surprisingly none from UW mostly Weber and southern Utah

Passing efficiency formula has # of attempts in the divisor., so its good things - bad things per pass.
Opponents have tried a lot of passes because 1) It works better than rushing 2) we don’t get off the field on third down so opponent runs more plays and 3) they are behind.
The good news is our run defense is better than commonly thought. 3.2 yards per carry, in third place is Montana at 3.9

Washington was the last game Richardson played in.

Honestly the corners have seemed to play really well even when depleted. Only one touchdown given up by Cofield on that Utah tech long pass and one by Bell when the game was already over vs Weber state and 0 for Richardson while he was playing. So I am confident in any combination of the three of them(considering they are the 3 we've seen)

Marion: Run Game, and Affecting the QB.
Lamb: Team Belief and Buy In, Learning to Finish Games.
Gbatu Jr. at 11:50 - Adaptability and Discipline...From Liberia, to D.C. to Okinawa to Temecula Valley High School to UC Davis.

Good might be a stretch. But they're 5-2 now, which matches their win total from the last two years, and they still play a pair of 2-4 teams plus a 3-3 team. Should get a bowl since any team who gets to 6 wins gets a bowl, and if they can win 7 games, it will be their most since 2019.

Wonderful interview with Sam Gbatu. He's an impressive young man...great example of an Aggie athlete...

hurt in practice during the bye week after

Everyone have a nice weekend of honey-dos, Costco runs, yard work, hopefully some grilling, church, etc. Going to be a long weekend, let's come out firing on Monday :fire:

love the sound of that!

Watching UNC fight Cal right now.

not impressed by either team

The Gbatu interview got me thinking about how the team is unusual in that they list most, but not all, players by academic year. Gbatu is a red shirt junior but they list him as a senior They no longer put HS graduation year alongside the school name like they used to which would be useful in determining eligibility. Why aren’t they consistent? Not that hard.

Not sure which thread to get things cranked up on so I'll go here. Bye week behind us and UNC prep really starts today. What we know about the Bears:

They should have beaten Sac. As stated a couple weeks back, these "ascending" programs have players, but those players haven't figured out how to win yet. Cal Poly, Idaho State, Northern Colorado. All elevating, but all still losing games they have opportunities to win.

UNC can throw the football. From the limited highlights I've watched, they get the ball out quick then take vertical shots after they bring you up in the quick game or find a favorable match up. It will be strength on strength with our Corners vs. their WRs. However, the QB threw 4 picks to Sac, including one on 4th and goal at the 3 to win the game. Teams like this snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Don't sleep on that little Tailback. Watch the Idaho highlights, he's a jet. Their OL is not elite but their O staff does a great job getting the ball out quick and putting the OL in a position to be successful.

Speaking of suspect, their Defense is BAD against the run. They give up over 200 yards per game on the ground which is no bueno, including 300+ against Sac.

All in all, their Offense has given them a chance to win in most games. Their stadium is a dump that sits on the windswept edge of the Great Plains. Their couple home games in 2025 have averaged around 4500+. It is going to be a low energy college football environment. All the makings of an ambush game for the Ags. Great teams win the games they're supposed to win, on the road, when they have to bring their own juice. This is a test...

Marquis Bell has been stepping up. Number 1 ranked in passes defended in conference play, Number 3 in the big sky passes defended, and 22 in the nation in passes defended. Him and Cofield has been locking it down in coverage.

You saying Gbatu's back next year??

he has the eligibility to do so if he doesn't decide to leave to a different school.

He was a late addition, not announced his name just appeared on the roster in fall camp. A fairly big guy for a corner, Liberty had him at safety. Been a god send, as i think there are or were more guys at corner not available. I say this because the #2 guys on last weeks depth chart didn’t play, and Plough says in Aggiepride podcast he has so many guys out that they won’t take 58 guys to Greeley.

The job our cornerbacks coach, coach Jordan has done with a completely new room Is underrated in my mind. All the corners who've played significantly(Cofield, richardson, bell) have played pretty well at one of if not the hardest position on the field

Bobby Hauck with a funny yet needed response to what Sac States president had to say: https://x.com/HEROSports_FCS/status/1980379942115594345?t=KEM8WNNZbKUQjc3jXOrBFg&s=19

Is Sac's PR move to ignore the melee?

“The dude is a clown” ouch!

Ouch.

..."If I was their president, I'd be more worried about the riot that occurred at their stadium after the game than taunting Montana"...double ouch!

UNC is clearly improved, but we're potentially the toughest opponent they've played to date including Colorado State. Sagarin has the Aggies rated above the Rams. Massey is giving the Aggies an 89% chance winning this game. That number maybe a little rich for me, but I'm still going to predict a multiple score victory for the Ags. This is the kind of game that you still have to put a beating on em if your goal is getting a good seed in the playoffs.

also potentially if Sac wins out except against the Ags, they could get in ahead of the Ags so better to have them good but not great in case the Ags slip.

Listening to the APP.....
Northern Colorado game is similar to Portland State game last year in terms of atmosphere. Sleepy park-like stadium. The big difference is Portland State was terrible, UNC is underrated.
I think the Ags are going to be more up for this one.

I really like Plough's idea about the Aggie Football event in February. This should for sure be pumped here on AST.

Regarding the weekly press conference, no trash talking from Plough. I wonder if Wood’s mouth is going to run wild on the week before the causeway.

Statistically Northern Colorado is not good against rushing giving up 5.7 yards per attempt. Conversely we are surprisingly not great at rushing, with a 4.0 average. Davis has to be better than that with the running backs we have. Without the 8 sacks for 54 yards the it would be about 4.8.