thanks SloStang! ICYMI, there's a thread on the mustang boards for our game against UNI yesterday. Love the mutual respect (and dare I say comradarie?) that exists between these two California FCS rivals.

Weber/Maine winner, likely Weber

Will the Aggies come into the EWU game with a chip on their shoulders after the beat down by the Eagles previously and the fact that their HC, Aaron Best, had Barriere throw another TD with 41 seconds to go in the game when they were ahead by 32 points?

Best continued that trend of running up the score in the following week when the Eagles trounced Portland State 74-23. His willingness to keep his starters deep into the game and pour it on has not gone unnoticed by the Weber State head coach, Jay Hill:

No. 2 Weber State head coach Jay Hill, in an apparent shot at Eastern Washington’s Aaron Best, said “We don’t blow people out to get style points. We don’t believe in that. It’s not ethical.” …In the final two games of the regular season, Eastern played its starters late into the game in wins of 59-20 over the Aggies and 74-23 over Portland State. Against UCD, Eastern’s starting quarterback threw a touchdown pass with just 41 seconds left and the Eagles leading, 52-20. Said Best, “Our motto was ‘Leave No Doubt,’ and we did that all year.”

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/ucd-football-hosts-northern-iowa-in-fcs-playoff-match/

Payback is a....

"Am I seeing that right? All Eight Seeds advance to final 8?"

Duquesne's first round victory at Towson is the only win by a road team thus far. In the second round all of the seeds/home teams won.

Here are the updated Massey predictions to win the whole thing:

#1 North Dakota State: 66.28% or about 1 to 2 odds
#2 Eastern Washington: 16.45% or about 5 to 1 odds
#3 Weber State: 5.30% or about 20 to 1 odds
#4 Kennessaw State: 0.77% or about 130 to 1 odds
#5 South Dakota State: 8.14% or about 12 to 1 odds
#6 UC Davis: 1.95% or about 50 to 1 odds
#7 Maine: 0.08% or about 1250 to 1 odds
#8 Colgate: 1.02% or about 100 to 1 odds

Quick check on southwest, two adults non stop from either San Jose or Oakland would total about $1400. A little too steep, especially in December

Is it true that our D line was banged up that game, and we're now more healthy? Incl. a bye week.

It also seemed maybe we weren't prepared for the cold weather gear wise... I don't recall seeing turtlenecks, dickeys, heavy coats ... if you're consistently playing it may be less of an issue, but waiting 30 minutes to sub in for 1 or 2 plays would be tough.

Would a charter flight/s via ICA be in order? At least try, with tech (email, Facebook, text) it should be so easy to ping alums / grid club ... whether 100 or 300. A lot of players parents also want to go, why not make it easy? $300, $350? Can we get the whole band there?

Edit: Cheaptickets has RT from SFO to Spokane for $385 pp. Bargain secret fair for $285. FYI.

The band is taking buses, from what I have heard.

It’s not a bad drive really from Davis. A lot of open road up through eastern Oregon. I definitely did it in a Ford Econoline van for the fog game.

Same, but in one of the Fleet Services MCIs for the '95 game at Montana. Love the volcano tour as you head up the eastern side of the Cascades.

good times I’m sure. I spent the night in one of those MCIs when it dumped its alternator near BFE, Oklahoma en route to Conway, Arkansas. I don’t think Fleet lets students drive long distance anymore and I heard they were out of the coach business altogether and it was all outsourced.

Fog game?

2005 at EWU. Fog rolled in so thick visibility was maybe 30’. Nobody had any idea what was happening on the field. The kind of wet cold that bites to the bone.

Freezing fog there 3 weeks ago but it was clear on the field at game time.

Saw a fog bound game between USC and Oregon State in Corvallis in 2004. Okay, really didn't see it. So foggy that from the south end zone there were periods of the game that we simply could not see the action on the field. One play in particular stands out, or so I'm told...Leinhart threw a TD to Dominique Byrd that could only have been a timing pattern. I don't think Lienhart could have seen Byrd when he threw the ball and Byrd could not have seen the ball in flight. From our seats we only knew something had happened by hearing the crowd from the opposite end of the field.

Sophomore QB as a midseason injury replacement, needs every last game speed rep he can get. Even when the the third string guy goes in, he gets the whole playbook since the freshman is now the backup.

I expect teams will have taken exception to the play calls, but Coach is playing the hand he was dealt when he lost his Walter Payton candidate.

Just offering a different perspective.

Thanks for your post. There's usually more to the story than meets the eye. Looking forward to a great ball game Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by. I was at your place when we last played. Ive watched Gunrub (sp?), but frankly Barriere scares me more with his mobility. His accuracy and touch on the ball has significantly improved. He faults when he has to make quick decisions, but who doesnt? EW has many weapons and is going to burn you with one or the other. Ags need to match scores and keep it close going into the 4th.

Sorry, but im in the camp with not “liking” Best. And btw, whats up with your stadium PA playing loud music when the opposing team is snapping the ball? Was surprised your team was not flagged for that.

