As he prepares his UC Davis football team for its season opener at the University of Tulsa on Thursday, Aggie head coach Dan Hawkins said this may be his best outfit since he took over the program in 2017.
“Top to bottom, I think it is,” Hawkins said. “Every coach has concerns at this time of year. What’s your Achilles heel? Injuries can always play a big part and that reality can keep you up at night.”
Hawkins shared more thoughts going into Thursday’s opener.
“But we are really solid everywhere and our guys will always play hard and play fundamentally sound football,” Hawkins said. “Our goal is to be great over the long haul, play our style of football and be the best version of ourselves that we can be. When you do that, everything else will take care of itself.”
The Aggies regularly open the season on the road against an FCS opponent, a mixed bag, according to Hawkins.
“Financially, it’s what we have to do to pay the bills,” Hawkins said. “But it’s also a good thing to spread the institution of UC Davis around the country and go to new places where we haven’t been before. I’m really in favor of that sort of thing. It’s always good to reach out and play these teams.”
The Aggies, who have never played in Oklahoma before, will receive $400,000 guarantee from Tulsa, which plays in 30,000-seat Chapman Stadium on campus.
That’s in addition to the $750,000 check from USC for a previously scheduled game for this weekend that the Trojans scrubbed. Chump change for USC, but pure gold for the Aggies.
AGGIES over TULSA … this, from one of those “reputable” betting services: “The Tulsa Golden Hurricane will be too much for the UC Davis Aggies on both sides of the ball. Tulsa’s offense will grind out plenty of yardage and UC Davis will have a hard time moving the ball against a tough Tulsa defense. Tulsa Golden Hurricane wins, 41-0.” We shall see what we shall see. Take the Aggies by 4.
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