"I thought our defense played great," said Aggie head coach Dan Hawkins.
"I knew we'd play well because we've been practicing well. We didn't punt all night, which is always a good sign. It's always great to get a win, but it's never as clean as you like. Overall, though, I was pleased."
Added Hawkins, "It's great to get that first win under your belt. Now we have to go home and get ready because the mountain is only going to get steeper."
Hawkins and the Aggies were scheduled for a 1 p.m. Wednesday charter flight from Sacramento to Dallas, where the team will overnight before bussing to Commerce for Thursday night's season opener against Texas A&M-Commerce.
Game time is 7 p.m. (5 p.m. PDT) at 11,582-seat Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium on the A&M campus.
No, the field is not named for the Aggie head coach. It bears the name of Ernest Hawkins, a legendary figure in
Commerce history.
The Aggies began "fall" camp for the 2023 season on July 31 and Hawkins noted that his players are anxious for the season to start with an interesting non-conference game against the Commerce Lions of the Southland Conference.
The Aggies and Lions have met twice, both resulting in lopsided wins for UCD. In 1998 the Aggies took a 34-10 road win, then blasted the Lions, 36-0, the next year on Toomey Field.
The Lions won an NCAA Division II national championship in 2017, then in 2022 moved up to the Football Championship subdivision where the Aggies reside, finishing 5-6 overall and 3-3 in league play in their inaugural FCS season.
University Credit Union Center
Women's Volleyball • Men's & Women's Basketball • Women’s Gymnastics
Thanks to a 10-year partnership between UC Davis and University Credit Union, the home court advantage for the university’s men’s and women’s basketball, women’s volleyball, and women’s gymnastics teams was renamed the University Credit Union Center in July of 2021.
Formerly known as Recreation Hall and The Pavilion, the arena seats 6,003 for basketball games and continues to rank as one of the largest on-campus basketball facilities in Northern California. The arena opened to the sport in the 1977-78 season and has been home to all the excitement of Aggie basketball since that time.
