I didn't see anything on Saturday to make me think the starter wasn't 100%. I saw a lot of what we've seen in previous outings, minus the turnovers/sacks. Bottom line, no matter the level of football: rarely can you go -1 in turnovers/-3 in QB sacks, and allow a punt to be blocked (for a TD no less) and expect to win the game. EVER.

The loss hurts but if someone told you before the season that we’d have this record without 5 All Americans and losing some school greats to graduation. I’ll take it! We’re so young and beat up, they fought and I can take that any day.

The tower was originally constructed in 1927.

While the tower debuted during football, it will continue to shine for key athletics victories and special occasions throughout the year — including the upcoming basketball season — turning a campus icon into a bright new tradition for generations of Aggies to come. During the Causeway Classic against Sacramento State, UC Davis will also honor the individuals who helped construct the tower, celebrating its legacy and enduring role on campus.

Whole announcement here: https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2025/10/31/athletics-uc-davis-lights-the-water-tower-launching-a-new-aggie-tradition.aspx

I’d say 200 people watching it? Playing all the songs! Got the cheer and dance teams, gunrock out.

Pinnick seen in practice fully padded playing with the 1s

Agree 100%. And, GOOD FOR GRANT! 5th year guy who has been a great teammate. Great to see him notch a victory!

campus update: the tvs in the memorial union and silo are all playing ads saying go to the game

Feel.nothing but pride for the team coming out with the road W and such a splintered roster. All that BYE time and Pinn couldn't even play! Thanks to Harper for gutting it out and making the plays we needed. The Defense was in full Blue Force mode, what a performance. Great kicking by Hunter as well. Team win.

After a strange game on the road against Northern Colorado, the Aggies return home to take on the Hawkins family and the Idaho State Bengals. Idaho State comes into this game with a record of 2-6 and a conference record of 1-3

@ UNLV - L 31-28
@ Southern Utah - L 24-46
@ New Mexico - L 22-32
vs Lincoln (CA) - W 90-0
@ Northern Colorado - W 26-18
vs Montana - L 38-42
@ Montana State - L 14-48
vs Northern Arizona - L 18-31

They have played a tough schedule with 2 FBS games and 3 straight ranked opponents coming into their battle against the Aggies. Honestly, to start the season they were playing teams very tough. They were in striking distance against both FBS teams and were very close against Montana, but it seems like the wheels fell off the last couple of games.

The Bengals are definitely an offense first squad and they like to throw the ball. ISU is led by redshirt junior QB Jordan Cooke. He's a big boy standing at 6'4 234. So far this season he has completed 148/263 passing attempts (56.27%) for 1950 yards with 9 passing TDs and 7 INTs. He does not seem to be much of a running threat though in terms of taking off for big chunk plays. They've also gotten some burn from redshirt freshman QB Davis Harsin who has completed 36/62 passing attempts (58.06%) for 482 passing yards with 7 passing TDs and 2 INTs. He is more of a running threat than Cooke with 19 rushing attempts for 128 rushing yards on the season.

Idaho State are deep in terms of receiving threats. They currently have 4 guys who have more than 300 all of which have 30+ receptions. We have 2 guys over 300 yards and only 1 has over 30 receptions. Their top receiver is 6'6 senior Michael Shulikov who has 40 receptions for 703 yards and 5 TDs. Their second main threat is 6'4 redshirt senior Tsion Nunnally who has 40 receptions for 573 yards and 4 TDs. Whoever said you can't find big bodied productive WRs in the FCS was mistaken. Their passing game is a serious threat and it'll be interesting to see if our battered defense can contain them.

The Bengals starting RB is redshirt junior Dason Brooks who has a net of 544 yards on 81 attempts (6.7 avg) with 6 rushing TDs. Backing up Brooks is redshirt freshman Carson Sudbury with a net of 201 yards on 42 attempts (4.8 avg) with 4 rushing TDs. They are clearly a pass first team, but you can't ignore the fact that their starting RB is closing in on 7 yards per rush. They are effective when called upon.

While their offense is potent, the Bengals have had some difficulty on defense. Take away their game against Lincoln (which the Bengals should be mocked and ridiculed that they even scheduled that game) and they have only managed to keep their opponents under 30 points 1 time and that was against Northern Colorado. While both their pass and rush defense are closer to the bottom of the Big Sky standings than the top, they appear to be notably weak to the run giving up on average almost 200 yards per game. Their standout defensive player has been redshirt freshman S Rylan Leathers who has 75 total tackles, 1 INT, and 2 forced fumbles. They have gotten productive pass rush from junior LB Jackson Irwin with 4 sacks as well as senior DL Cam'ron Willis with 3.5 sacks. If Caden is healthy, the Aggie offense should be able to put together a solid day against this defense.

