One example. I was sitting with a former Aggie player. He had me one on side and some Eagle fans on the other. During the course of the game the ref calls, and just the regular progression of the game was a matter of heated conversation. The Eagle guy was obviously drunk or high and the vulgarities started flying and i was certain there was going to be a fist fight. We ended up moving. Then at half time, the only place to get warm was the mens room so i stood in there for a while and had to listen to the jeering directed at me until i left. It was a very uncomfortable experience. The only other time i had that feeling as a visitor was at J street. I would like to believe that we don’t treat our visitors like that.

so, do I know this former player? Maybe sits next to you and me at Aggie Stadium?

Yep

I thought he lost the weight before the rib injury. He outran DBs at 245. I don't think he played much or any after the rib injury. Met his Mom and sister (an SF State student), great family.

One of the good things about being a student at UC Davis was that the athletes often lived in the dorms, so I got to know some of them across the whole spectrum. In some major sports programs the jocks live in a dorm only for them. It looks like name dropping is not allowed on this site, but I doubt most posters would go back so far as to recognize any names I could drop, but there were some very good athletes I got to know. Just regular guys for the most part.

Go ahead and drop some names, Toke. A bit of Aggie history is always nice to read.

I was watching EWU's game Saturday during our ad breaks and have to say Berriere looked pretty dynamic and elusive to me.

I've gone to several Aggie games at EWU and haven't had any negative experiences there, besides watching us lose. It does get cold though, so I always bring foot and glove warmers with me. When my son played hockey we went through lots of those...

I think it would be really cool to learn what some of the former players are doing now. We know some, but thinking about Tehran Thomas made me wonder what he ended up doing career wise. Hopefully that degree helped open some doors.

Eastern didn’t look good against MSU. MSU had lots of failures in the red zone and squandered opportunities, and still won. The MSU defense dominated in the second half.
Barriere seemed reluctant to run until the fourth quarter. EWU didn’t look like the well oiled machine they were on offense against Western Illinois which was the last game I watched of them. My optimism for beating them has increased.
Montana State has some very talented players, but they aren’t a great offense. They didn’t have impressive drives, they didn’t do well in the red zone, but they have guys who can make big plays.

You’re right about the weight, the roster lists him at the lower weight in 2018. I’m not knowledgeable about what Tehran’s injuries were. I just remember that on the playoff game at Eastern in 2018, he was injured near the sidelines or out of bounds on a wide run. Camera angle was not good, so not sure of what happened. He definitely came back in 2019 but only for a few games. If he hadn’t retired he could have been junior this year due to playing only 4 games in 2019.

I was a classmate of one of the defensive players by the last name of Smith (keeping his first name out). Great guy. Biggs had some really good kids on his sqauds.

I was good friends with Mike Creed who was a great goalie for the Aggie water polo team. He was all west coast at least once and should be in the hall of fame. I lost track of Mike. Last time I saw him he was visiting Davis and he told me he had moved to Barstow. His good friend from Las Lomas High was Mark Olson who was a real character. I saw his first game when Bob Hamilton put him in as a freshman and he made three spectacular plays in a row. At the next time out, Ham hugged Mark and practically carried him off the court.

I got to play a lot of basketball against Mike Belotti, who was a very good athlete. We took the basketball class together. I had no idea he would become a great coach and when I was watching Oregon on a bowl game telecast I told my father that I once beat him in a 3-on-3 game. Dad didn't believe me.

I'm not sure of this, but I think Bill Barker, once a great first baseman, is in the UC Davis Hall of Fame. I can't find him there, but I'd heard he was. He was in my dorm. Funny fellow who is now, I think, a dentist, probably a retired dentist.

I knew a bunch of others who did not rise to any kind of local stardom, except for maybe Mike Murray who died of cancer after playing one year of varsity basketball. They used to have a charity game for him, but not sure if that's still going on.

pretty sure he left before receiving his degree, but I might be wrong

Watching Montana State beat EWU in the film, clearly, the Bobcats played the old Cal Poly style of offense, a ton of clock grinding running yards, with some nice 10 to 15 yard pops, and then the occasional shot down field for 40. Very methodical for MSU...they also look very athletic and fundamental on defense...getting a few sacks on EB3 indicates some solid coverage.

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I agree. My guess was either join his sister at SFSU, or back in Arizona. I miss him and Parenteau.

