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:

D*mn! They beat us on "Average time of possession."

Background
-game played in December 2018
-visiting team had not won a game against home team in last decade
-home team plays on a field with color of team’s primary color (I.e., not “normal” green colored field)
-visiting team’s head coach has returned to his alma mater and has turned program around

Result: Visiting team won
I am sure some of you have already rung in on your Jeopardy buzzer
Let’s have an encore!

did i read the ESPN schedule correctly...the NDSU game is on at noon EDT? 11:00 kickoff local time? that's pretty early!

Hawkins >> Tedford. Aggies Win!!

you got the daily double!

Thanks for your reasoned input. So since our game weeks ago, how many players have you lost for this season to injury? Two?

Hawkins is great. FWIW, when we're up big, maybe the last 5 minutes or so, he has used 2 different backup QBs. One game it was longer than that, we had 2s and 3s playing in a blowout win, and the opposing team scored several TDs. I believe he eventually brought JM back to settle things down.

I believe the ESPN announcers said we play over 30 young men on Defense. Did you catch any of our game?

three since the Davis game. All big time players defensive players. One of them has a chance to be back (no clue on odds).

Gunner Talkington (3rd string) has played late in some games late in the season. But not as much as Barriere got to play while Gubrud was still kicking. Coach has been frank about needing to play Barriere and give him reps. That was in garbage time early in the season, but now that he is the starter it means leaving him in until the other team concedes. Nicholls was still kicking onsides at 2:00 so Gunner only got a couple snaps on Saturday.

If you are asking if I saw the Davis/UNI game, yes in part. I got home from the Eastern game in time to sit and watch the second half of talks game. The defensive discipline was impressive, especially getting key turnovers. I feel like Doss disappeared late in the game. Wanted to see him make an impact to put the game to bed, but defense did the job just fine. I thought you guys channeled the Weber way more than the Eastern way on Saturday, to give a style comparison of what I saw.
And y’all got the outcome I was cheering for.

Doss was the man in the first half, what a class act.

Without a doubt! He was getting heaps of praise for it too. I didn’t make it back in time to enjoy that part.

A great team can weather the storm when a key player goes quiet. Aggies did just that!

Doss "disappeared" because the UNI defense adjusted their scheme to focus on him. They gave up 8 grabs for 126 in the first half. I don't have the full field film to know exactly what they did whether it be rolling coverage his way, bracketing, etc but I'm sure he saw a double almost all half. This opened up other opportunities for UCD (Harrell had a few more catches) once they realized the adjustment.But specifically the running game began to thrive as more focus was paid attention to not letting Doss beat them.

1st half rushing per carry: 3.2 yards
2nd half rushing per carry: 6.9 yards

Did you guys see Hawk's interview after the game?

https://twitter.com/UCDfootball/status/1069756982104514560?s=20

I keep thinking I can't be any more glad than I already am that he's coach, and then I keep getting proven wrong.

it seemed like they were rotating in some of the redshirts on defense (noticed a #6 pass rushing, #69 playing nose). Given the new redshirt rules allowing them to play 4 games, I was pleased to see them mix those guys in for some fresh depth... and killer experience.

Hawkins is the man! What an ambassador for the university and not just the football program. He's in the post game interview quoting statistics about the Viticulture program.

i believe there are NCAA restrictions on roster size for the playoffs (we had fewer suited up last week than for a normal home game), so i don't think we'll be bringing any extra players.

Are the home and away roster size the same in playoffs? We had new guys making appearances, like Lance Babb and Chris Venable

I know. Things many of us here know by heart, but so few communicate them!

Did the department solicit interest in a charter flight for alumni and fans?

Local TV Viewings??? The Grad, Plainfield Station, ???

This is all great...I'm just loving that we are still talking football!

Aggies in Cheney...again...this time, even colder.

If we wear our all whites, we will be invisible! Like the white horse in the background.

I got the impression home and away were the same. Seems fair. There were a number of players who would normally be suited up hanging around the student tailgate. I was told it was due to playoff rules