27 points given up (so far) against Sac State not terrible, but offense is terrible. Of course if Sac pressed, they would have put foot back on the pedal. They also were without their best receiver.

What kind of tackling was that? Sums up game.

Now I'll settle for any Aggie score.

The defense was pathetic until the game was decided. Good defense in garbage time.

1. QB situation has gone backwards
2. Do we have a Bob Foster motivator on staff?
3. Is it time to try Gunnor Faulk? Nothing to lose (He's mobile.)
4. Offense uninspired, like our band
5. Our Defense probably OK given our poor Offense.
6. Not the best Aggie team ever
7. Do we need JC transfers for our OLine?
8. Our weak schedule may have been a disservice

Yes HR finally! If we go to playoffs - go with him.

Flash reactions...

1. We don't deserve to go to the playoffs.
2. Cody Hawkins should not be offensive coordinator.
3. I know he's a freshman, but Hastings just doesn't seem like the guy to me. You can't lead 1 TD drive over the course of 2 very important games and expect to win. I don't know if Rodrigues or TT are the answer either.
4. Defense allowed close to 1100 yards of offense over the last 2 games.

Also it has to be said that Sac State was flat out the better team. Taylor coached better. The team wanted it more. They displayed the attitude you have to have to be winners. They could absolutely be dangerous in the playoffs. Congrats to them as they clearly deserved the W.

Sac has the potential to go all the way.

I find it hard to believe that the Hornets are that much more talented than UC Davis. It just felt like Sac State wanted it more. They seemed to be playing harder. I don't think the coaching staff did the quarterbacks any favors by being so inconsistent with them. Of course, we don't know the reasons behind the vacillation, but a clear difference in the last two games was quarterback play. Still, this is the first year since 1974 when I have been able to see most of the Aggie football games and this chat site has helped me get some of the recent history. An 8-3 season is not bad, no matter what happens next week. I guess we all had our expectations raised by the upset of Tulsa, followed by a relatively weak schedule. Still...

Are our lines that depleted?

I could be biased, but Thorpe had at least one grab when pressured heavily (3 total). We had opposite results when throwing to Granfors. Good teams locking down UG (2.5 ypc).

Why do we think it's wise to have a RB throw across the field, deep?

Great crowd. Looooooonnnng food lines, concessions understaffed, one shut down all season, TVs off. Is help that difficult to find?

They've had an amazing turnaround from the beginning of the season. They started with an uninspired win against Dixie State who are looking at a 1 win season followed by a not particularly close loss to UNI who have gone 6-5. They just really figured something out and didn't slow down.

Understandable that they started slow because of their long layoff.

I wonder if Dan is going to face any tough questions after the last 2 games? I know we don't really have a lot of media covering the team, but he should be getting some fire given the results and their implications on the season.

Watching this game in Portland, PSU took more medium to deep shots in the first half than UC Davis did all game today...

Absolute garbage, unaggressive, want to lose offense. Almost feel sorry for Hastings.

1. We don't deserve to go to the playoffs.

My emotional reaction is I agree, but hope they do get in. I am glad they were not shut out. A goose egg really sticks out.

2. Cody Hawkins should not be offensive coordinator.

The last couple of games it’s seems they were insistent on doing things that don’t work.

3. I know he's a freshman, but Hastings just doesn't seem like the guy to me. You can't lead 1 TD drive over the course of 2 very important games and expect to win. I don't know if Rodrigues or TT are the answer either.

I am sure he is a good student and fine young man, so I don’t want to “throw shade” on student-athletes, but MH is the least mobile of all big Sky QBs save for the SUU guy. I don’t think he is “the guy” either. When you can’t run/scramble, the defense doesn’t have to worry about that possibility. TT is not the answer at QB, although a great athlete that needs to be used, because he cannot pass downfield - and the defense knows that. At this point it is obvious to me that HR is the best choice because he is mobile and can pass. Who knows what will eventuate at QB next year, but if the Ags get into the playoffs and HR doesn’t start, I simply do not know what the reasoning is.

4. Defense allowed close to 1100 yards of offense over the last 2 games.

Defense did not hold up, but with so many 3 and outs or short drives it becomes a continuous onslaught with good offenses like the past two weeks.

Hard to keep perspective on how far the program has come since Hawkins arrived. Being consistently ranked and talking about playoffs every year has been fun.

I said early on in the season that this was the most athletically gifted Davis team I've seen personally (since 2004). Seems like we are at conference average or above at nearly every position. I also said that the offense was a sh*t show in week 6 and that really hasn't changed. I'm sure that was a pretty unpopular opinion. Man, this offense has been BAD in the second half overall.