In terms of kicking they are averaging 46.67 yards per punt have made 11/14 FG attempts with a long of 56 yards. On 49 kickoffs, 33 have been touchbacks.

All-in-all, it's tough to peg where the Bengals really stand. They played well against a now 6-1 UNLV, though it was their fist game under new HC Dan Mullen, and were within 1 score of Montana, but then just recently had a real stinker against Montana State and lost soundly to a Northern Arizona that we beat by like 3 scores. We all saw what happened in the 2nd half against Northern Colorado. I think I can speak for us all when I say that we hope Caden is back this week and if he isn't I think we can still win this game by leaning in on Jordan Fisher and Carter Vargas, which we may have to do anyway given the Gbatu is out for the fist half of the game due to his targeting penalty.

GO AGS! BEAT THE BENGALS!

I was driving back from a hunting trip in N. Montana and caught most of the game on the radio. I was so happy for Harper in the first half but the second half was really painful to listen to. It started reminding me of that close game in Portland. Will be back for Idaho State. Go Ags!

It's 20 past midnight here in Paris and my wife and I are happy Aggie fans! Great win by beat up Aggie team that simply finds a way to win regardless of how many key players are not playing. Gritty, gutty win by the Ags!

It's always satisfying to watch someone not being able to back up their trash talk. Wood has to hope that things work out for him in the long run at Sac because he's done nothing but look like a fool this whole year.

Just win, baby.

Darius Lingston and Kayla (Konrad)Livingston just announced the arrival of their new baby, Davis!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DQKvuY7ErYJ/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

NorCal East Bay AggieSportsTalk watch meet-up Saturday @ 12pm. Stadium Pub in Walnut Creek.

No username disclosure required :sweat:

Come hang out and watch the game!

(Open to other locations as well)

Quality of life matters to Plough. He gets to watch and coach his kids play baseball in the off-season, among other benefits. How many people would love to work and live in their small college town? He's in a great spot, and has earned it

Plough mentions 6 job offers in a year-and-a-half in Davis for 3x or 4x the money. Wow.
He also said he's going to coach for 20 more years.
"I have to win a National Championship at Davis"

I believe him when he says he's going to be here for a while. Lucky to have him

Marquis Bell has been stepping up. Number 1 ranked in passes defended in conference play, Number 3 in the big sky passes defended, and 22 in the nation in passes defended. Him and Cofield has been locking it down in coverage.

Plough gives a long answer on the POD about the rumors. Live for subscribers

Dr wood. “The cal expo is needed for space. As you can see we are packed out. “ while talking in front of the visitor side that is half covered in tarps and the portion not covered is half empty. The home side of the stadium does have a decent turnout today.
He also now changed this wording to “being FBS next year”to “playing a FBS schedule next year”.
Dr. Wood just rubs me the wrong way. He does not act professionally which a school president/chancellor should and he does not represent the school well.

Everyone have a nice weekend of honey-dos, Costco runs, yard work, hopefully some grilling, church, etc. Going to be a long weekend, let's come out firing on Monday :fire:

UCD takes down CSU Bakersfield in straight sets to improve to 7-0 in conference, 11-4 overall. Quick turnaround for a 6PM start tomorrow night at CSUN. The Matadors are currently 5th in the Big West at 3-3, 10-7 overall. Definitely a tougher matchup than the last place Roadrunners (1-6 BW, 4-15 overall).

GO AGS!!

https://t.co/hYoonsa0d2

I went and we had a good time. Nobody was limiting anything, but they did have a hard stop at 3:30.

The monkey wrench in all of our speculation is the promise that Plough made to Sochor. I would be really surprised if he moved on, say in less than 5 years. Sochor was offered several high profile jobs, such as the Stanford job. He was content to remain in Davis, raise his kids locally, and still create a legacy. I see Tim following that lead.

No matter how much you love something, if you don't feel supported its hard to stay committed.
(that was deep :roll: )

The school / alums need to do their part if they really want something great — SochorField

100% true. It sounds like Plough is pulling 18-19 hour days sometimes during the season. He and his staff are working their butts off and they've made tremendous progress in just a little over a year. Plough says he can win a national championship but he has to have the resources to do it and that means leveling the playing field with schools like the Montanas and the Dakotas.

