They're both beasts, Sure wish that the Ags had had Skattebo on their radar for recruiting. He would have been a great addition to our RB's also.

Welcome to the our forum. We'll be big underdogs in this game and I just hope we can be competitive and don't get completely blown out. We're pretty beat up on the OL and have lost our two, top WR's. We have not found solid consistency among the 3 QB's we've used this season either and our pass rush has been practically non-existent against the better teams we've played. We've been struggling of late and are just glad to be in the playoffs. I hope we can give you a good game but the odds are steep against us.

2021 FCS Fall Playoff Bracket (click the image to enlarge):

SDSU is a very good football team and the Dana J Dykhouse Stadium, 19,350 capacity, is a very tough place to play.

We won't have Vaughn or Harrell. Their injuries look very serious. I'd like to see HR get a chance again too.

Tough draw for the Aggies too. They beat NDSU and demolished Colorado State this year and their RB, Pierre Strong Jr, is probably the best RB is the FCS. He has 1317 yards this year on 190 carries for a whopping 7.4 yard per rush!

Harrel was taken from the sideline in a cart after they helped him off the field. It looked like he got his foot stuck in the turf as he went up for the pass and his knee twisted awkwardly as he went down untouched. Just a unfortunate injury on a play that was clearly going to be a TD. Having him and Vaughn out is a huge blow to the passing game for us.

I watched part of the game, Toke. Irvine was impressive on both ends of the floor. They have some very good D1 talent and they are very disciplined. They looked better to me than what I've seen of UCSB so far this year. Long Beach is much improved this year also.

Here's the final bracket prediction from Hero Sports that has the Ags hosting Northern Iowa in the first round:




https://herosports.com/fcs-football-2021-final-playoff-predictions-bzbz/

Well you guys are obviously are much more informed about this than me. I'll feel better going to bed tonight tonight knowing that, barring something egregious, we'll get selected. Now, the cherry on top, would be getting a first round home game... :pray:

I hope I'm wrong but I think there's a good chance that we will not be in the playoffs now. We have lost big to both EWU and Sac and we have the awful loss to Idaho State also. Since the selection committee has never taken 5 teams from the Big Sky and we are in 5th place, I think we may not get selected.

Quotes from Hawkins and Taylor:

The FCS playoff committee has never before taken five teams from the Big Sky, but there’s always a first time.

“That’s out of our hands,” said Aggie head coach Dan Hawkins afterward.

“That’s up to the committee, and we can’t control any of that. We’ll just wait and see.”

Hornet head coach Troy Taylor, however, was generous in victory.

“That’s a really good football team and they’ll be in the playoffs,” Taylor said of the Aggies.

“They deserve to be in the playoffs after the season they had.”

“When we score the first time we have the ball, we’re usually in pretty good shape,” offered Taylor, who now has a phenomenal 15-1 Big Sky record and two championships in his two seasons with the Hornets.

For his part, Hawkins said it was time to tip the cap to a dominant performance from UCD’s arch-rival.

“They outplayed us and outcoached us,” Hawkins said.

“They came over here and really got after it. They played hard and made the plays they needed to make. That’s all on me and it’s up to me to fix it.”

“Our defense played lights out,” Taylor noted. “I’m awfully proud of those guys.”

The Hornet coach, who elected not to play in the spring of 2021 after the 2020 season was scrubbed entirely by COVID, feels his team is energized as it looks forward to its second consecutive playoff appearance.

“It was tough not playing in the spring, but it was definitely the right decision,” he said.

“This is a physical game and there’s a rhythm to your recovery. We’ve had a great season and now we get to start a second season in a couple of weeks.”

“We were in the fire, which is where we want to be. We played hard but we came up short,” Hawkins added.

“Now we have to go back to the toolshed and get things fixed.”

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/hornets-dominate-aggies-in-causeway-classic/

Irvine trounced Pepperdine 82-48...I guess that puts things in perspective!

Yes, all of those things are frustrating for sure.

I think today's crowd was the biggest ever in Aggie Stadium. Official attendance today: 12,315.

Some good points, cmt. I'll don't question the effort by the Aggies although I also understand the frustration that Aggie fans feel. I believe the Ags always play hard even though mistakes get made, fumbles happen, passes get intercepted, FG are missed, etc etc but that doesn't mean the players aren't playing hard or don't want to win as much as our opponent.

You also just have to tip your hat to our opponent when they simply had more talent and/or made fewer mistakes and played a better game. I'm proud of this team. 8-3 is nothing to shake your head at.

Well, we won't get Sam Houston State in the first round since they'll have a bye. Thank God!

First off, great crowd size today, beautiful day, nice to see both bands performing the National Anthem together, and Sac brought a lot of fans and that's a good thing for the Causeway games. I would be happy to see Sac and us coming into this game at the top of the conference each year. It's a good thing that this game means something for both programs.

We suffered some key injuries to our OL and we haven't had the depth there to make up for it. Hastings has done ok considering how often he's pressured. I do think that the coaching staff gave up too soon on Rodriques. He had a serious injury and wasn't sharp when he returned but he did not deserve to be sidelined permanently. We missed his leadership and experience.

I think HR has the best overall skills at this point also. He can be a very accurate passer, he has a quiet poise about him and he can make plays with his legs when necessary. Tompkins can be "magic" but, unfortunately, he hasn't shown that he can be the passer we need and all of our opponents are now dialed into defending him.

I'm not surprised by today's score. Sac is the better team. They're quick and talented and they play disciplined. They are capable of making some noise in the playoffs.

I think we'll squeak into the playoffs but we'll probably be on the road. It's possible that we just miss the cut also. If we do get in, I'd like to see HR at the helm. With our OL beat up and Harrell and Vaughn both out with injuries, the odds are stacked against us. However, sometimes situations like this produce some surprises when someone else gets and chance to play and surprises everyone.

I think it says something positive about the Aggie program when we are 8-3 and feel disappointed that it wasn't better. The bar has been set high as it should be. Now all we can do is wait and hope we get to play at least one more game.

The body language of the Aggies on the sidelines says this game is already over…