Aggies move up to #23 in the STATS FCS poll and take on #2 Weber State. They had a week off after demolishing Idaho State. They will do serious damage through the air and on the ground and continue to boast an elite and disruptive defense. Big step up in competition from last week. The Ags will have to be laser focused if they even want to stand a chance in this one, but any given Saturday as they say.
These FCS polls - especially early are a joke. New Hampshire 0-1 and ahead of Aggies. Illinois State 0-2 and ahead of Ags. I watched some of the UNI- Illinois State game (boring) and neither offense could do much of anything. UNI defense is good, but they look quite pedestrian on offense. I expected their offense to be better this year but I don’t see it . Illinois State QB was just poor (probably should just say passing game) and run game not much better. I. state 69 yards passing and about 120 rushing. Uni 145 yards passing 0td/1 int and less than 100 yards rushing.
From my watching some FCS games on ESPN+, first glimpse of Aggies and EWU (and of course Weber) make the big sky look pretty good in comparison and underrated- except for Weber. My bet is that South Dakota State will recover from their 1 loss and take Missouri Valley. Overall Missouri Valley is down this year.
But they gave up over 400 yards, 300 of that was through the air. They look tough against the run. Against the Bengals they took over in the second half and capitalized on Bengal mistakes. I think we can compete with these guys. Go Ags.
Huge challenge this week. Weber has been the class of the conference for the past years, and we haven’t competed that well the last couple times. Jay Hill really turned it around. They were at the bottom before he got there. Since? 47-30, and 45-20 if you toss out his first season (2-10) with Jody Sears leftovers.
Some of the fellas on the Weber board are calling our upcoming match with them “the conference championship game.” We still have a tough schedule after them, but any championship talk certainly has to go through Weber. Amazing how they turned their program around.
Fingers crossed that none of the Aggies test positive. Since they most certainly have been in contact with other Aggies that would probably cancel the Weber State game and maybe even the hone opener.
When i saw that the Vandals canceled their next game, i was worried about exposure to our guys. UCD defines exposure as 15 minutes or greater of close contact. Not sure if that applies to athletic exposure.
Very frustrating that Idaho didn't seem to be taking the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of covid as a whole. I'm not just talking about the football team. Apparently they had a huge spike within the total student population in the week leading up to game. Watching the game on tv there were groups sitting very close to each other with masks under their chins. Just not taking it seriously enough.
I noticed that the announcers were mildly shaming people in the crowd as the camera panned through the groups. You could see people pull their masks up when they realized they were on camera.
Last night on the NBC Nightly News they were talking about how the variants of the virus are spreading rapidly throughout the country and, the states that are opening up completely without mask mandates are particularly vulnerable. There is also concern that there will be large spring break, super spreader gatherings. They said that UC Davis will pay students $75 each to stay on campus during spring break. Seems like UCD is usually a step ahead of everyone else in their determination to keep the campus and the city safe.
The Idaho press is saying the current COVID outbreak on the UI campus is linked to a couple of frat houses, and that there have been Greek-linked outbreaks after every holiday weekend or major snowstorm. Seems plausible there is overlap between the team and said houses. Hopefully nobody from Davis gets sick, and I hope anyone involved does not experience serious symptoms.
In my area they are noting huge upticks in senior citizens who have been vaccinated kind of leaving caution to the wind and resuming normal activity without precautions. They’re calling it things like “revenge tourism”. A dangerous game for sure, and to those of us patiently waiting our turn feels really unfair.
It's disappointing to hear that some seniors that have been vaccinated are not following safe protocols. It's selfish because, although they are 90-95% protected, they can still spread the virus to others who haven't been vaccinated. That's why it's still important to wear a mask and social distance.
My wife and I have gotten both of our shots now and we will still wear our masks and maintain safe distance from others. I'm sorry to hear that others from our generation are being so self-centered and short-sighted.