Great comp with the SIU stadium, looks like a clone to ours. I like your concept with the upper deck at ours, but doesn't seem like that will fit with the current plans?

As would be expected against most FBS opponents in the OL/DL realm. Our D has to make Farrell uncomfortable somehow, I think that is one of the keys to the game, if not the key factor. He's a dealer. This is going to be fun to watch with two elite QBs going at it.

There's no question that Guess can play, but it's likely not QB at this level IMO, Here we go again, me popping off about QBs... :rofl: I see his measurables as a potential Sam Gbatu comp speed- and quickness-wise. Can he catch? Slot slash kick/punt return man might be his ticket.

And it sounds like Lupoi is officially returning to his alma mater at Cal as of a few minutes ago.

Will Stein got the Kentucky gig, good hire by them.

Should settle everyone down who thought there was a chance our guy would take the money and run ini this cycle. Too close and too much unfinished business. Go Ags!

Tim Skipper to Cal Poly would be an absolute coup for the Mustangs. Home run hire if they can get it finalized. Maybe he can find the original giant horseshoe trophy and send it back to us as a goodwill gesture.

Haha! No apology needed, I asked for it. Sounds very unique, and that is some nice summertime water temperature. This is a great time in Southern California on some of the south-facing breaks up near Ventura and Santa Barbara, but that's a long way from Sac/Davis.

Back to football. Your RB is a Stanford bounceback? Is he an East Coast kid? My impression of your Offensive Line was that, aside from the Left Tackle, they seemed on the shorter side. They were well coached, especially in pass pro and picking-up stunts and pressures, but looked undersized. They're obviously effective with the URI offensive numbers.

Thanks for the back story, I was really impressed with his abilities, his energy, and perceived leadership. He is the heart and soul and they do a nice job moving him around. Aside from Corners, Defensive Linemen are probably the hardest to find at this level because if they can walk and chew gum, they'll get paid more and/or poached. Pretty cool that he loves URI and came back, and that your staff thought so highly of him that they let him back.

Your head coach looks like he could be driving a lobster boat the other 7 months a year. I enjoyed seeing him celebrate with the kids and for their success, which you don't see a lot of times out of coaches our age. His RHODY FOOTBALL sweatshirt was nice too, like his style.

Sounds like you know the ropes around NorCal, I don't have any recommendations for things to do or places to see

I don't know Sailorgabe, but he is knowledgeable about QB play I can tell you that. We sound like NFL GMs working over these guys, all of us with differing tastes. My #1 criteria if I were in that chair, would be DOES HE WIN? From there, you figure out WHY he wins, then you figure out why he CAN'T win at your level. Then you make the call; is he the right FIT for what we do? At UC Davis, he is a tremendous fit.

We all enjoy watching CP operate it sounds like. We are all frustrated at times by his lack of ball security or a couple of the picks he's thrown. What I have observed over the last couple games is a knack for climbing the pocket; he's working forward with his eyes downfield rather than escaping out the side, which got him into some trouble early. He is not throwing across his body or forcing throws. All signs of growth. Rarely have I been frustrated by his reads or decision making. We can win and win often with him as our QB, but on December 2 of his RS Freshman year, he's not an NFL QB. Can he become one? Absolutely, especially with the growth and development he's showing. He also has elite QB coaching at Davis. They're invested in him. And if he leaves, there are young QBs behind him that we can dissect when their time comes. Go Ags!

Top surfing school, tell us more! That is an awesome fact. I knew there were some breaks up and down the East Coast, I've surfed Florida, but never even considered your area out of ignorance, the movie Jaws, and your water temps. There's an 18 degree +/- water temp difference between your place and mine, and I vowed to never buy a wetsuit that thick, booties, or a cap. I'm not that serious about the sport.

Aside from liking your QB, that #8 on defense is a bad hombre. He's a guy who will get some NFL looks I would guess.

There's also power in free tee shirts and tickets as well. No reason the Athletic Department can't buy and offer a bunch of free seats.

I agree, your QB is a DUDE. He MIGHT be the best QB we have seen (per my post yesterday), but the Big Sky produces a lot of capable pass offenses, and I know our coaching staff will respect the threat that he poses. I don't like to compare because surrounding talent, offensive systems, opposing defenses, etc. are so different.

Welcome to the board. I wish I could see the looks on your player's faces when they look out the plane window and realize that Sac/Davis looks more like Texas than Santa Barbara and San Diego :rofl:

After reading that last post, I'm reconsidering my plans to show up on Saturday night. Sounds miserable... All valid points BlueGoldAg, especially to modern parents. My dad would've given me a jacket and a toque, $5 for snacks, and not completely stopped the truck as he dropped me off and said "meet you right here at 10 o'clock." Three hours of tackling, fighting, and yelling at kids on the lawn with a football, probably lose a shoe and/or a tooth or something. Man, the 70s were a great time to be alive.

CAA Football: Bryant is bad. Villanova looked pretty darn good to me (yes, I watched the 1st quarter vs. Harvard). New Hampshire is probably their closest competitor I would guess as far as a "quality" program and they just got beat by six scores in the first round. The CAA is not the Big Sky or Missouri Valley. Not even close.

Regarding Brown, they went 2-5 and finished in sole possession of 5th place in the mighty Ivy League, aka the SEC of non-scholarship FCS football. Brown lost to playoff speedbump Harvard by 34 on the road and by a dozen or so at home vs. the Yalies. The Bears defeated Rhode Island by a TD in a game where they threw for a ton of yards but had a couple picks and a couple sacks.