Plough and his staff are doing their part but, if the fans and the donors don't do their part, then I could see him looking for an opportunity to build something great elsewhere. The donors, fans and students need to step it up!

Pinnick wins offensive player of the week for the 3rd consecutive week

Another basically (-like 70 tickets) 10,000 person crowd. Really awesome considering this week is the first week of midterms for most kids. Seeing freshman show up before they take the first “big” test of their college life is pretty nice to see.

I can’t get the video to upload… BUT they lit the water tower in gold and blue after the win! I have to note that sac state fans have been asking for a “light the beam” at hornet stadium and I guess Davis decided to put their own spin on it

I am not into moral victories, but I do think this game shows Cal Poly might of finally turned the corner on righting what was a sinking ship for the last decade. Good luck the rest of the season. If the Mustangs do not win a Big Sky Championship I am pulling for the Aggies.

I am sorry to hear about the Rex and Porter. They both are great players. Here is wishing both of them a speedy recovery.

The Golden Horseshoe has been secured, but it's no time for the boys to rest on their laurels because the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona are coming to town. The Lumberjacks come to Davis with a 4-2 record and were ranked 13th in FCS going into their match up against Montana State; we'll see what they're ranked here in a day or two though. Here are their games to date...

@ Arizona State (4-1) - L 19-38
vs Utah Tech (1-5) - W 38-31 (Aggies won 31-24 @ Utah Tech)
@ Southern Utah (1-5) - W 52-49 (Aggies won 50-34 vs Southern Utah)
vs Incarnate Word (2-4) - W 31-23
@ Portland State (0-6) - W 31-17
vs Montana State (4-2) - L 10-34

We have two mutual opponents on the schedule so far and both teams came out with 2 wins. Their game against Southern Utah was much closer than ours though. The win against Incarnate Word looked good at the time as they were a ranked opponent, but they are now sporting a 2-4 record and look to be struggling. Montana State is a very good team, but you would have to think that NAU is disappointed it wasn't more competitive with both teams being ranked.

Offensively, NAU is scoring 30.2 points per game with 265.8 yards passing and 141.3 yards rushing per game. Defensively, they are allowing opponents to score 32 points per game with 229.5 yards passing and 166.5 yards rushing per game.

The Lumberjacks are led by junior QB Ty Pennington who so far on the season has completed 61.8% of his passes for 1557 yards with 9 passing TDs to only 2 INTs. He's also gained 194 rushing yards on 43 attempts with 2 rushing TDs. Pennington has a plethora of weapons at WR, but he has 1 clear top target and that is redshirt senior WR Kolbe Katsis who has 27 receptions for 486 yards with 4 receiving TDs. Next closest receivers have 16 receptions, 190 yards, and 2 receiving TDs.

In addition to their productive passing game, the Lumberjacks are sport a dynamic duo at RB. Their main guy is redshirt junior RB Seth Cromwell who has gained 314 yards on 71 carries (4.2 yards per rush) with 6 rushing TDs. They have also given plenty of juice, however, to sophomore RB Quran Gossett who has gained 239 yards on 49 carries (4.6 yards per rush) with 3 rushing TDs.

On defense they are led by their do-it-all guy in redshirt senior LB Travis Arena who has 47 total tackles with 5 sacks. The Lumberjacks have forced 4 INTs so far this season and half of them have gone to senior S Jaylen Wesley who also has a team high 5 PBUs. Interestingly enough, through 6 games their defense has forced only 1 and recovered 0 fumbles.

Their senior punter, Ben D'Aquila, has a very strong leg as he's averaging 47.6 yards per boot which would put him top 10 statistically in the FBS. Their kicker, sophomore Samuel Hunsaker, is 6/7 on field goal attempts and is averaging 62 yards per kickoff with 15 of 28 kickoffs going for touchbacks. Their punt returns have been nothing special so far this season, but the aforementioned WR Kolbe Katsis is one of their kick returners and is averaging 25.4 yards per return, so given the chance he will do some damage.

Overall, this should be a good match up. I think NAUs ranking going into this last week was a little inflated due to a win against UIW who is struggling more than folks thought they would (preseason top 5 ranked, but now sitting with a 2-4 record) and then they ran into the MSU meat grinder. Their passing game is very productive and could have field day against our battered secondary. We just didn't run the ball much against Poly, but I think we are going to have to have Fisher and Vargas churning out yards to keep their offense off the field in order to win this game.

Update Massey has the Aggies with a 65% chance of a W

GO AGS!