Just a tad. Look, Davis is not a rock 'em sock 'em program at this level...it starts and ends at QB, and by extension, excellent play up front especially in pass protection. We had much better OL play in '18.
Rodrigues will be a senior in '22
Hastings will be a RSo.
Is it Tompkins time? Montana State makes it work, they put their best playmakers on the field at all times.
Ag Science and Econ baby, come learn how to make that farm money. A family friend's son played at Davis not too long ago, majored in International Ag Development, was a hell of a power blocker and recruited off the high school playfields in Portland by Gould. Got caught up in the regime change with Hawkins' wide open, space-creating offense. Wasn't his game, but he was used here and there, and you can see the difference when you've got a power blocker vs. a space blocker, opened some huge holes in that @ EWU playoff game.
Continuing on the QB issue. What do we have in the freshmen Grant Harper and the big kid Mitchell Dixon? Dixon is 6'-4", 220 lbs, that's an NFL bodied QB...and he got the schollie to UC Davis so his head isn't full of sawdust. Let the competition begin...again.
While a disappointing end to the season, I'm still proud of the guys for making it to the post season. Even if I'm critical I'll still be proud of their successes and hope for the better when we don't perform to the standards we all have as Aggies.
Plenty of things to work on in the off season. One last time for football season. GO AGS!
Gilliam's swan son in '22. Need to put in the work and see him off right.
Tough as a mother schedule next season -- who will Davis get Week 3? Looking at 5 home games again, it's good to have a close one @ Sac though.
2022 (upd. 7/25/21)
Sat., Sep. 3 at Cal - California Memorial Stadium - Berkeley, CA, TBD
Sat., Sep. 10 at South Dakota State - Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium - Brookings, SD, TBD
Sat. Sept. 17 - OPEN DATE
Sat., Sept. 24 vs. Weber State - UC Davis Health Stadium - Davis, CA*, TBD
Sat., Oct. 1 at Montana State - Bobcat Stadium - Bozeman, MT* - TBD
Sat., Oct. 8 - OPEN DATE
Sat., Oct. 15 vs. Northern Arizona - UC Davis Health Stadium - Davis, CA*, TBD
Sat. Oct. 22 at Northern Colorado - Nottingham Field - Greeley, CO*, TBD
Sat., Oct. 29 vs. Cal Poly - UC Davis Health Stadium - Davis, CA*+, TBD
Sat., Nov. 5 vs. Idaho State - UC Davis Health Stadium - Davis, CA*, TBD
Sat., Nov. 12 at Idaho - Kibbie Dome - Moscow, ID*, TBD
Sat., Nov. 19 at Sacramento State - Hornet Stadium - Sacramento, CA*$, TBD
I agree, I think the team pretty much did what they were capable of. We were beat up and overmatched in the last 3 games. I'm not sure what to think about Hawk's statement before the season began that "this is the best team he's had since he began coaching here." That may indeed be so, I guess, but these last 3 games really shows us how much farther we have to go to be competitive with the top FCS programs.
Best of luck in the off season Aggies, hope some of you decide to make the trek to Brookings next season. Likely be 16k+ for our opener and tailgate should be awesome. Plus it’s a night game.
I wonder if we will be able to fill one of those two open dates. It seems like we have trouble getting OOC teams to come to Davis. We go to other big programs like NDSU and SDSU but they never come here.
Jackedforlife, thanks for your input on the Davis board. Aggies have a long relationship with South Dakota State, and certainly, seeing the progress over the last decade in Brookings, it's something to aspire to.
I was in Brookings back in 2010 I believe on at a student conference (in Fargo). There was not much to see between Fargo and Brookings on that bus ride, but you can see that in both communities, football means a lot and the gameday experience is obviously very active and lively.
I don't know. Even though I'm sure the Jacks fans would be great hosts, your team is far better than us and today's game might not fire up many Aggie fans to make the long trip. Good luck in the rest of the playoffs.
I think we need to change the way we develop offensive linemen. Some teams get big framed kids and they add a lot of weight. Colton Lamson is the only guy who plays for us who has followed that path. Everyone else is roughly the size they were recruited as.
We improved our run game at the end of the Biggs era with a proven offensive line coach brought in to assist Keane. We need to do something like that again.
Maybe we can get Portland State to come down...but that would mean 4 straight road games for them to open '22. That isn't happening, and 3 of those games are @ SJSU, @ Washington and @ Montana...yikes.
Something that jumps out to me as even more glaring than the 6 picks we threw is that none of those picks looked to be great plays by their DB's. They were mostly just very poor decisions to throw into double or triple coverage and poor passes that simply missed the receivers. When was the last time we threw 6 picks in a game...nothing comes to mind for me...?
Probably right. Why is it that we travel to places like NDSU and SDSU etc but they don't come here? It can't just be a travel problem with the Sac airport so close. Heck, Poly has gotten some Ivies to come out in the past, I believe, and San Luis Obispo is not easy to get to.
The game plans have been bad and the execution looks to be a combination of being outmatched and a lot of frustration.
As for the out-of-conference match-ups...sounds like we're just not making enough phone calls, or aren't looking and lobbying as hard as we should in advance. I mean, Davis should honestly have their 2022 schedule set, should've been set last year, had nothing but time on our hands.
Looks like San Diego doesn't have a set schedule yet except for the 9/10/22 game @ Poly.
Kind of pining for the 2018 team. Even though Maier wasn’t mobile he was very accurate and made good decisions. He also had a magical connection with Doss. Makes you realize that special seasons don’t come along often and you don’t hold back anything when you get that chance. SDSU has a program that will be competitive for deep playoff runs and NC every year.
I think Maier did so much more for the offense than his passing. He constantly changed plays, getting our run game into advantageous situations. He rarely got hit like HR did on that blindside. Remember Sac up in Reno? Plough let him call the plays for most the third quarter - really understood the offense and how to exploit the defense
Do we sign another Texas school, and start recruiting TX Ag majors?
SDSU was up 35-0 on Colorado State.
Could we compete offensively w a Ben Scott level QB (serviceable), 2 more O linemen, Harrell, Aaron Moore & Babbs? Maybe.
Not in love with our play calling or strategy. Cody Hawkins apparently thought we could run power w a banged up O line first 3 series vs Sac, and Hawk & Speckman agreed.
Just wanted to shout out all the support staff that spends a hell of a lot of time making sure the team is equipped and cared for. We are lucky to have such a great program to root for.