i noticed they didn’t mention DaVon Frazier on the position overview, and the roster now lists him as a linebacker. He started against Idaho as a nickel back. (our most frequent starting lineup is a 3-3-5). Ive always had some sympathy for Frazier as they moved him to linebacker in 2019, he had a great game at the end of the season, he bulked up to play linebacker in 2020 and then they moved him back to DB (new defensive coordinator).
There is a sophomore transfer, Lamont Shamburger from D3 Benedictine College, who had 25 tackles 15 solo and 5 interceptions for them as a true freshmen. His name was mentioned on the preview video.

The DB coaches know the players better. New QB coach, first day of fall camp.

Good review. Gavin Cooke is now a DB and got his name mentioned.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2023/8/10/football-season-preview-position-breakdown-the-defensive-backs.aspx

Where did anyone say everyone should be BCS? My own opinion, not shared by anyone else in this thread, is that BCS and FCS should lose the distinction as far as scholarships but that implies BCS moving in the FCS direction as well. No level needs 85 scholarships, thats just squirreling away talent.
It is humorous when Davis pretends it is more of a public ivy prestige University than Cal or UCLA. It’s even more ridiculous now that the SATs aren’t required. Davis wouldn’t tarnish its reputation by having the same standards as other UCs.

Cal lost a boatload of transfers. I don't know what site is definitive but i see a list of 19 guys who transferred from Cal. That’s another piece of it, how many slots you have.

I have no knowledge on whether the admissions office is slow or not:
but there are considerations for transfers that make it complicated. To transfer to UC and get credit for courses taken elsewhere those courses need to map to some course at UC. If someone transfers from University of Michigan or UCLA thats not an issue, but if someone transfers from a school with a lot of vocational type of coursework they might be admitted but lose credits. I’m not knocking the value of more practical education, but that is not what UC does. In addition UC doesn't offer second bachelors degrees certificates etc, so transferring after graduating means getting admitted to a grad program, also not true everywhere else.

Aggies were tabbed No. 16 in the Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25 Poll. 6th of 6 Big Sky Teams

https://theanalyst.com/na/2023/08/defending-champ-jackrabbits-voted-a-unanimous-no-1-in-the-fcs-preseason-top-25-poll/

Aggies projected as an at large bid.
https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2023-08-02/way-too-early-2023-fcs-playoff-bracket-preseason-predictions?utm_campaign=trending
Weber misses the cut in this projection.

Davis in the same conference as Nevada and San Jose State makes too much sense to ever be considered. When I was a student in the 70s a Nevada game program said Nevada was our oldest rival.
I’d like to get rid of the FCS/FBS dichotomy, it basically comes down to number of scholarships, 22 separate the two, split the difference and have everyone have 74. FBS schools wouldn’t notice the difference and it would be worth it to FCS schools to get rid of the minor league distinction. Schools that absolutely can’t afford it don’t have to allocate all the scholarships.

There is an economic/ecological concept called Tragedy of the Commons which describes what happens to a commonly shared resource with no owner. Example are over grazing of a commons or over fishing in the ocean. In college football we see a similar situation. Each conference and each school tries to maximize their individual benefit from the shared resource of fan interest but at the expense of the good of the sport as a whole.

I was in Lincoln Nebraska on business 20 years ago, and i wandered over to Memorial Stadium and watched practice. The stadium, which is 100 years old this year, had cast into the structure the names of teams from the Big 8 of 1923. Nebraska isn't in the same conference as any of those teams.
The conference and school administrators are hurting the product in pursuit of money. It will eventually result in less interest and less money.

[ Maybe but not after the just two days of camp. Harper was a recruited guy, said to have had an offer from Montana State, and was in 3 games last year, totaling 8 completions in nine attempts and a touchdown, he’s got to be number 2. He’s the only one who’s completed a pass. Harper has been around since 2020 same class as Dixon, who they moved to tight end.

Yes, like what they did pre pandemic, but i wish they had waited a bit so they had a meaningful comment about the freshman, which is difficult on first day of practice.
I’d like to hear about newcomers.
Positions where freshmen might get playing time are receiver, offensive line, running back, and defensive back. Same thing regarding the JC transfers at tight end,,We have some good recruits from 2023 in those spots and they are also positions where we need to replace losses.

Mitchell Dixon is now listed as a tight end.

The roster has a freshman, class of 2023, linebacker, Aaron Shebloski, a walk on, committed in May.
He has a link to a video on his twitter page of him doing 3000 pushups in a day when he was 16. Has a lot of personality.

Pray for no smoke.

We have a transfer from Nebraska Cornhuskers i just noticed on the roster, an offensive lineman, sophomore, has been with Nebraska 3 seasons, walked on at Nebraska, no game action. If i read the tournament bracket pdf right he was third in the Nebraska state high school wrestling championship in the 285lb class. Eli Simonson, 6’6, 295.
Wrestling story from 2020 senior high school year.
https://www.ketv.com/article/eli-s-coming/31070664#

Picked sixth in their conference, which has some good teams , Incarnate Word and S.E. Louisiana at the top. Statistically they had the top defense in the conference. They retained most of the defense staff, and feel good about their defense, with few holes to plug.
They have a new coach, Clint Dolezel, an alum, whose background is mostly Arena Football. His offensive coordinator is also a former Lion QB and several of his assistants have Arena football in their background.
They brought in 20+ Freshmen and 13 transfers.
Certainly a hard team to scout for the first game.
Their coach on Southland Conference Media day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DCUjp64SC8

On the other hand, with the exception of Weber, all our conference road games are against teams not expected to be contenders. Could result in an impressive record if they avoid upsets.

A lot of changes this year in the Big Sky. Among contenders, Weber and Sac both have new head coaches and new QBs, Montana will have a new QB. Weber lost 6 players as transfers to FBS, most going to BYU. Idaho lost 5 players to FBS schools, including two linebackers and a defensive tackle, that has got to hurt. I think the coaches ranked Davis highly because they have an established system, didn't lose many players, and have experienced replacements for the ones they lost.

The opening opponent, Texas A&M commerce fans had a podcast about UC Davis as an opponent.

https://thelionwire.com/2023/05/25/the-lion-wires-call-the-roll-podcast-a-way-too-early-2023-lion-football-preview-uc-davis/

Pretty much as you would expect. A of time talking about Coach Hawkins in Colorado. They realize we have some explosiveness on offense. They thought the August temperature in Davis might occasionally reach 90 degrees. They had a table of the mean temperature which was a pleasant 73 degrees, but they don’t know it cools off at about 9:00PM when the cool air finally makes it up the river. I’m sure its hotter and more humid in Texas, but if it is desired to practice in the heat you have no trouble finding hot days in Davis. Before expecting Davis to wilt, they might check out the end if the Tulsa game. Of course they don’t have air conditioning in the visitor clubhouse.