I'm betting the band situation was due to them just having such a long time between formal events, and most of the old Band-Uh! members graduating since the last true halftime show. Since move-in was this weekend the band maybe hasn't even practiced together for more than a day or two.

I'm hoping there's a return to form and energy later. The halftime set was a typical one of their ideas (Lin-Manuel Miranda themed) but the overall performance sounded like it needed more reps behind it.

I think we prepped for the other QB, so were zone dominant with a REALLY deep safety (25 yards). The new QB didn’t run much, didn’t go down field BUT was accurate 10-15 yards (especially, it seemed like on 3rd and long!). We didn’t seem to adapt much from that especially with the big lead. Bend and let them break? Just concerned at the last of pressure without a blitz and the openness of their WRs (who were talented).

It's a good point. I don't want to conjecture too much about the Tulsa game because while I was very reactionary at the time (thought playcalling was too conservative) a massive turnover margin and ability to pound the rock and run out the clock was what won that game. But on the flip side, hindsight is 20/20 -- had Tulsa not fumbled into their end zone we would have complained about not enough explosive plays on offense.

Certainly agree with you that the two FCS games were mismatch-oriented. I also don't mind the idea of sticking to the ground against a team that can score more (were the Ags also letting the playclock run out more or was that my imagination? I remember being surprised to see a few huddles). Coach opinions on TOP as a stat aside, defense will need to stay very fresh against teams like EWU.

I don’t think we thought Dixie would score much, I think we figured we’d run to avoid turnovers and because we could and that we didn’t need to put up a lot of points. I think that worked better than anticipated.
On defense I think DrMikes characterization about bend not break is right. Make a team that hasn’t shown it can score earn it. They did better than expected because of the QB change.

How was the quality of the TV broadcast? Any improvement in video quality, game angles, etc?

Game angles were still limited and they had contrast imbalances from camera to camera. Some shots were very bright and others dark. Marsh and Barry did fine in terms of calling the broadcast. Video quality was fine and didn't really have any instances of buffering or dropped connection.

I'd add that some of the graphics were comical. Pixellated, squashed player pictures when introducing the team, the old horse head logo (with the no-longer-used brighter yellow-gold) behind the Aggie player profiles, Dixie State getting referred to as Cal Poly in a graphic, it pretty much was all there.

I also thought the image was SLIGHTLY stretched on at least the sideline cameras but it could have been my imagination, I was tired when I was watching the replay.

Someone mentioned Gomez’ lack of leg - I think the one miss was effected by wind. Whelen’s kickoff in that direction were short, but was out of the end zone on the other end. I think that’s why we didn’t try a 47 yard FG on fourth and 20, but….no pooch punt?

The pixelated and squashed player pics were hilarious

They put up a picture with Connor Airey as one of our key players

Way too many awful Pizza Hut commercials. Thats about the only bad thing I can say about the TV game. I cannot over stress the performances of Larison and Tompkins and the great effect they bring to this team. Explosive players!

I ended up sitting near Gomez' friends and family and they were very perplexed by him not making the FG -- multiple people pointed out how it just seemed to halt at the end, so I can totally believe it was wind.

In the past few years, 4th and 20 was the situation where offense would come out and Maier pooch kicked it -- I guess HR and TT don't have practice doing that?

If you count TT's and HR's legs is this the deepest running corps UCD's had in the D1 era? Certainly I can't ever remember being so confident in the team producing mismatches on the ground even back when Manzanares and Luuga were in the backfield

No one concerned that we brought back HR in the 4th in a blowout?

Against Tulsa and SD we got our yards through the air. Dixie it was our ground attack. Seems like we take what we can get. Weber is balanced offensively, but we know they always have a tough D.

I really thought we were going to see some action from some of the other QBs. They were warming up Dixon, who is a 6’4” freshman. No clue why HR stayed in.

I believe HR was pulled, TT ran a long series of 100% run, DS moved the ball, and HR was put back in... and ran a few times when we had a large lead.

FWIW, I'm told LB stud Buchanan is only 18 years old.

The new band did - far easier - group jumping jacks after touchdowns late in the game. I guess that allows every gender to participate.

That’s now a pattern seen in several games where they have TT run a series, and then come back to HR.. I don’t think it necessarily indicated they changed their plans.