MSU has a very impressive running back who gained 200+ yards; they certainly ground out the clock on their drives. two of those drives sputtered in the red zone when they abandoned the run and tried to throw it. First touchdown was 50+ yard run by QB, second touchdown was an amazingly athletic grab and run for 60+ yards by a wide receiver. Their final score they went 90+ yards on two plays, one a pass and one a 47 yard run. Only one score came on a play on EWU side of the field and that was from the 47. Very weird.

Hello Aggies from your brethren land grant U in Montana. MSU broke a 10 year losing streak to EWU so it is possible. You have a very good coaching staff and I'm sure they've seen how to beat the Eagles.

EWU has played against 3 of the top 5 defenses in the BSC. Weber and MSU beat them and they beat UM. Weber and MSU were able to pressure EB3 with just the front 4, could stop the run game without stacking the box, and didn't allow EB3 to turn scrambles into first down runs.

UM plays a 3 3 5 defense and blitzes the majority of the snaps. That left the db's in too many 1 on 1 match ups and all it takes is for EB3 to find and connect on a handful of those to win a game or to elude the 6 pass rushers and run for a first down.

EWU fans immediately blamed their offense for losing to Weber and MSU. The fact was that both teams neutralize the run game and EB3 which has more to do with a successful defense than a failing offense.

MSU does have a game changer at MLB in Troy Andersen. The OLB turned RB turned QB turned MLB is really an amazing athlete. 6'4", 240#, and as fast as anyone in the league. He was able to shut down EWU receivers over the middle (had 2 pass break ups) and was able run EB3 out of bounds before he could get a first down.

MSU left a lot of points on the field with 2 failures in the red zone and a missed interception by Andersen that would have been a pick 6. Still, defense wins.

So good luck this weekend. Take it from a Cat fan, it is a lot of fun to beat the Eagles.

Welcome to our forum, rivercat.

We'll have our hands full this weekend for sure. We have a demoralizing history against EWU. EB3 has torched us through the air and with his legs and Coach Best has run the score up on us on a couple of occasions. There's no love lost here for Best.

I'm not sure how well we'll be able to pressure and contain EB3. He's just so quick and elusive. We're pretty dinged up at the moment too especially on our OL. Our Fr QB, Miles Hastings, has a couple of starts under his belt now and showed us that he can throw the long ball last week against NAU. That's something we had been missing.

It's great that the game is here in Davis instead of Cheney on that God awful red turf. Aggie Stadium will be packed and loud. Hopefully, we'll be able to send the Eagles home with their third straight loss.

Weather Forecast is looking relatively clear.

Thanks for your contributions. BTW I’ve heard your pre-game tailgates are fun and welcoming to opposing fans.

Exactly this!

I really hope Davis can start faster than recent games. Sleepwalking through the first half seems to be an issue lately.

Looking forward to a great game!

like in the spring. Lost the scoring opportunity when we failed on Fourth and were down 16-0 early.

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If you hover over the bottom line of your post, next to the time stamp, three dots will pop up. Click the three dots, then click the pencil icon to edit your post.

Toke, love your posts. Everyone is human. (Reportedly, even yours truly.) Russ Bowlus explained how to edit your post.

Speaking of characters, anyone know how... Tom Williams is doing? Wasn't he the colorful defensive lineman, 1960s-1970s?

Thanks Russ.

Thank you! I'd love to see Cat-Griz one day. I bet the atmosphere is electric. It's pretty incredible how much MSU has grown in the last ten years. I hope Montana can right the enrollment ship though.

I noticed in the NAU game that the Ags were using a single deep safety defensive backfield (again? Or maybe never has deviated). If memory serves me right, I think the corners went mostly man so a “cover 1” with the safety or “cover 3” if zone. I think with Barriere, if going man, then it will be important to have a “spy” so that when corners have their backs turned, there still will be eyes on the QB. UCD seems to play mostly 3-4 So may need blitzing from time to time. Regardless from what I saw with Weber and MSU victories, the key was keeping him contained within the pocket - he did more damage when scrambling laterally to extend plays, and also when finding gaps up the middle and running. Intentional runs with Barriere have been few and far between.

One thing the Ags have the clear advantage in is special teams and in all facets. EWUs kickoffs are short (only 1/4 touchbacks) and rather flat and the punter appears to be a bit rugby style but not long (although net yardage pretty good) and if Thomas can run up and catch that will help with field position. Their kicker missed an extra point at end of the Weber game, and it appears they have gone to another but I think their is not much confidence in their field goal game.

Of course this is all “shade-tree” coach talk.