Do we have enough speed and line depth? Coaching challenge, strategy, execution.

Go Aggies!

Edit: Gould reunion.

Being totally realistic, we likely lose this game... and badly, but it won't stop me from cheering the boys on like crazy. Offensive line needs to give Maier a little bit more protection and we can't have mental lapses in the defense like we did in the 3rd quarter. There is always an off chance of winning, but Stanford is a dang good team.

We will have to play a fundamentally solid, smart game and we can not make a bunch of mistakes if we want to be within any reasonable striking distance in the 4th quarter. We have a few big play makers and maybe lightening will strike for us a few times. The biggest challenge I see is how well will our defense be able to stand up to their size and speed for 4 quarters. I hope we can catch Stanford looking past us because no one will realistically be giving us a chance in this game.

Offensive line needs to give Maier a little bit more protection

Yep. SD got to him a couple times with the blind side hit, which is always dangerous. Maier got beat up by SD. The pocket was falling apart. Maybe some roll outs/ play action passes would help mitigate this?

If we can keep the point spread respectful, we win.

I was at the Stanford game 13 years ago and my memory of that game has stuck in my mind ever since. It was a ridiculously late afternoon game and hot even for Palo Alto. I parked my car in the “woods of eucalyptus trees” that is Stanford ‘s parking lot in the daylight (later i could hardly find my car when the game was over because it was so pitch dark). Anyway, back to the game. I thought Stanford was going to win. They stopped our running game. Our passing game was off. Then something happened that is what makes people always say “on any given day. . .anything can happen in sports” and they did. We punted to Stanford and the returner muffed the ball on about his 20 yard line and we recovered. The tide and emotion turned and we pulled out a win. Before that game it was also said “we would get crushed”. Well, we didn’t get crushed. Hawk will play the video of that game to the team as a reminder of what can happen “any day” in football and we will see what happens next Saturday (if you go to the game make sure you remember where you parked your car in the Stanford forest!).

If we take Stanford's land we'll control a good chunk of the West coast and have a substantial tax base: https://www.sbnation.com/2018/9/10/17838508/college-football-imperialism-map-week-2

When you look at the 2014 game stats it will be hard not to show improvement. Didn’t cross midfield until the last play of the game
Lacy played entire game two interceptions , Manzaneras didn’t play. 115 yards total offense. I suspect coaches made limited effort to win

maybe the new NCAA redshirt rule will come in handy. i read an article on Yahoo about Miami's liberal use of probable redshirts in their game last weekend vs. Savannah State. If i were a Power 5 school in this situation (game 3 vs. FCS), i might get my starters/backups off the field ASAP to avoid potential injury. Kind of like game 3 of the NFL preseason!

i think we might move the ball a bit better than 2014 because of Maier. Concern is they will get a ton of pressure on us with their front 4, and they can play with 6 DB to stop the timing patterns. Maybe that will open some run lanes for the backs. Hard to imagine us getting to the corner on runs like we have the past two weeks.

It will be much COOLER than in 2014, so we have that going for us.

That's fun!

Personally I like WSU and EWU, separated by about 50 miles on the palouse, fighting over the New Mexico / Texas boarder.

Might? Maier / WRs might be better?

I'd argue Maier, WRs, WR depth, gameplan, and offensive coaching staff much better.

If they go 6 DBs, time for a power RB?

What constitutes better to you? Better to me is get a score, lose by less than 45 points. I think we can do that.
Last game we sat our best QB and running back, and our average pass completion neted less than 5 yards.

There once was a controversy about removing a CA logo from the water towers and replacing with more bland UCD.
Is there any pushback against going back to Cal Aggies as a brand ? I think some Letters and Science folks were afraid some rural mud might stick to their loafers.

First, I love the reversion to the old CA logo that used to be on the baseball caps.

Second, @DrMike, according to this site http://www.espn.com/college-football/game?gameId=401012747, we have a 1.2% chance. That's better odds than Lloyd Christmas had with Mary Swanson.

It will be interesting to see if we continue to try to run a lot of plays with the fast paced offense. . Gould’s focus on time of possession enabled the 2014 team to keep the ball for almost half the game, despite doing almost nothing when they had it. We could be better and lose by more. Regardless, I hope we try our regular approach.

I guess we will see what young unrated, 2, and 3 star talent, with solid coaching, does against 3, 4 and 5 star talent.

Hoping for the best.

Forget 2014. How about 2005 (mid-transition to FCS)? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nnY_ksDxh8

Funny how we had a better defense in our transition years than recently. Teams often scored against us in the teens and twenties not 20s and 30s or worse

My biggest concern about using Cal in UC Davis' branding (Cal-Davis, Cal Aggies, etc.) has more to do with comparing UC Davis to UC Berkeley. UC Berkeley has always prided itself in being Cal and I feel that UC Davis using anything Cal related would give them a perception of being a UC Berkeley "wannabe" (I hope I don't offend anyone with that term, I just can't think of anything else) or that they're riding on UC Berkeley's coattails. I understand Davis was originally the home of UC Berkeley's farm, but I really feel that UC Davis needs an identity of its own rather than being viewed as a satellite of the high profile Cal down Interstate 80.

I get that. That’s why UCLA is marketed as UCLA and not University of California, Las Angeles. Seemed too subsidiary.
But we all play the same song; Sons of California
Like family, you’re stuck with them

https://sportschatplace.com/cfb-picks/2018/09/15/stanford-vs-uc-davis-9/15/18-college-football-pick-odds-and-prediction

I believe this is the first time we’ve played a team currently ranked in the top ten (9). Stanford was #13 when we last played them in 2014. Boise was a top 20 team when we played them, not sure about TCU

CORRECTION: according to the recap in ESPN, Boise was #5 at the time we played them!

Most people, looking at that logo, would have no idea what school is being referenced. If Davis was already a household name I'd like it, but we're not there yet

Cardinal depth chart for the game
https://gostanford.com/documents/2018/9/10/fb_depth_chart_ucdavis.pdf

Interesting. Looks like they are running a 3-4 defense. That's what SJSU did and Maier looked really comfortable against it. That being said, Stanford's d-line is a lot better than san jose's.

I bet the CA logo is tied to the 100 year celebration. Excellent idea. Maybe it will sell some hats.

SD got to Maier repeatedly. I especially hated to see him get blindsided

Whelan once nailed a 72 yard FG in practice.

Just sayin.

Just announced that Bryce Love will NOT play this weekend. That helps us out.