I thought the wildcat series with TT was actually really slick. 2-3 direct snap runs and then for the scoring play a handoff to LL -- the only time of the night that TT didn't take it himself after receiving the snap. Good to show that there's options there to prevent / deal with teams just selling out to pile up on TT when they see the Magic Package

while talking about ball carriers as a group, not just running backs, can’t leave out CJ Hutton. That guy is great carrying the ball. Surprised we didn’t see more of him after his first possession 20 yard run. We played a lot of two tight end, less of the three wide receivers. Can’t forget about CJ.

Yep, good point. This team is absolutely stacked with athletic talent

the current incarnation of the band is a dumpster fire and not worthy of wearing blue and gold. The university hired two hacks from the Midwest to run it, hence the brand new uniforms that are 20 years out of style everywhere except the Ohio valley. To maintain control, they decided to make the student director and drum major paid student jobs and they advertised them as acting roles requiring no musical experience. The amount of money they are dumping into it for worse results than what students did on their own is astounding. If there was a band version of Northern Colorado football, this is it.

Teddye Buchanan got ejected for targeting and, unfortunately, he will have to sit out the first half of the Weber game.

I haven’t followed the band controversy close enough to comment on the merits of the changes. I’ll just say that it was always a point of pride for students in general that the band was a student run organization. Too bad

Post-game comments from Hawk and Gilliam:

“To see a crowd like that and the band and a great college atmosphere and all the excitement really provided the guys with some juice,” Hawkins said afterward. “When you can have a win like that and not play an especially clean game, that’s great. Sometimes you play great and don’t get a score like that.”

“It’s nice to be 3-0. That’s great,” Hawkins added. “The Aggies are in a good spot. To have UC Davis come out and support us like this means so much. We have great kids, great players and a great culture here, but there’s a long road ahead.”

“I always say football is about more than just the game. It’s about being with your fans and your family and seeing something exciting and creative and fun. We continue to make strides and where we’re at mentally is so fun as a coach,” Hawkins said. “These kids work so hard all week and we’re doing everything we can to try to win a football game.”

“Seeing our fans show up today was great,” Gilliam noted. “It was cool to see a whole university behind us. The coaches gave us a great game plan and it was just up to us to execute it.”

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/ucd-routs-dixie-state-in-football-home-opener/?utm_source=DE&utm_campaign=b23df7ff04-Daily_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_be64fee185-b23df7ff04-171004309

The next time we play Dixie State they'll be known as Utah Tech.

If the Utah Legislature agrees, next year Dixie State, Located in St. George, will be known as Utah Tech University … the name change came about after intense pressure from the school’s Student Executive Council … the discussion, much of it heated, centered around the historic connection between the name Dixie and the Deep South’s ties to slavery … from 1952 to 2007, a Confederate soldier nicknamed “Rodney the Rebel” was the official school mascot and the Confederate flag was flown as the school symbol … in June of this year, school trustees voted for the name change, but the Utah Legislature has the final say

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/uc-davis-football-preview/

I wondered about that name but really did not want to go down that road.

Additionally, it’s a little confusing to have a school west of the Rockies known as Dixie State. Way back when I first heard of the school I assumed it was located in the Southeast. Kind of like having a school called California University of Pennsylvania or Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

With all due respect, I don't think that's a fair characterization of what's happening with the band. I recently graduated and still know a lot of people in it. Because of covid, the freshmen and sophomores have never performed with the band, and the junior class was already pretty small and only had two quarters of band before covid hit. Only the seniors have ever experienced a Picnic Day. It will take some time to rebuild from covid, but they will.

I didn't care for some of the recent changes (though the "new band" thing is more of a rebranding attempt than anything since it's the same music, students, instruments, etc.), but the vast majority of the changes were for the best. It wasn't visible from an outsider's perspective, but there was a lot of dysfunction in the band's officer council that often really hurt the band as a whole. The structural changes specifically addressed those problems.

As for the staff, while the assistant director is originally from the midwest, the director is originally from around here and went to UC Davis and University of the Pacific before temporarily living out there. I've had nothing but positive experiences with both of them, and they genuinely care about the students.

I did not see the band on the tube but the veritable burning of the old uniforms (did not see new ones) and intentionally labeling the establishment date in a drum head seems an intentional purging of anything affiliated with the Aggie band-uh. Why not eat the meat and spit out the bones. Seems a total overreaction and sad outcome. Spirit and pride are part of college sports, particularly football, and apparently the goal was to kill it. Sounds like university HR is running things.

Regarding the new band, dumpster fire is a good description. I actually felt a little bad for the kiddies. They clearly weren’t properly prepared to be in front of 10k fans. Maybe the get a bit better in two weeks but I’m not holding my breath.