Yeah I don’t think Best was running reps. He was running the score up because of perceived sleights in previous playoffs. One might think he’d pull his golden boy when the fate of the game was sealed just as injury prevention since he thinks he’s going to Texas. As for Barriere, must give credit as a talented athlete. Celebrating big plays is part of football, but the young man grabs his crotch more than Michael Jackson. He’s either in need of a little more humility or a lot more Lamisil ointment. Demenour reminds me of Sac State if they were good. A wise person once told me to mind the karma you sow into the world because it will come back to you. Might not be next week, but the football gods will find you.

Barriere has all the tools you could ask for. But consistency is far from being there yet. If you had the chance to watch him on Sat you would see many throws hitting receivers in the feet. Those reps never show up in highlights unless the receiver bails him out with the stunning. And I wish I could link you to highlights of his interception, it was a 100% mental lapse throwing to the boundary seeing only the over defender and not the under. The polish on his passing game pales in comparison to Gubrud. That polish may mean the world to a team that has lost two recent semifinals by a single play.

I will respectfully maintain that he needs every last throw he gets. He got eaten alive by the Weber defense, I’d imagine NDSU’s defense will be just as talented. Davis second string in a game is better than practice, and better than many first string I’d imagine.

And to the Aggies credit, that was not a 59-20 game. Turnovers made things look ugly, not one team dominating and running it up. In my opinion the Aggies only need to have a 5-7 play cleaner performance to make this the game it should have been. It’s not a 39pt difference between them, and it certainly didn’t feel like that to me on the day. You guys watched that game, how did you come out feeling? Other than what you have said about the last few minutes.

I’m totally stoked about the fact that the Big Sky has had four teams win a playoff game in the same year. Our conference belongs at the top, and the draw has made it more than likely that someone represents in Texas. If it’s the Aggies, then Eastern will be part of the road/growth that got you there. Just like Weber and Davis would be apart of ours.

I understand you want to cover for Coach Best. How many of your recent injuries happened in Q4 or when the game was out of reach?

It felt like a two-score kind of game, which, ironically, is what it was after 3 quarters (35-20).

We took our heaviest losses at PSU between qtrs 1-3. Lost three defensive starters in that game. The radio guy is convinced they were dirty hits, but I didn’t see them and I am not very inclined to believe that players hit to injure. I have never looked at a Big Sky team and left thinking I saw a dirty team. I don’t side with the people complaining about that game. Gage’s injury was ambiguous, can’t pinpoint when it happened (it’s a toe/foot thing) he kinda pulled up limping mid game, finished the game out but never saw the field after that until they announced his surgery. Punter/Kicker has been nursing injury for a while, pretty sure it’s an over use type non contact injury. Lost a big DB contributor in practice in August. I am relatively certain the grand total is seven starters done for the year or borderline. Might find out more tonight at the coach’s show.

We are deep into our roster everywhere on the field, but it’s just been the usual football attrition. It’ll be a major feather in the caps of all these guys who have been thrown in the fire, when they see how well they stepped up to the plate. The expectations for them are the same as all the starters.

I’ll not cover for anyone, Coach has a philosophy and an approach. It won’t be what everyone wants to see, and I definitely understand being irritated at running up the score. He has been a part of EWU football almost as long as I have been alive. When he talks I get the distinct feeling that he makes the decisions that are best for Eastern football and he will shoulder the consequences/responsibility for those decisions. He addressed this exact topic with the fans after PSU. Not everyone likes seeing the scoreboard get lit up like that, but everything that happens in the game is much more reasoned than “let’s turn heads”

Not every team is lucky enough to have their own former players at the helm. Guys where you don’t have to question their loyalty or whether choices they make are for themselves (and their careers) first. When he talks about his players he talks like he is one, he’s not running them out there to get hurt. How do you guys feel about Hawkins? He’s a product of Davis, right?

Hawkins is tremendous, preaches historical Aggie pride that us old timers appreciate. He was an Aggie RB on our team that played for the D2 championship.

Btw, thanks for your informative posts.

Just got two tickets, this time my son is coming with me. I'll be sure to wear my winter boots this time.

Regarding the band going to EWU this weekend, please see this note below regarding funding:

As many of you know, this weekend the Aggie football team had its first playoff football game in something like 15 years and won. This weekend the team will be travelling to Eastern Washington for the second time this season. It will be the third round of the FCS playoffs. The winner of this game goes on to the semi-finals and then the finals. CAMB would like to make it to the playoff game this weekend but doesn't have the funds for the trip.

Here's the tl;dr version: donate here (https://give.ucdavis.edu/CUCR/322841). The band needs between $7k and $10 to make the trip a reality. If at all possible they need the funds by close of business on Wednesday. The fund will close at about 5pm on Saturday, 08Dec18. After you donate please email sdbyersatgmaildotcom and jmgaratucdavisdotedu with the amount you donated.

Think this warrants its own thread.

Here's great stats comparison that was posted over on the AGS game thread: