Any truth to the tale of a fan or two roasting a half slab of beef or a whole hog at the tailgate area?

You are right. Biggs did a great job with what he was [not] given. Looking back, resources were meager compared to recent years. I mean Russell Athletic uniforms were a real treat, to put things in perspective.
I used to get frustrated as a student/fan "going 6-5 every year" but I really didn't appreciate or realize what a fine job of coaching he did in those transitional and early D1 years.

The unique (even remarkable) thing about the Aggie football program is the continuity of culture over many years and multiple coaching staffs. This is something that Sac State is having issues with. Sporadic success, turnover, and rebuild. No identity as a program, or continuity of culture.

Also the later Biggs era specialized in beating Slack State.

I'd put the Northern Iowa game up there just because it's a playoff game. Sure it was at home but that's not a sure thing in the playoffs (right Sac State?).

Sac State’s primary reason for offering scholarships and later moving to 1AA was because they couldn’t compete in the non scholarship environment. Within a few years they couldn’t compete with Davis when they were 1AA and Davis was Div 2.

I didn't see it, but there were a lot of tailgate parties going on, and I could smell good food.

Of the great games listed, I was there for the 1982 playoff game, and it was a huge game. But not the biggest. From everything I've read the Biggs-Belotti Miracle Game was a culture-changing game and the teams that followed have stood on their shoulders. Please someone pass me another cliche.

Moroski & Reno at the Toom w Ara Parseghian?

FTR, Jordan Fisher tallied 7 carries, 32 yards, for a team-leading 4.6 YPC. His 11-yard run was sweet. He actually had the highest YPC on the team - LL and Perez close behind (4.0).

Playing in that atmosphere is good preparation for the coming playoffs.

i didn't see slabs of beef, but there were tailgates as far as the eye can see. we drove in on a bus following the team buses, and when you cross the bridge from downtown into the campus, it was electric. You are greeted with the stadium lights, and tailgates and fans everywhere.

my experience was similar to those above, in terms of their fans. we had someone in the travel party with connections with a company in Montana, so we were invited to their tailgate. Fans were very welcoming, incredibly knowable about both teams, and not as confident as i would have thought. I meet with the son of former Giant pitcher Rob Nen and we shared a long talk AND a gunrock (part of someone's luggage).

Only blemish was when a young lady came across and loudly and profanely berated me for wearing a blue/yellow ski jacket. Apparently too close to Bobcat colors. During the tirade, Mr Nen quietly walked away leaving me to fight my own battle! So, if you saw a guy on the sideline holding his ski jacket all night, that was part of the reason; the other part was, once we went ahead, I wasn't going to tempt the football gods by putting it on!

Pregame, we went up to that Company's suite (50 yard line). They have private suites from the 10 to the 10 on both sides of the stadium! Incredible.

Atmosphere during the game was crazy. We had only a couple hiccups with the noise, otherwise, the poise of the players was something to marvel at. Miles seemed to be under control the whole night and the offense fed off it. I thought a HUGE play was following those hiccups. We got to their 10 in the 2nd quarter, facing that big endzone bleachers. False start, delay of game, false start....and....now we're facing a 42 yard field goal into the hostile crowd. Hunter Ridley CALMLY nailed it. A miss would have stoked them even higher. After i congratulated him on the huge kick. He said thanks and 'excuse me, what's your name again?'. I told him and he replied 'nice to meet you, Mike, thanks for coming'. Gave me confidence if we had to have a late game FG!

Second half was complete domination except for the TD following the pouch kick. Defense destroyed them. I was standing by Biggs and Daniel Alfaro most of the night, and they kept mentioning how their QB's just eyeballed their intended receiver the whole way. i think Coombs was able to confuse him with different looks, stunts, etc. which allowed the DL to get some pressured. they were in trouble once they had to rely on the pass. They seemed to just about give up the ghost with about 8 minutes to go, after our last FG.

OL was outstanding. In that noise, to be able to protect the QB (Montana ran a bunch of stunts and pressures counting on the noise to lead to communication issues) AND average 4 yards a carry was a special effort. This is quite a turnaround from the first part of the season!

And what more to say about Hastings. I think Plough and Shelton have been great mentors for him. He is so well prepared for the opponents, and handles issues that come up in the game with no panic (look at Idaho and Portland State).

Great trip and game report, Mike! Thanks for taking the time to write it up for all of us who weren't there in person. Let us know what your hearing from the inside about the upcoming Montana State game too.

Great stuff, Mike. Thanks!

this was a ‘fanboy experience’. I won a contest sponsored by university credit union that was on social media some time back. Found out about it Tuesday night. Tried to get AgAlum to be my plus one but he couldn’t make it.

Simpson has apparently used 3-4 numbers.

These wrap up videos are perfect. Whoever's choosing the tracks on them has been lights out.

Special feature on UC Davis program and on-site campus visit for award and big win over Montana