MSU is arguably our toughest match up of the season... I think there's a decent chance that they would beat Cal. No one has managed to do it yet, but the key to beating MSU is shutting down the run game. RB Scottre Humphrey has almost 1200 yards on the season with 13 TDs. Then you have RB Adam Jones closing in on 700 yards and 7 TDs. Oh yeah, and QB Tommy Mellott has over 600 yards and 10 TDs. Not to mention 2 additional RBs that both have over 250 yards. Mellott is a solid passer, but the name of their game is POUND. THAT. ROCK. They average well over the 300 yards per game mark.

My heart says the Ags have a chance, but my brain says the win streak ends here.

Surprised to see a November home game in the late afternoon/early evening. Was that determined by the conference?

long range forecast suggests only a high of 60, dropping into the 50s or 40s after the sun goes down. Will be brisk by CA standards. I think in addition to ESPN+ it may be on a regional sports channel in MT which may have impacted schedule. Would assume they wanted the game in prime sports bar hours. Scott mentioned last week that UNC was the last (regular season) home game they would have the TV call.

Two things jump out at me watching Montana State film from this season:

1) Elite offensive line play, and for that matter, great blocking out on the wings as well
2) Fantastic speed at the skill positions, the group regularly finishes long runs with TDs

I hope the Ags prepare for a silent count in case MSU fans show up big.

Not to mention that the weather might keep local fans away but that's a little warmer than normal for Bozeman.

I hope the Ags prepare for a silent count in case MSU fans show up big. — BaseballAtDobbins

That's funny but, unfortunately, it's all too true. Idaho brought maybe 200 fans to our game against them earlier this season and they were actually louder than the Aggie student section sitting right next to them. I'm not sure what it will take to get the students off their phones and devices for a couple of hours and show up loud and proud at Aggie Stadium while having a lot of fun.

Of course, the west side fans are about as lifeless as well most of the time. The students and the Davis community used to regularly pack the Toom during the D2 glory years come rain or shine. Since then, the population of the university and the community has grown immensely but attendance has not kept pace. I feel like we're still recovering somewhat from the fanatical resistance to athletic scholarships that significantly slowed our transition to a higher level of competition.

I'm not sure how you compete with all the time the students spend on social media along with their academic rigors and the members of the larger Davis community itself seem to care more about soccer and swimming than a contact sport like football. I think both groups forget that the Aggie football players are required to be good students in the classroom just like their fellow students and that they aren't "paid" to be here just to play their sport like you see at many of the big time, college football programs today.

Maybe all the current excitement from this tremendous win over #7 Montana with #2 Montana State coming to town will bring out the Aggie fans in record numbers. I certainly hope so. This team deserves to have the stadium packed with a record crowd and the crowd needs to be LOUD.

I'm gonna try to go to the game with a 5 and 2 year old in tow. Wife has work; driving from the Bay. Wish me luck.

I have friends from chico coming down who are looking for a taste of d1 football next weekend... and like 5 davis fans who go to a game at most a year. This year they have went to almost all of them. Def a better energy when we're winning. Need Plough on a golfcart yelling at us to go to the game.

Need Plough on a golfcart yelling at us to go to the game. — Jdur

Maybe a gold golf cart like Prime Time has at Colorado would get even more attention...:

he walked Frat row last week with tickets and entry to Tailgate Town. Biggest turnout ever in TT; unfortunately, almost none of them stayed for the game!

Wow...you know Plough is doing everything he can to stir up support for the Aggies. Gotta give him a lot of credit; he's been working his butt off. We really couldn't ask him for more from a promotional standpoint and from the outstanding job he has done building a staff and coaching this team. It's got to be frustrating for him that it's such an uphill battle getting the students out to support the team and for getting the Davis community to show up and actually get involved in the game instead of sitting in the stands quietly.

Maybe the excitement that this win over Montana has generated will be a watershed moment for getting more fan support. Our forum is more active than I've ever seen it in a very long time and the Aggie Podcast seems to be a big success so maybe things are looking up and the fans will finally show and fill the stadium. I certainly hope so.

Can students make TikTok videos showing Cal and UCLA students cheering? Old Aggie Pack games?

Plough calling on Aggies far and wide to pack the hell out of Aggie Stadium!

It is not false that the Montana game was the biggest in Aggie history. I see some are calling the victories over Tulsa and Stanford bigger, but the whole debate is moot, because this next game has got to be the biggest ever since a W would mean not only a Big Sky title and a 10 game winning streak, but it could well mark UC Davis as a real contender for a national title. The only comparable game would have been the one for the Division 2 title back in 1982.

