“To be in this position in November is what every team shoots for. Our success at this point is due to a lot of hard work and dedication, including all the staff people who support us.”
To that end Hawkins brought along UCD video coordinator and technical operations guru Tim Ornelas, heaping high praise on a man who started out as a volunteer in 2013.
“Tim is the gold standard, not just in our conference, but on the entire West Coast,” Hawkins noted. “He’s always there, ahead of schedule, puts in long hours and is invaluable to our program. We are a championship program because of people like Tim.”
Ornelas explained that his job is to coordinate film for “practices, games, fall camp and anything that will help us evaluate what we’re doing. I got my foot in the door as a volunteer and it led to this, which is just awesome.”
Hawkins also introduced tight end Garren O’Keefe, who prepped at Colfax High. O’Keefe, who said he always knew he would one day be an Aggie because of the academics and as well as football, caught a touchdown pass from Miles Hastings that gave the Aggies an insurmountable lead in last Saturday’s game at Northern Arizona.
“He’s one of the reasons we talk about Aggie Pride,” said Hawkins of O’Keefe. “He was a super athlete at Colfax and it’s great to have him here.”
Dan Hawkins says Eastern Washington quarterback Eric Barriere may well be the most productive football player in the
country at any level.
“He’s the best player in the FCS and maybe all of college football,” said the UC Davis head coach. “He’s arguably the best player I’ve ever coached against, and I’ve coached against five Heisman Trophy winners. He’s super explosive and throws a very accurate pass. He’s also a gifted, gifted runner and is tough to handle.”
“They have been the gold standard in our conference for a long time,” Hawkins added. “They always are at or near the top and they have won a national championship. It will be a challenge to try to stay with them. If you beat them, it will be close.”
“Our guys continue to show up and work hard,” he said. “They’re obviously mindful that this is a momentous game for us, but I still think we haven’t played our best football yet. We just have to figure out a way to slow down their offense and somehow break serve.”
That task falls to UCD defensive coordinator Matt Coombs, who notes simply, “We’ll have our hands full for sure.”
Added Coombs, “Barriere is as good a player as there is around. You have to be smart if you pressure the passer because he is so elusive and can hurt you with his feet. He’s really smart and great at diagnosing where your coverage is coming from.
“It’s a great challenge, but our guys have worked hard to put themselves in a position to play in these types of games. They’re excited for the opportunity.”
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