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CA Forever
676With the warm up games in the books, it's time to get down to business. The conference schedule starts this week and we are kicking it off with the Idaho Vandals coming to town. I think a lot of folks, not just on this forum, had questions about the Vandals considering what they lost through graduation and the portal, but they have managed to stop any and all of those questions in their tracks with dominating play on the field.
@ Oregon - L 14-24 (FBS Massey Ranking - 7)
@ Wyoming - W 17-13 (FBS Massey Ranking - 120)
vs Albany - W 41-13 (FCS Massey Ranking - 26)
@ Abilene Christian - W 27-24 (FCS Massey Ranking - 30)
Coming into the season, it was Jack Layne won the battle as to who would replace Gevani McCoy to lead the Vandal offense. Layne would end up going down with an injury against Oregon after completing 11/25 passing attempts for 168 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. It has been Jack Wagner who has picked up the reins in his absence, but has played decently well to date. Wagner has gone 40/78 for 510 yards with 5 TDs and 1 INT. I have not heard any injury status updates on Layne.
The Vandals feature a 2 headed RB attack with Nate Thomas and Elisha Cummings. Thomas has 42 rushing attempts for 224 yards and 3 TDs while Cummings has 47 rushing attempts for 236 yards and 1 TD. Both guys have the ability to do some damage against a beat up Aggie defense. In the receiving game the Vandals have 2 main targets, Mark Hamper and Jordan Dwyer. Hamper has 11 receptions for 246 yards and 1 TD while Dwyer has 18 receptions for 244 yards and 3 TDs. There is a sharp drop off in production after those 2 guys.
The Vandal offense is effective, but averaging 321.5 yards and 24.75 points per game is not necessarily an eye popping stat line. Their defensive squad, however, is lights out and unless Plough figures out how to get "Shredville" shredding in a couple days then Vandals will just be toying with our offense. Jaxton Eck is their leading tackler with 32 on the season, but what is truly troublesome is their defensive line. The Vandals have already racked up 13 sacks and 23 TFLs on the season with the main disruptor being Keyshawn James-Newby who has 7 sacks (currently leads all of FCS). As a team, they are allowing just over 100 yards of rushing per game; not a good sign for us trying to get Lan going at a good clip.
All in all, Davis has dominated the head to head matchup against the Vandals since they joined the Big Sky, but I just don't think the Aggie offense has the juice to hang with them this year. Massey agrees and is currently giving the Aggies just a 35% chance of winning this game. Massey has Idaho favored in all of their remaining matchups this season minus their game at Montana State (42% chance of winning). I hope I'm wrong though!
GO AGS! BEAT THE VANDALS! -
BaseballAtDobbins
67I am not optimistic. Went to the Albany game at the dome and thought maybe I'd see a hard fought ranking of top FCS teams but nope.
They almost blew a huge lead on the road last night but still held on.
I worry that students will come to the game, see a blowout and not return. Glad many went to the game last night.
It's funny that on Cal boards, a lot of fans are saying Davis is the best offensive team they have played. -
Riveraggie
255Our FCS opponents have been so weak this year that not having a complete blowout makes Davis look bad by comparison to their other results.
For instance NAU and Montana State both rushed for 339 yards against Utah Tech, compared to Davis’ 133. And it was tough to get the 133, gained at 2.9 yards a carry. Davis’ rushing attack seems to have taken a big step back this year. What is to blame? All new interior line starters, new OC, new play caller, Perez getting more play than his talent warrants, not fired up for opponents or what? -
BlueGoldAg
1.3kIt's hard to disagree with what you are saying. However, I think Perez is doing a nice job and having him in there gives Larison a blow. -
movielover
540Since one is not dominant, why aren't we playing Fisher? He racked up 80 all purpose yds last year vs Montana when LL was out. Our opponents play more than two backs. -
agalum
339I really like Fisher’s speed, especially when he accelerates through the hole. Maybe he’s not getting more touches bc Perez is a senior? Regarding LL, i was surprised to see his final yard tally. It seemed like they were stopping him, but i guess if its after 5or 6 yards that racks up.
Miles had a good game. He scrambled more in this game and made some really nice throws, without any picks. That’s improvement. -
Riveraggie
255Perez isn’t a senior in terms of eligibility, he is a redshirt Junior, having olayed in only 3 games in 2021.
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movielover
540FTR, I'm not against anybody, just figure Fisher should be in the rotation for at least a few carries a game. He looks fast enough for the jet sweep (or decoy). Same for getting QB # 2 reps. Strap em up, big boys coming to town. Go Ags.
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NCagalum
279I watched the ACU vs Idaho game. ACU came storming back in the last half and scored 3 touchdowns only to lose when not converting a fourth down in Idaho territory down 3. There recipe to get back on the game was up tempo offense and quite a bit of passing. Up tempo prevented substitution and seemed to tire Idahos defense and I think if there is a weak link in Idaho’s defense it is their secondary. This was an ACU team that almost lost to Northern Colorado although transitive properties in college football are oftentimes meaningless.
I am not fatalistic about this upcoming game primarily because the Aggie defense is stout. Hopefully they can get some bodies back especially Rex Conners. Offense will need to improve and winning the turnover battle critical. I thought Miles had a nice game and navigated the pocket better. Offensive line still needs to gel. -
Riveraggie
255
Aside from Rex Connors, Jayden Stanley, Uilisone Amone, Joey Carrillo who has reportedly been injured?.
Porter Connors played, Grant Garretson played and both played well.
Mystery absence is Markeeze Alexander, who played at Cal only, after being a mainstay previously..
