Fresno beat Purdue on the road and EWU only lost to Fresno in 2OT. This game is going to be a real challenge and EWU seems to have our number. We'll need to bring our A game and take care of the ball...can't make mistakes against a team like EWU. I'm hoping we'll have a crowd of 10,000+ for this one. Go Ags!

Wally's got the tape from Cheney last Saturday.

Eastern @ Fresno Highlights:

Lots of former Aggie coaches on the EWU defensive staff - Jeff Copp (DC), Eric Sanders, Wes Nurse

So they should know a lot about how the Aggies roll. We're going to need to change things up a bit and add a few new wrinkles to our game plan for sure.

Well, regardless, the run game had maybe 4 or 5 decent looking runs on Saturday, other than that it was shut down. They need to do something to spark the rushing attack. Clearly, they aren't asking Hastings to win any games for them - just be accurate and manage the offense.

The SUU and Aggie defenses were practically mirror images of each other on Saturday night as they both slammed the door on the running game of the opponent. SUU's D was aggressive and fast. I was impressed with how fast they closed on the ball carrier when we tried to run wide and we were getting stuffed up the middle and off tackle as well. I think that, overall, SUU is just a whole lot better than they're being given credit for. I hope we'll be able to get a better OL push against EWU but, from what we saw against SUU, it's questionable whether or not that will happen.

This is a huge game for the Aggies. We need to get off to a good start in conference play and not put ourselves in the position of being on the bubble for the playoffs. I think there is a "bias factor" by the selection committee when it comes to the likes of Montana and other far north Big Sky teams vying for a playoff spot so we need to simply be in a position where they can't overlook us period.

EWU has had our number for quite a few years also and has certainly squashed our playoff hopes on a couple of occasions. There's not a lot of love loss between these two programs either given how Best likes to run up the score if he has a chance and he's done that to the Aggies in the past. Time for us to get that bitter taste out of our mouths.

EWU has had our number since the dawn of the two programs playing each other. UC Davis has never beaten Eastern Washington.

Oh geez, I'd forgotten that! Damn, we need this one really bad!!

After watching EWU-Fresno, EWU has another good QB who is a strong scrambler. SUU dropped >300 yards on us in the air. I think our secondary is really going to get tested this week by EWU. Too bad we didn’t get them last year when they were down. As others have mentioned, this game is a pivotal contest in the big picture for this season.

Do we have a coach with a kill (bury) instinct?

just win

I think the Eagles blow and they will lose. BTW red football fields are stupid. It's like they piggybacked on Boise State's idea of weird-colored fields. Pity EWU didn't follow through on their idea about eliminating their athletic program

OLine needs to step it up.

I think, more than any game so far this year, this game will tell us a lot about where we stand in relation to the top teams in the Big Sky.

I hate EWU

:lol: You've got a lot of company!

Time to beat the Montanas and EWUs.

Hawkins didn’t know that we have never beaten EW

The Aggie players and coaches are always so impressive in these press conferences. Aggie athletics is a perfect example of a college athletics program where the athletes are truly required to be good students first. College athletics as it should be!

Very true. My wife and I were impressed with how polite and well spoken the players were when we met them at the Team Aggie gathering. Chubba surprised me. Here is this big guy who is actually soft spoken and very humble. Meeting them then watching them perform added a new dimension to our game day experience.

I was at a wake in Portland for a sorely missed man, and a Big Sky football coach there described the EWU admissions process as, "If you can draw a hot breath, you can qualify to get into Eastern."

I watched the EWU- SELA game on-demand. It was a very close game and the score was not indicative of how close it was. SELA qb threw a horrible ball for easy pick on their last drive as Eastern had just gone ahead deep in their own territory so eastern got a bonus score. Eastern qb is mobile but his throwing accuracy was very erratic, plus he throws dangerous passes. He threw only 1 interception but threw many that were pickable. I think that is due to lack of experience. Eastern o-line looked good. They play like a typical eastern team - spread offense and a lot of pace. I saw many times when it appeared they did not have 7 on the line of scrimmage - primarily because their O-line formed a chevron so the tackles were nearly 2 yards off the ball. I think they do this to get a jump in pass protection. I am guessing the refs allow this if you are a tackle - but clearly not on the line of scrimmage. I don’t think eastern’s defense is as good as the Tbirds - maybe small sample size - but Eastern has never really been known for their defense. It is better than last year’s which was abysmal. I am hoping for the Ags defense to shake up their young qb a bit and get some picks - and of course pick up the offensive production. I really don’t like that program - just don’t think they have much class.

Nah it's good for the west coast to have viable football programs. All it takes is a few FCS schools shutting down and then you have an exodus as we saw with DII football.

Aggie football this year must have the most live media coverage we've ever had for any sport:

No. 15 ranked UC Davis (2-1) will open Big Sky Conference play against Eastern Washington on Saturday, Sept. 23. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at UC Davis Health Stadium. Scott Marsh and Scott Gordon will have the call on KQCA My58 and ESPN+. Greg Wong and Jon Grant will be on the air on KHTK and the Varsity Network.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2023/9/19/football-aggies-open-conference-play-against-eastern-washington.aspx

Smoke in the valley today. Hopefully that won’t affect Saturday.

All depends on the containment effort today and tomorrow. Lingering burn off will hurt air quality considerably. It was pretty bad last evening in the Bay Area.