I feel the team stopped improving mid-season. Not having a #1 QB is really hurting this team. I maintain we don't have an identity on offense.

Davis started 5-0. Caught Tulsa sleeping on a Thursday night to open the season. It was a great win for the program. Finished the season 3-3, and it could have been worse. Things were looking pretty bad against UNC until we mowed through all their QBs. Should have blown out a down CP program- but looked pedestrian. Dominated by EWU and SAC.

I agree with you on the quarterback situation for the remainder of this season if we happen to make the playoffs. I understand why HR got pulled. His performance against ISU was abysmal and it wasn't much better against UNC despite the win in that game. The Hastings experiment hasn't gone well though. Like you said, I don't want to just sit here and bad mouth a kid, but his stat line over the last 4 games was 92/142 (64.8%) 814 yards (203.5 yards per game) 5 touchdowns (1.25 touchdowns per game) 4 interceptions (1 interception per game) and -24 rushing yards (he took more sacks than his extremely limited rushing yards). 200 passing yards per game just won't cut it when you don't have a run game or personal mobility. I think HR has a better skill set even if he isn't performing super well either. I think in the long run Dan has to find a quarterback who isn't yet on the roster. We can't have this kind of circus next season.

I mean, imagine this quarterback carousel happened at a school in the power 5. The media, fans, and donors would be looking for heads to roll. Our staff is sheltered by the fact that we're FCS with very little media pressure.

First off, great crowd size today, beautiful day, nice to see both bands performing the National Anthem together, and Sac brought a lot of fans and that's a good thing for the Causeway games. I would be happy to see Sac and us coming into this game at the top of the conference each year. It's a good thing that this game means something for both programs.

We suffered some key injuries to our OL and we haven't had the depth there to make up for it. Hastings has done ok considering how often he's pressured. I do think that the coaching staff gave up too soon on Rodriques. He had a serious injury and wasn't sharp when he returned but he did not deserve to be sidelined permanently. We missed his leadership and experience.

I think HR has the best overall skills at this point also. He can be a very accurate passer, he has a quiet poise about him and he can make plays with his legs when necessary. Tompkins can be "magic" but, unfortunately, he hasn't shown that he can be the passer we need and all of our opponents are now dialed into defending him.

I'm not surprised by today's score. Sac is the better team. They're quick and talented and they play disciplined. They are capable of making some noise in the playoffs.

I think we'll squeak into the playoffs but we'll probably be on the road. It's possible that we just miss the cut also. If we do get in, I'd like to see HR at the helm. With our OL beat up and Harrell and Vaughn both out with injuries, the odds are stacked against us. However, sometimes situations like this produce some surprises when someone else gets and chance to play and surprises everyone.

I think it says something positive about the Aggie program when we are 8-3 and feel disappointed that it wasn't better. The bar has been set high as it should be. Now all we can do is wait and hope we get to play at least one more game.

I was very impressed with Sac. Lots of speed, and plenty of size on the lines. Dunnaway throws a bullet,and he had many targets. The guy next to me is a high school coach and I mentioned to him in the third quarter ‘I don’t think I’ve seen Sac run the same play twice’ . He agreed. Taylor’s offense is very innovative, gets guys open, and puts QB in position to take advantage. I don’t see that from us. Too many difficult passes. Never got the running game going. Wildcat got too predictable.

8-3 ain’t nothing. But, Sac seemed so quicker than us, and more physical. That was the best team we’ve played. Gap seemed bigger than I expected.

We have some great talent, just couldn’t pull it together. Not sure if our plays are bad, the receivers run bad routes or the QB just isn’t finding
them at the right time, but we just can’t seem to complete passes. I don’t see our strength of wins getting us into the playoffs. Hawkins stayed with his son as QB in college until it ultimately cost him his job so he may stick by Cody here rather than look for a new offensive coordinator which is what we really need on top of a better QB.

Very frustrating game to watch. Hoping for another good recruiting season.

A couple things…

The playoffs aren’t decided by two games against better teams. I’m guessing if you look at other teams that will get first round road games, they’ll have some bad losses also.

Second, please don’t confuse “Sac is just a better team this year” for “the Aggies weren’t trying”. You really think a team that’s going to the playoffs, facing its rival with a playoff seed and first round bye on the line is just going to roll over and not care? This isn’t a 2-8 team playing out the season.

We’ve pretty much been in agreement that this team wasn’t a top 10 team for a few weeks now. If the EWU game happened Week 5 and this game happened Week 9, we would have been properly seeded all year, which is the late teens. But it just so happens that two of our toughest three games happened in the last two weeks of the season so it leaves a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.

