This is a huge game for both teams with big playoff implications at stake. I think Sac will be a top 8 seed with a bye in the first round of the playoffs if they beat us. If they win, hopefully, we would still get to host in the first round but I don't think that's a lock. We could end up on the road.

I've watched Sac continue to get better and better as the season has gone along and they are peaking right now. They are going to come into Davis fired up and ready to make a statement. I think we could be as much as a 2 TD underdog given how both teams have been playing recently.

After game 4 or so I admittedly had start to write them off already. They were sitting 2-2 with not so convincing wins over Dixie and ISU (although we all know how ISU went for us as they now sit at 1-9). They really figured it out mid season though and it's been pedal to the metal for them. I agree that we are the underdogs in this game.

The Aggies better figure it out in the red zone, they were atrocious last night getting the ball in.

Everybody thought we'd go Wildcat one time.

Will Aggie fans show up for the Causeway? Will there be a good student turnout? If If the game against EWU is any indication, then the answer is no. There were only 7344 at the game last night between the #4 and #6 ranked teams in the FCS and the majority of those fans were quiet most of the game. The players had jump up and down and wave their arms at the crowd imploring them to make some noise. Very disappointing to say the least!

You can't fault the team or the Athletics Department for the poor turnout. They did their part to make this a great game to attend. The Ags came into the game with their highest FCS ranking in the D1era along with an 8-1 record and the Athletics Department did an outstanding job of promoting the game with military and first responder displays, ceremonies to honor veterans and Pint the Wonder Dog and, still, 3000+ fewer fans showed up.

It can't be very inspiring for the players when they run onto the field and see the the east side is 70% empty and the west side maybe 70% full. There was a small group of maybe 100 EWU fans on the east side that sounded louder than the Aggie fans. It's disappointing to me so you can imagine how it must feel for the players.

I think we could have a couple thousand Sac fans in the stadium on Saturday and they will be loud and boisterous. Sac fans are excited about their team and they'd like nothing better than to put a beat down on us. We need our fans to show up and loosen up a bit and get into the game.

Maybe the 1:00 start time will help getting more students there. But even as I say that, most of the college age kids I know sleep to 1 on the weekends so maybe the start time will hurt. Guess we’ll find out.

Wasn't it a long weekend? In my day, that caused many to go skiing, or a home visit. Just like early season and rain games had low attendance. Our culture, so much to do.

How was the University band?

Thursday was a holiday and I think a lot of students don’t have Friday classes. There were a noticeable lack of students downtown Friday when I was there. We stopped at U of Beer at 5:00 after basketball and it was empty. Hopefully we’ll get them back this week.

West side stands weren’t as packed as the first three games. We need a full, loud crowd

Regarding the band, this was probably the largest showing this season. Clearly they’ve added some kids and they sound better than earlier. Still have a ways to go, for sure.

Lots of events planned prior to the Causeway Classic including a new Senior Sprint just prior to kickoff:

The celebrations get underway with a pair of events sponsored by the Cal Aggie Alumni Association leading up to Saturday's football game. The first is "Aggie Night" at J.J. Pfister Distillery in Sacramento (9819 Business Park Dr., Ste. #3, Sacramento, Calif., 95827) on Thursday (Nov. 18) from 5:30-7:30 p.m., featuring Causeway Classic related trivia, prizes, and raffle items, as well as a 20 percent discount on food and drinks with your CAAA membership card.

On Friday (Nov. 19), Aggie fans can enjoy a pregame celebration at Sudwerk Brewing Co. in Davis (2001 2nd St., Davis, Calif., 95618). Attendees will receive 15 percent off food and drinks, with light appetizers provided courtesy the CAAA.

Thursday's event at J.J. Pfister Distillery is free to attend, while a ticket to the event at Sudwerk is $5 per person. Fans can register for either, or both events, at alumni.ucdavis.edu.

Attention then turns to the field at UC Davis Health Stadium for a 1 p.m. kickoff in the 67th annual meeting between the Aggies and the Hornets as the two programs battle for playoff positioning in the regular season finale.

Prior to kickoff, current UC Davis seniors are invited to run the field as part of the inaugural "Senior Sprint" at 12:45 p.m., followed by "Senior Day" ceremonies honoring the departing Aggie senior class at 12:50 p.m. After the first quarter, be sure and stay in your seats as all-time UC Davis great Rolf Benirschke will have his name added to the "Aggie Pride Wall" alongside Ken O'Brien and Bo Eason.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2021/11/16/football-join-the-aggies-for-causeway-week-celebrations.aspx

I’m traveling and missed the press conference. Anything new? How did coach spin the loss? Bummed I’m going to miss the causeway. Go Ags!

Sac has improved over the course of the year. That, I believe is the sign of good coaching. They also sat out Spring. The Ags are going to have to pick it up. I also noted poor fan participation (via tv) but that has always been a problem at Davis. It’s not the southeast where football is king.

I can't help but think it was the boomers who killed school spirit at least in Northern California. When I first got to Davis, there were all kinds of traditions and by the time I left, almost all of them were gone. For example, Homecoming was practically just another game. We did not think athletics was relevant given the issues of those days and I wonder if the current generation of students, facing similar issues, feel the same way. For my part, I never thought it was either/or and I was always a big fan of Aggie sports. Go Ags! Beat Sac State!

