Sad if we are bemoaning the loss of Doss we have so many good veteran wide receivers, assuming they’re healthy.
How can we not have an element of surprise given we are changing QBs and coordinators? Who knows what that will look like?
Didn’t Covid affect both sides?

Perhaps the unanswered question is if the 2018 campaign was a flash-in-the-pan fluke or the new normal. 2019 was comparatively uninspired; was THAT a fluke or just regression to the mean? Turnover of key athletes and assistants is a routine test of an HC’s reinvention and pick ‘em skills. I’m not sure we will have a definitive verdict this year, because win, lose, or draw, 2020-21 will have an asterisk by it.

I think the only COVID specific thing we’ve had to solely deal with is the practices with reduced numbers. Up to this weekend, we were restricted to groups of 25. Now we’re at 75. I don’t think anyone else has had to deal with that, even Poly.

Who’s call was the 25 player limit? Any science behind that?
Davis somehow different than the majority of college football teams, something attributable to the water perhaps?

Yolo County edicts?

Believe it was Yolo since other cal colleges were full practices back in fall. Why 25? Who knows. As for science, we’ll figure out the right standards years down the road.

This is the glass half full point of view
If they play this could be a really good team.
We return a very veteran good offensive line.
Herrick, Vaughn, Babb, Crawford , Kraft, if healthy that’s a pretty impressive group of receivers.
Tight end is a bit of a question mark but we have a sophomore transfer from Cal, and some promising recruits from the last few years.
Running back position is deep with Gilliam, Dixon, Larson. Spencer etc
Defensive line has some huge transfers, and returns our best lineman Rogers
Linebackers return Eaton and Airey, along with returning guys who contributed as transfers last year, should be better now; Trimble missed last year but was playing well the year before. And we have two transfers from PAC 12 teams.
DB is so loaded I won’t even try to list.

Coach Hawkins: ”We’re getting there. We have a lot of talent, a lot of depth, a lot of experience.” https://www.sacbee.com/sports/article249317240.html

I still don't know how to really categorize the 2019 season.

On one hand, the team almost never looked like they were playing up to potential. On the other, they totally looked like they belonged on the field with NDSU.

All the losses were to Pac-12 or FCS playoff teams if I remember right. And they were a stupid false start away from beating UND and having an even record against one of the FCS' toughest schedules. Still, have to think the 2018 Aggies would have won most of those games.

it’s absurd that after the majority of teams elsewhere have played their season with no notable problems due to COVID that a bureaucrat from a backwater county where Davis is the biggest town can impose arbitrary rules based on nothing but a whim

This has never been about players dying, but rather not spreading it around to the community. (See, South Dakota, Mississippi, Alabama, et al. death rates) Notice Yolo County is the first county in the area to move out of the red tier.

I think what made 2018 feel so good was that aside from Jake, the team was primarily Gould recruits. It kind of proved that we had the talent all along and it was in fact a coaching issue that was now solved. We were quite likely one missed tackle away from going to Frisco, which stung even more when we played NDSU tough in 2019. But the rest of 2019 was so inconsistent. It might have been time for some fresh ideas on offense, so we shall see what Cody brings. As long as we break from the tradition of 32-second drives against teams with pass defense defined by 2 incomplete passes, a power run up the middle for 1 yard followed by a punt.

You mean the season we throttled Montana, at Montana? Same season we undressed the Spartans in SJ, and ran the board at home. I recall at EWU in the Quarters, we scored late in the 4th, and they came the length of the field in like 5 plays. Playmakers.

Gould. Several times in his reign I would overhear high school coaches predicting our exact (3) offensive play calls. Still our players fought, backup CJ Spencer giving us a chance at SLO. I don't think we stopped them one time. Late in the game, 4th and short, Gould punted... ugh!!!

I have to think the good numbers have more to do with the healthy Davis program focusing on keeping the population of the largest city healthy, than sitting the basketball teams. I’m very cautious about COVID, but I think the Yolo folk ignored the level we tested athletes. Makes no sense that gathering 75 tested athletes is more dangerous than 25 tested athletes.


Okay....back to football. My apologies for the detour. Man I wish we were playing Saturday. Could have been a 5-0 weekend v poly with the bball teams seeeping!

UCD has opened vaccines to all employees now, so presumably the coaches and staff have or shortly will have the ability to receive it. So a step in the right direction.

Yep, that's the season! The first time we played EWU, their athletic QB rolled us. But in the quarterfinal game, we had their number and then let a 4th quarter drive get away from us with a gassed defense. I of course hope we win out this year. Hard to say how anyone compares at this point some, so I'm not sure how well I could predict outcomes. Possibly the team I would most hope to beat is EWU because I really do not like Aaron Best & Co's attitude and lack of sportsmanship, but I will never overlook a win over Poly. Looks like all the games are noon or 1pm. Good for me watching in eastern time but it's a bummer to have nothing under the lights. March might be brisk, but mid-April in Davis can either be winter or summer weather.

By sitting out, this may be Northern Colorado's best season in FCS yet. At 0-0, I suppose that will put them at 50% for the first time.

You copied and re-purposed my UCD baseball 2020 Big West Co-Champions idea LOL.

I own a Chico State football t-shirt that says "undefeated since 1997".

I really do not like Aaron Best & Co's attitude and lack of sportsmanship, — fugawe09

Agree 100%. He lost my respect when he left his starters in during the final couple of minutes of the 4th quarter to add another TD to their blowout win over us a couple of years ago at EWU. Then the players celebrated and danced on the sidelines along with Coach Best like they had won the National Championship just to rub it in a bit more.

I mentioned that poor sportsmanship in the UCD at EWU game thread over the Any Given Day forum and got flamed like crazy by the Eagles fans. So I respectfully bowed out of the conversation at that point.

Fan and athlete sportsmanship is kind of interesting how it ebbs and flows. Montana and Sac State have long proud histories of being low-brow. I've been up to Eastern for games (fog-out game 2005) and it used to be pleasant there with nice fans. Then they won a championship in 2010, painted the field red, and the athlete and fan behavior changed for the worse. There are few keyboard warrior Eagles fans that would do well to put the Natural Ice down and step away from the internet. Coincided with the Beau Baldwin years and has continued under Best. Not sure to what degree the fan culture is on the coach, but hopefully Cal Poly doesn't trend that way under Baldwin. I can remember in the Ellerson years, the Cal Poly stadium experience had kind of become a pit of frat boys throwing cans the way Hornet Stadium was in the mid-90s, but in the Walsh era became a more family friendly experience, at least from this visitor's perspective.

EWU, ugh. I was there for the regular season game when we got destroyed. I will never forget the totally cheap shot on Doss as he was stretched out, hit hard before the ball was even close. Terrible, ice cold stadium with no protection from a blistery breeze coming out of Canada.. People huddled in the men’s room at half time to get warm. I sat with a former Aggie player who i ran into at the game. I thought he was going to get into a fist fight with the obnoxious EWU fan sitting next to us. But then there was a group in front of us that were super nice and welcoming. I had to walk through their home side after the game, that was not a pleasant experience. Realizing every group has bad apples, i seriously doubt i would ever return to that stadium.

Coach Hawk has challenges.

Possible upsides include we may get a mobile QB able to throw the deep ball.

no doubt. I’m hoping for a dual threat QB. Our blind spot has been eloquent passers that need a ton of time and space in the pocket to work their magic, a luxury that Midwest corn-fed teams won’t give you. Looks like some young talent coming in on the line. I had to read twice, there are two freshmen, one OL and one DL who are around 360. They got 100lbs on some guys. Those are big men.