I hope Hawk and Cody have a friendly Thanksgiving. Family businesses, which Hawk has chosen to do with the Aggies, are never easy in bad times and especially in the holidays. Trust me I know all too well. Feel bad for Mrs. Hawk as she tries to cook the turkey. Hats of to Sac. Better team, no question. We will come back from this better.
.

Some good points, cmt. I'll don't question the effort by the Aggies although I also understand the frustration that Aggie fans feel. I believe the Ags always play hard even though mistakes get made, fumbles happen, passes get intercepted, FG are missed, etc etc but that doesn't mean the players aren't playing hard or don't want to win as much as our opponent.

You also just have to tip your hat to our opponent when they simply had more talent and/or made fewer mistakes and played a better game. I'm proud of this team. 8-3 is nothing to shake your head at.

I think today's crowd was the biggest ever in Aggie Stadium. Official attendance today: 12,315.

I don’t necessarily agree the coaching staff was “inconsistent” or “vacillating” with the quarterbacks.
Rodrigues had the bulk of the snaps until he had a concussion. From the outside we don’t know the full situation from a medical point of view, or whether they would have made the change to Hastings absent the medical question; once they went to Hastings they stuck with him.
I don’t think Tompkins was ever viewed as a contender to be an every down quarterback, and I don’t think using him was a negative.
They certainly didn’t vacillate between quarterbacks like Sac does, apparently as an art form. Maybe they should have.

Biggest disappointment with the offense is the inability to block run plays, as seen on Gilliam's no gain runs, or when the defender in the backfield simultaneous to Hutton about to get the exchange from Tompkins. It must be a challenge for the offensive coordinator when you can’t throw deep or block running plays. Guess he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

My frustration is that we haven’t had a clean game since Weber. 3 turnovers today ( none for them), some more drops (like on the second drive on what should have been a 15-yard gain; instead a second 3 and out), badly timed penalties (before the missed FG, motion on a 4th and inches with the heavy package). I don’t remember a similar mistake by our opponents the last two weeks.

Yes, all of those things are frustrating for sure.

I totally understand the frustration.

There’s clearly an issue on offense. Some here clearly have an issue with the OC and you guys have watched way more of this team than I have so I’ll defer to you. It’s probably partially that and partially QB. How much blame each way? Who knows.

Our defense clearly wasn’t as good as we thought either. “Bend but don’t break” against lesser teams turns into “bend and then break” against better teams. And then you’re on the field the whole game like against EW last week. That means you wear down quicker and get tired. Plus when your offense can’t stay on the field, well, it all adds up.

I think overall we’re at a decent place as a program. Great team in 2018. Solid team that got crushed by a brutal schedule in 2019. Decent team last year that, IIRC, was invited to the playoffs. Decent team this year that should be in the playoffs. We’re a consistently strong team and hopefully that’s helping on the recruiting front.

Quotes from Hawkins and Taylor:

The FCS playoff committee has never before taken five teams from the Big Sky, but there’s always a first time.

“That’s out of our hands,” said Aggie head coach Dan Hawkins afterward.

“That’s up to the committee, and we can’t control any of that. We’ll just wait and see.”

Hornet head coach Troy Taylor, however, was generous in victory.

“That’s a really good football team and they’ll be in the playoffs,” Taylor said of the Aggies.

“They deserve to be in the playoffs after the season they had.”

“When we score the first time we have the ball, we’re usually in pretty good shape,” offered Taylor, who now has a phenomenal 15-1 Big Sky record and two championships in his two seasons with the Hornets.

For his part, Hawkins said it was time to tip the cap to a dominant performance from UCD’s arch-rival.

“They outplayed us and outcoached us,” Hawkins said.

“They came over here and really got after it. They played hard and made the plays they needed to make. That’s all on me and it’s up to me to fix it.”

“Our defense played lights out,” Taylor noted. “I’m awfully proud of those guys.”

The Hornet coach, who elected not to play in the spring of 2021 after the 2020 season was scrubbed entirely by COVID, feels his team is energized as it looks forward to its second consecutive playoff appearance.

“It was tough not playing in the spring, but it was definitely the right decision,” he said.

“This is a physical game and there’s a rhythm to your recovery. We’ve had a great season and now we get to start a second season in a couple of weeks.”

“We were in the fire, which is where we want to be. We played hard but we came up short,” Hawkins added.

“Now we have to go back to the toolshed and get things fixed.”

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/hornets-dominate-aggies-in-causeway-classic/