Is Pajamarino still celebrated? I would always attend circa 2008-10 and wear PJs with a group at Amtrak but outside of maybe 20-50 people attending it wasn't widely known.

It was through at least 2017, but from what I recall, it was mostly just band alumni. They experimented with changing it in either 2018 or 2019, I think by merging it with another, much larger event. However, I'm not sure if it was still considered Pajamarino or they just focused on promoting the other event instead. No idea what they did this year, if anything.

No pajamarino this year. Kind of feel like the band-uh was the driving factor behind it, and when the band was dissolved, no one was left to push for it. Maybe it comes back next year???

While I consider the Band-uh! to be dissolved only on paper, only the 5th year students ever experienced the original event, so I doubt any current member is pushing for its return.

I do know that there are kids of band alumni that are (or will be) in the new band, so there may be some push. But I agree, probably won't happen.

Pajamarino waned in student popularity when they axed the bonfire afterward, around the time Aggie Stadium opened. While the Band-uh and alumni band were kind of the main attraction, the event was organized by the Cal Aggie Alumni Association. They used to charter buses to take a big alumni group to the Sacramento Amtrak station to ride the train back and have a big alumni arrival. CAAA had their own scandal a couple years ago and they cleaned house and brought in a outside hire to run it, so maybe it’s just not a priority anymore.

Yes I was at the very tail end of that with the charters. There was supposed to be a bonfire but was cancelled due to winds and then they worked towards discontinuing it.

I missed the CAAA scandal?

I thought the bonfire waned before the 80s, and some undergrads brought it back, held it off campus or planned it out of town, and that helped bring it back. I thought 'environmental concerns' were also a factor.

More recently I thought they really hyped it up.

They had a few bonfires after the new stadium was built. Maybe at the site of the current aquatics center?

I don't think we'll ever see bonfires again since California has been burning up the past few years due to persistent drought enabled by rapidly escalating climate change.

the last one I saw was maybe 2007 near the aquatics center. If it reappeared after, it’s not to my knowledge. I’m afraid @BlueGoldAg is correct that at this point in time large open fires are probably not responsible. At the time they axed it I think the official line was environmental but largely understood to be a budget thing and a desire to distance from D2 traditions as having the football team do skits on a haywagon by firelight was maybe too campy.

@movielover it barely made the news but CAAA bought property in Tahoe to build an alumni retreat but couldn’t get the neighbors on board and sold it a 7 figure loss. From the bits I’ve heard from insiders there was maybe things happening internally not by the bylaws that resulted in a management change. The new vision I’m told is to focus on things that have educational or career development value rather than just social.

maybe we can do one of those televised Yule logs and show it on the big screen at Aggie Stadium!

Not much actual football talk this week. Maybe a sign of waning confidence? 2018 we got beat up at EWU, licked our wounds and beat Sac big up in Reno. Can we repeat the bounce back? Much different Hornet team. Css add n we FINALLY play a complete conference game? That’s what it will take

To be totally fair, my confidence was waning way before the EWU game! I sure hope the Aggies can pull off a victory headed into the post season, but I'm not sure it will happen with how inconsistent the offense has been over the course of the season. They haven't looked straight up good in a long while and have bounced between serviceable and borderline dysfunctional. Not to mention Sac is surging at the right time. They not only have a good team, but the confidence coming into it.

The general FCS fans' consensus over at anygivenday.com is that the Ags have been overrated all season and Sac has been underrated. Generally, they feel that neither team has played a very tough conference schedule and, in their toughest conference games, the Ags got solidly beaten by EWU while Sac beat Montana on the road. Consequently, the feeling is that Sac is the solid favorite.

From today's Enterprise:

The Hornets have become a force under third-year head coach Troy Taylor, who was named to the position in December of 2018 but is only in his second full season due to the cancellation of the 2020 campaign.

In his first season in 2019, Taylor led CSUS to a 7-1 record and a share of the Big Sky title and was named as the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year, an honor UCD head coach Dan Hawkins earned in 2018.

Overall, Taylor is now 14-1 against Big Sky competition in a league many rank as the toughest in the nation. He is also 1-0 against UC Davis.

The Aggies are coming off a difficult 38-20 loss to Eastern Washington in a game they led 17-14 early in the second half before being outscored 24-3 the rest of the way.

“We battled and played well for a long time, but they had too much at the end,” Hawkins noted. “That loss hurt because our guys care so much, but they put UC Davis in the ring and it’s good to be in the ring. It’s been a long battle this season and it feels like we’ve been playing non-stop football for two years.”

More here: https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/a-lot-riding-for-uc-davis-football-on-2021-causeway-classic/

Dunning takes the Ags by 4:

AGGIES over SACRAMENTO STATE … both teams appear playoff bound, but the Hornets have a shot at the Big Sky championship at stake as well. The Aggies, meanwhile, would hate to end the regular season with two straight losses, no matter the opponent. Take the Ags by 4, but pay the rent first.

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/bobs-picks-pay-the-rent-before-the-causeway-classic/

I feel like the general consensus is fairly accurate though.