Reminds me of Noa Masui who started at Cal two years ago but has seen very limited action since perhaps due to an injury sustained in that game. He played in this week's game and forced a fumble. -
Riveraggie
255
Defense has been good, but I heard on the Texas A&M Commerce vs Grambling broadest that the Lions had more passing yardage in the Davis game than any D1 team playing that weekend. The defence has been tough to put in drives against but yields many big plays. -
DrMike
751in his zoom meetings. He’s mentioned a couple guys dealing with broken hands, one guy with both hands taped up like two clubs. Hard to play DL with no hands. I’ll try to get the names this time -
Riveraggie
255I think the player primarily talked about regarding his hands taped up is backup Uilisone Amone, who didn't play this last week. Obviously there are other players dinged up or out.
I'm curious about Alexander. -
SochorField
171After the Cal game, the offensive staff has had 3 games to get things going in the right direction. And I really mean Plough getting the lay of the land and getting his feet under him.
I guess we will see where the offensive staff has us pretty early in the game on Saturday.
The offenses of the recent past may have put up +50 on Utah Tech. -
Riveraggie
255The guy who looks like the offensive genius is Cody Hawkins at Idaho State. Last hear they were a passing team, but this year they have a running game, gaining 262 yards and 7.9 yards per carry against Southern Utah.
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Wookie
9Looking forward in attending this Saturday’s game. I’ve always been enamored by the 2018 Season and was excited that Coach Plough has come back to Davis. My question for you all, did some of the older consultants like Sam Young make the difference? I kinda miss those “silver foxes.”
Cody Hawkins had a nice tenure under his Dad here. That continues in Pocatello. Their test comes this weekend when they host Montana State.
Go Ags! -
Zander
193Cody's years as OC were basically our best non-2018 teams as I recall -- 3-2 in the COVID season (likely would have been 4-2 and playoffs without a cancellation), 8-win playoff year hamstrung by QB uncertainty, and that 6-win year when we played a ton of eventual top-10 teams. Multiple quality FCS wins and an FBS win.
It could be something like the magic of 2018 was having both Hawkinses, Plough, and Speckman all at the table and two Big Sky MVPs on the roster, and we're not getting that back. -
SochorField
171This is the one where we all find out if the Aggies are any good. I believe the Ags either get rolled, or its a nail-biter.
Dropping a spot in STATS T-25 to #14 after a win says a little about the quality of that last W. I don't think anyone is sold on the offense so far. -
movielover
540Could Biggs be a part time, low stress consultant?
Speckman brought the fly and maturity, so did Young. If I recall, Cody also started out predictable, running UG and others up the gut 90% on first down. I had Gould flashbacks. We've also had several game 'managers' at QB.
Would Kevin Daft (Dartmouth OC) move laterally to come home as OC? At Princeton, he helped secure "35 wins in his first four seasons, the most over any four-season span in program history." My guess is his wife and grandparents would vote YES. FTR, he recruits SoCal and Texas.
Hopefully we get untracked this weekend. Go Ags. -
Riveraggie
255Cody started out not throwing because he had QBs who had never played more than a few downs, It was almost the end of the first half sgainst Idaho in 2021 Spring that Rodrigues threw a pass. But in that first game they beat a ranked opponent on the road.
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MTBAggie
121Daft is at Dartmouth. That would be cool if the team could bring him back. JT is still doing his online QB school. I'm sure he's settled in to his life, but maybe some sort of consultant role? -
DrMike
751I think the head coach/play caller role is something that Plough needs to grow into. He's said its much different to call plays when you are considering what's going on with the defense - might have to slow things down to give a depleted defense a break. That's something he didn't have to worry about before, and it might be natural yet.
Some of the redzone issues aren't with the play calls, its with execution. In both the TMAC and Utah Tech game, we get first and goal from about the 1, run a neat little play for a touchdown.....and....FLAG for something silly like illegal motion or illegal formation. that HAS to stop. I'd like to see if we can get Gale involved in some type of lob pass. Or, perhaps a rub (okay, PICK) play will give our receivers a bit of separation. of course, we can bring Thompkins back into the Wildcat (and maybe toss a pass out of it?). -
Riveraggie
255The biggest disappointment is the below average.running game.given that we have a All American running back.
Davis is averaging 3.3 yards per carry, 108 yards a game. Some.opponents that Davis did not establish a consistent ground game against have not been similarly stout against other teams. Davis gained 89 yards on 27 attempts against SUU. Idaho State gained 262 on 33 attempts against SUU. Two FCS teams each gained 339 yards against Utah Tech, Davis 133 at less than 3 yards per carry. The team has tried to be balanced but they can't do it consistently.Teams that don't run well have trouble scoring in the red zone. -
SochorField
171Running game is the biggest disappointment for me as well. I was looking at stats today. Lan is getting his carries (most in the BSC), but pedestrian yards per.
With 1/3 of the season done, here's to hoping OC has figured some things out.
I seem to remember complaints on this board regarding the team's "offensive identity" the first time around with Plough..... -
88Aggie
23The Utah Tech game was painful to watch. We can move the ball, force turnovers but can't put it in the endzone. We should have had over 50 points, Utah Tech was so bad. Hastings tried some 20 yard plus passes but was not on target. So far this does not look like "Shredville". Maybe that prior success was due to Maier and Doss and less to do with Plough. I was really hopeful coming into this season that we might finally make the playoffs again, but that seems more doubtful now.
I know we have a bunch of guys hurt. Hopefully, they come back and make a big difference.
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