I voted for the Aggies in the poll at the start of this topic. My head questions whether we've got enough horsepower to match up with them but I also know that we're going to be fired up and playing with our hair on fire. Sometimes I think there's an advantage to being a talented underdog especially when the game is being played in our house. We've seen the Aggies win games in which we were given no chance at all over the years. Montana State is really good but we just might be hungrier.

No joke, Montana State is loaded. They have a full stable of powerful, fast backs and receivers.

I voted for the Bobcats but would be happy to be wrong. Montana State is my pick for the FCA National Champion at this point, yes ahead of the Jackrabbits.

Someone on the FCS Fans facebook group challenged me about Davis's resume against .500+ teams which draws some interesting comparisons:

MSU: 3-0 vs even/winning teams (home games noted), #6 (H), #37, and #39 (H) in Massey. New Mexico probably would be winning in the FCS (Massey would slot them in as the #9 FCS school behind Montana) so maybe we can say 4-0.

Davis: 3-1 vs even/winning teams: #6 (H), #8, #27 in Massey. FBS loss.

MSU might be in its own tier but in terms of FCS record it hasn't actually demonstrated that yet; folks are giving them credit for an unblemished record, FBS win, and crazy margins of victory (fair, I get it).

Massive sections of tickets have been sold in funky parts of the stadium, I can only think that this means the Bobcat fans are coming, and coming in a big way. — AggieFinn

I just browsed the Montana State forum and you're right, there are a lot of Bobcat fans coming to the game. They even have a charter flight that's already sold out.

Most of their fans seem to think the Aggies are a good team but not up to the level of Cats. Most are predicting a Montana State win by 10-24 points. A few think it will be a tough battle. They think Larison is a great RB but the big difference is they have 3 great RB's. They also think their D line will dominate our O line and that will force Hastings into risky throws.

Some of their score predictions are really funny:

Cats 38 Agricultural Academics 23
Bobcats 45 Unibrow U 15
Your Montana State Fighting Bobcats 35 The Mustache Club 24

They have a very active forum: https://bobcatnation.com/bobcatbb/viewforum.php?f=20

lol The Mustache Club.....that's awesome.

Their fans aren't entirely wrong. Montana State has consistently been in the elite team category. UC Davis hasn't.

UC Davis in D1 is still relatively a young program....only having joined the Big Sky in 2012.

Aggies have only played 3 FCS playoff games. Bobcats have played 16 FCS playoff games during the same timespan (including a National Championship game).

If we beat MSU and Sac State, isn't it possible we host 2 or 3 home playoff games?

A BYE, and home field advantage are huge.

If we beat both teams and win out it would be crazy for the committee to not give UCD at least the #2 seed. We would be undefeated in FCS play, which only one other team (NDSU if they win out) would be able to say. Conference championship would be amazing but I think Saturday’s game is also for home field advantage throughout playoffs, until Frisco.

If UC Davis or MSU win their final games, that team has home field advantage until Frisco.

For me the main difference between MSU and UCD is how we each played Idaho in our home stadiums. Granted, Idaho was plagued with injuries when they played MSU and Bozeman is not Davis but I still think the margin of victory shows how good MSU is.

All of this just demonstrates how small the margin for error is in the Big Sky, especially this year. The BSC has so many sub-.500 teams that there’s only a couple opportunities to get quality wins. Really makes having a strong OOC schedule important. Idaho is still in conversation for a top 8 seed because although they lost both games in BSC play that were opportunities for quality wins (MSU, UCD), they played a really strong OOC and only lost to #1 FBS Oregon throughout it.

Montana State has played consistently well throughout the season wheras Davis has only played to that same level for the last few games. Davis had a pattern of giving up scores late to make games they had control of early narrow wins. Idaho game is an example of that.
Montana State’s statistical advantage over Davis is their defense, both in points allowed and yardage totals, but Davis is narrowing that gap over the last few games.

Idaho is in the conversation for a top eight seed only by people who haven’t noticed the Davis win over Montana. That ended the but who have they played argument against Davis, as now they can say they beat Idaho and Montana.
Idaho’s out of conference schedule appeared tougher early in the season than it appears now. Wyoming is a weak FBS team and Albany and Abilene Christian are weaker than Southern Utah

Montana State has played consistently well throughout the season wheras Davis has only played to that same level for the last few games. Davis had a pattern of giving up scores late to make games they had control of early narrow wins. Idaho game is an example of that. — Riveraggie

That's a valid point. We need to remember also that we had a bunch of key defensive players who got injured and early in the season and were out for quite a while. There were so many players at certain positions that the Aggies had to adapt by moving players around into new positions and by modifying our defensive schemes for damage control. I remember Plough saying that this was the "year of the broken hand." Some of those players are have healed up enough to be back in action now and I think we saw just how good our defense can be in the win over Montana when they are more healthy.

Abilene Christian is ranked #14 and literally just beat SUU last week. SUU is unranked.