this video was that it's been out for weeks, just unlisted on Youtube. (Somebody on reddit found the link.)

ICA had an amazing thing on their hands and it didn't occur to them to make it public, looks like.