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Did anybody see Zach Kennedy steamroll their starting TE right into the ground, knocking him out of the game?

I saw that...powerful block...it looked like the Idaho player fell back awkwardly.

They're reporting over on the Idaho forum that the TE is out for the remainder of the season

The one thing you had to.look at is defensive turnovers. This left a shorter field for the Ags to travel and time possession. The Ags kick off and leave a longer field to get yards and not core. Hence the yardage differential really isn't a big deal.
Lets say a team kicks off and the three times they kick the defense gets the ball and returns it for a TD.
Now say the subsequent kick off the team gets it and marches down the field, but misses the FG.
The offense gets the ball and scores a one play TD. Then kickoff and the fumble #2 occu rs and the defense runs it in for a score. Then on the next kick off the other team again marches down the fiels and scores. After this scenario the team losing big will have more total yards, but they are still losing.
Now because of errors, but they have a greater TOP and yards, but are still losing due to errors.

In this PACKED episode of Aggie Pride: A UC DavisFootball Podcast, Brock and Dwight celebrate UC Davis football's thrilling 28-26 victory over the Idaho Vandals, marking a historic moment that elevated the team to eighth in the nation. The podcast also announces a significant new sponsorship from University Credit Union, with co-host Dwight sharing nostalgic game-day memories and his thoughts on the synergy of the partnership. The episode delves into the impact of Brock providing the squad with Bulletin Board material, interviews Head Coach Tim Plough’s “go for the win strategy”, and gives all the flowers to quarterback Miles Hastings and his outstanding performance. The importance of turnovers and maintaining team focus is highlighted alongside reflections on recent challenges and excitement for future games. Additionally, updates on SAC State's stadium plans are discussed, encouraging continued fan support and community enthusiasm for upcoming games.

Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qoVjq4Mms2BnFa6aj00pF?si=XmnBBsv0QTKJXUeUrEKiuA

Apple Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/aggie-pride-a-uc-davis-football-podcast/id1758625363?i=1000671456100

Welp, the boys were fired up about the POD’s (aka Brock’s) score prediction. Whatever it takes to get the win lol!

Did i hear Brock predict Portland State by 10?

Brock, I fully support your analytical picks. I we want someone to pick the Aggies over Alabama, we can always go to Bob Dunning :-)

upset alert! lol

We are going to continue to be honest and not total homers! Aaaaaand, as we stated, we are and were elated with the win and will ALWAYS be rooting for the Ags of course!

"Idaho, check!"

I don't know who put that highlight clip together but man do they show some weird plays while not showing others.

For example, Idaho's first drive of the second half, they have 1st and goal from the 7. They show the 1st, 2nd and 3rd down plays but not 4th down when Idaho went for it. They also didn't show the interception on Idaho's next drive.

My thoughts on the game likely parallel others:

Miles had an excellent game with good decisions and better pocket and rollout execution. It reminded me of his 2022 game in the Kibbe Dome in which he was something like 17-19 with one throw just off the fingertips in the end zone (perhaps catchable) and the one other incompletion an intentional smart throw out of bounds. He was truly masterful in that game - but of course the run game was cooking in that game.

I was a bit puzzled with the fall back of no kickoffs into the end zone. That was ok in this case but you don’t want to let the likes of Montana’s Junior. Bergen return kicks.

Punting was lackluster, specifically just short in distance.

In addition to being an excellent cover man, Kavir Bains is one heck of a tackler.

Practice fields looks great. Natural grass?

yes, real grass. Much easier on joints and bodies. Kind of wish the stadium had it but with multi-use and maintenance I understand. When Dave Doeren took the job at MC State, he wanted the real turf replaced with artificial. The University said “no” due in part to its nationally recognized turf program - University won. Penn State has a beautiful bluegrass field (also a turf program, ditto Auburn, Texas A&M, all Ag schools with turf programs. None of the mentioned are in multi-use stadiums though.

I think the main argument for artificial turf comes down to it looks nicer and short term holds up better in extreme weather. It’s not the environmental wonder the manufacturers claim. It is not water or maintenance free, still has to be rinsed and repaired. It is mostly made of dinosaur juice and has a finite number of uses before it must be thrown away and replaced. In my area in the southeast, high schools use artificial but most universities use Tifway 419, Celebration, or Latitude Bermuda. When I was managing multi use fields, we used natural turf because we could adjust the “speed” of the grass based on height/method of mowing, application timing of water, etc. At elite levels, soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse have different requirements. For example the German national soccer team has requirements to the millimeter, and I had the equipment and the guys who could do it. But it requires downtime for grass to grow between use cases. Artificial is a one-size-fits-all when you lack that kind of expertise or grow time. Football is the least prissy of the sports about grass.

Portland played at Chattanooga a half day after the field was underwater from the recent hurricane, something that would be impossible on grass.

the grass turf on the practice field is not the softest surface in the world! Feels almost like a putting green.