The Aggie offense is running as quick a tempo between snaps as I have ever seen in football. The pace is impressively fast and the Aggie big men must be in awfully good shape to be able to keep up at that pace. I'm not even sure how they get the plays called from the sideline so quickly. It was fun to watch!

Great! Using our kids smarts. Also glad Maier is a sophmore.

What defenses are we running? Any Flex?

Jake Maier one of the top 5 passing leaders of the week in FCS. 3 out of the 5 from the Big Sky Conference.

https://twitter.com/HEROSportsFCS/status/907273647143903234

In regards to a couple of players trying to move up as walk-instead at higher levels, that's going to continue to be rare. They give up a scholarship, playing time. What should be more common is players moving down because they don't get playing time. Why don't Cal or UCLA players transfer here? It's happened but only once or twice, and none since we've been division1 that I recall. I think they can do so without sitting out a year, but maybe I'm wrong on that.

Would transfering from a semester to quarter system make it tougher?

I transferred from JC to UCD semester to quarter no big deal. The classes all line up and prerequisites all satisfied. If they leave mid year they may loose a few units going from semester to quarter, They would get all the units but might not satisfy a prerequisite, and have to repeat something.

It wouldn't surprise me if we have some obstacle to transfers like requiring them to have 60 units or something like that.

Unless the rules changed in the last few years, you're right that FBS transfers don't sit out. It's how we got Laughrea playing in Gould's first game after he transferred from Boise.

UC->UC transfers should also be really smooth from a prereq standpoint. I took 3 classes at UCLA in summers with relatively little issue and they directly correlated to classes offered at Davis.

So, do we have internal obstacles in the form of campus or UC policies that limit inter-system transfers for athletes? Most FCS schools have a few former FBS players on roster. Our academic standards are high but they shouldn't be so high we can't take transfers in good academic standing from a UC school. One would think there would be some who find themselves in a situation where they would be better off at a lower level for one reason or another. It might benefit both schools and the player.

I agree. All we have now are anecdotes and guesses. I had a friend who was an ME major, said he had 2 unit classes here that were 5 units at UCLA. I think one was thermodynamics.

A Bruin lineman transferred a couple years back to Slac State. Most players at our FBS UC campuses take very easy majors.

So, no easy majors at davis? Berkeley and UCLA are quirky but so is Davis. I suspect we have the same BS courses they do; and I don't mean bachelor of science. I'm not saying accept a student athlete who isn't making progress toward a degree. We are not going to tarnish our sterling reputation by taking transfers from top tier University campus. We may pat ourselves on the back, but Cal and UCLA have bruises from patting themselves on the back too.

I have a technical question regarding the no huddle offense: is the QB calling audibles and then the snap is called with a hand clap? I obviously could not hear anything on the streaming video but it seems to work. Also, it seeemed that the fly was called a few times. Seeemed to work as well.

I can somewhat anecdotally confirm this as well; GE classes I took at UCLA met the same prereqs but counted for more credit than their comparable classes at Davis. (And since they were summer classes they took less hours ironically.)

That what it looked like to me. Every time I paid attention the snap came after a clap.

There are a few classes at UCD that were usually full of athletes; Drama 10 and Nutrition 10 come to mind. Not sure about "easy" majors...communication?

I don't think summer classes are representative. Some summer classes are open to high school juniors. But the point is UCLA and Cal are as prestigious and as academically rigorous as UC Davis. Maybe like Avis, Davis tries harder, but on the other hand the students at Cal or UCLA, as a group, were higher achievers in high school. I'm a Davis grad and proud of it. My daughter is a UCLA grad and I'm proud of that and rightly so.

Generalities and anecdotes being tossed around here. Cal had some horrible graduation numbers in FB and MBB a few years ago.

SF Gate: Why do many Cal athletes not graduate? (Cal was dead last among 72 schools in the 2 big sports)

http://www.sfgate.com/collegesports/article/Why-do-many-Cal-athletes-not-graduate-5004343.php

And the horrible graduation rates for black athletes at Cal and UCLA.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Where-California-universities-fail-black-male-8342126.php

Glad to see UCD win this one early in the season! The players were having a good time, making some plays and getting into the endzone.

I like the no huddle fast pace offense!

Reality Check: As I see it...

I didn't see any improvements on either side of the ball from Game 1 to Game 2. They were simply playing a less talented team.

OL still a work in progress

RBs can't make it to the edge

QB holds the ball until the receiver comes out of his break then throws. Hopefully he is being coached (next level stuff) on how to develop the following skills sets: throw into windows and timing (bang bang) plays. A requirement to be successful at the D1 level.

CBs giving Doss a 7-10 yard cushion on 1st down and Aggies not taking full advantage of it. Timing play to the sidelines on 1st down and it is 2nd & 5 all afternoon until the defense makes an adjustment.

Next game is going to be tough! PSU is going to be hungry for their first win of the season.

Cal, USC and UCLA players not getting any or enough game time transfer to MWC schools like San Diego State. They can still play big time ball, be seen on tv and have a cool college experience. Not happening at UCD!

I hope so. We all knew Doss is a PTP, the emergence of Cummins and Moore is great. We knew WR was a strength, this all with So. Jared Harrell out. We may be extremely deep there. JC recruits Flowers and Cloud already contributing. This week is Big Sky. Will our run game improve? Go Ags!

One point BE. We did spread the ball around to a number of new receivers.

I think Cal football's academic performance proved to be the end for Telford.

Tough situation with the pressures to win, huge upgrade needed to Memorial Stadium, tree sitters, etc. It didn't help their AD either, or Teresa Gould.

FWIW, a former DS from Cal says popular FB and MBB majors are American Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Gender Womens Studies, etc.

Yep!...We did and it was fun to watch. The boys had a good time last Saturday!

PSU is going to be a tougher opponent and it remains to be seen if they can have that same success this Saturday.

A "non-conference" Big Sky game, which might end up working out really well for us if things don't go our way on Saturday.

Optimistic about this weeks game. I think we are a slight underdog. If we're not competitive I'll be surprised. Wish we had shown ourselves a little better against the run. We bent a lot but didn't break, but maybe that wont be the case against tougher opponents. Still, I think we'll see the offense get better each game for a while. I'm sure other teams are not as comfortable against us as they were against Gould. Not playing so predictable and conservative is an immediate improvement. Have to feel confident with the coaching staffs experience. I'm feeling we'll have to outscore teams; but I think we can do that.

Are we not blocking the edge, or do we not have the speed?

Yes, if DBs are giving Doss a 10 yard cushion, then we could mix in West Coast offense.

i don't think you'll see Doss getting a cushion this week. DB's, especially the corners, are the strength of their D. they completely shut down BYU's receivers (i didn't see the Oregon State game). Our passing game is different than BYU, and Doss is pretty darn good, but its going to be a challange for our WR's to get open. we'll have to be creative to create space for them, or backs on the edge (they opened things up in the 2nd half last week).

The hand clap for the snap seemed a little predictable, to say the least. The defense not only recognizes it but it is telegraphed by the hands starting to move towards each other. Maybe there is some variation not noted.

I was thinking the same thing about the hand clap snap but in the second half they weren't always snapping the ball on the first clap. I kept thinking that USD's defense was getting a head start since we were telegraphing the snap with such regularity. Maybe we're more interested in the speed of play than changing up the rhythm of the snap.

In the second half there were a few times where Maier would clap and then pull up and look to the sideline for the play and then go on the second clap. I've got to believe that there are some variations to the clap snap though. Otherwise, the opponent's defense can just tee off without hesitation on every play.

Maybe they call 2 plays at once on some ocassions?... I say all of the above! Drive em crazy.