The deeper I dig, the less impressed I become with Rhode Island's season. I respect their program as traditionally being competitive, and between them, Nova, and occasionally Maine and Monmouth, they are decent, but barely among the Top 15 teams in the country. Its like comparing the Big XII to the SEC. Sac, NAU, and Idaho State probably win that conference, just like Texas, Vandy, and Tennessee could probably win the Big XII title. However, anything is possible in a one game scenario. That is why they play the game and don't listen to me or my ill-informed opinions.

Great uniform concept possible with a University Farm School get up. Any pictures of the first team?

And the Sagebrushers is a SOLID mascot. I have Bushy Bill from the Dr. Pepper Fansville commercials pictured in my mind.

For the record, I was not advocating for short QBs or that all were successful :rofl: I'm with you, give me a taller cat any day of the week back there. However, the opportunities are far greater these days for shorter QBs than they were when Flutie and Warren Moon were playing.

Was I the only one who got up, grabbed their coffee, watched GameDay, then switched over to ESPN+ and selected the Rams of Rhode Island vs. the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils? It was hard on the eyes; the end zone camera wasn't white balanced, shadows everywhere, everything looked blue, the cameras couldn't eliminate the turf glare, it was painful. The only thing missing was the UC Davis Football press conference audio set-up and it would have been an absolute disaster!

I stomached one quarter of that game. URI got off to a fast start and CCSU couldn't get out of their own way. I switched over to The Game and only went back to Rhode Island a few more times. And every time I did, C. Connecticut was within a score. The entire game, they just sort of hung around. They even had a chance towards the end, but the QB couldn't reach the end zone on their Hail Mary attempt (announcers blamed the wind) and the game mercifully ended.

Here are my takeaways: this might be the best QB we have seen. Dude is cool, he extends plays, and he has a whip for an arm. Wind didn't bother him at all when I was watching. Receiving corps is a good looking group of dudes. Offensive Line looked undersized except at Left Tackle. Shorter guys, but they are a very solid unit and looked like good pass blockers. Tailback has numbers but didn't scare me.

Defensively, #8 is a dude. He can play. Reminded me of a slightly smaller version of #45 from Sac. He can rush the passer, play the run, drop into coverage, very versatile. Other than that, nothing stood out. CCSU didn't have a running game; RB was average, no real Tight Ends, weren't really committed to it. Central Connecticut attempted 62 passes and were only sacked once. One pick and no fumbles. From what I saw as a casual fan, they play sort of a bend-don't-break style of Defense, they play hard, but they are not overly impressive.

I like the 81% chance. Feels like at least a one TD margin, but I won't be surprised if it is closer. Don't discount the impact of that kickoff time either. We need to fill that place up and show well on TV. The Ags really responded to the energy and environment last home game. I doubt we can replicate, but playing at night in the Pacific Time Zone is a huge advantage.

Caden has film showing that he can perform at a high level. His height will limit some of his opportunities, but his film will open other doors. There are coaches out there with bad QBs and in desperate situations to save their jobs. They will convince the money people that a kid like Caden is all they need. He's a winner. Then he'll have a choice to make, which he has earned.

NFL offenses are becoming more like college offenses, so there is a place for the shorter, athletic QB in the NFL to the right OC. Bryce Young is a great example, so are Tua, Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, Dillon Gabriel, the list goes on. Most of those guys were also 2-sport (mainly baseball) athletes in college, sound familiar? I'm not saying CP is an NFL QB, but to Sailorgabe's point, there are plenty of examples, and opportunities will follow.

Also, college football is professional football now. Quarterbacks make more in college than many QBs will on rookie contracts in the NFL.

Here are my Top 3 candidates for Cal. And Plough ain't going to Cal at this juncture. Maybe after one of these guys gets fired next, but not in 2025/26:

Tosh Lupoi would be a really interesting hire at Cal. Dude can flat out coach and get after it, but does he have the personality to recruit today's soft ass California HS football player? Reminds me a little of Aranda at Baylor; heck of a football coach, great mind and talent as a DC, but is he a head coach? Actually, he also reminds me a little of Ron Rivera, so maybe this is the guy.

Rolo may not be fun to work with or work for according to this thread, but he is an outstanding football coach and recruiter. And he is actually a good guy from what I know, and I'll leave it at that. He's used to doing less with more, and if you watched their upset of SMU, the players and staff love him.

Will Stein, another Oregon staffer, is a good fit. Likeable and humble dude, very personable, QB friendly, Offensive guru, has the temperament for California recruits, I like this one. He has also spent a lot of time recruiting California since he's been with the Ducks.

I too was a bit surprised by Wulff's firing in SLO, I thought they were close. They did load-up on transfers last year, which is typically the smoke coming before the firing. Two LA-area P4 candidates could emerge as the lead dogs in that one.

Portland State is a dumpster fire. They need to hire the right guy (everyone loved Barnum but that only goes so far) and get their recruiting mess straightened out, then address the facility situation. 20+ miles from campus to stadium is no recipe for success, just ask UCLA. Their ability to take anyone academically should make it easier to recruit there, but that also creates other headaches.

Signing off to load up the old Family Truckster with provisions, then pointing it north up the coast towards the Causeway. Safe travels to all Aggies heading to town to see that MOTHER LOVING (sic) WATER TOWER GET LIT AROUND 4:30 PM ON SATURDAY NIGHT!!!

I am with you 100% with that concern. A lot of it is the kicker I'm convinced. In modern coverage schemes (unlike when I played football a long time ago), the kickers are instructed exactly where to put the ball and all the coverage shifts in that direction. I feel like we have to be mis-hitting the ball and putting it in the wrong spot. That's my hunch; I can't see our schemes being that bad. at this level of coaching/play.

Great perspective, I had not taken that close a look at the schedule. 0 Sacks vs. Nevada is telling. My only concern, which I am sure has been addressed, is how we protect one of the edges in our play action protection. Mano y mano I think we're fine.