2016 UC Davis football schedule
DAVIS, Calif. - A season-opening game at FBS power Oregon and a five-game home slate that includes 2014 NAIA national champion Southern Oregon, FCS playoff participant Portland State and the 63^rd annual Causeway Classic against rival Sacramento State, help highlight an exciting 2016 UC Davis football schedule, it was announced on Friday.

The 11-game schedule features five matchups at Aggie Stadium against Southern Oregon (Sept.10), Weber State (Sept. 24), Northern Colorado (Oct. 15), Portland State (Nov. 5) and Sacramento State (Nov. 19). Season ticket information and game times will be announced later.

Oregon, which is annually among favorites for the national championship, will host UC Davis (Sept. 3) with the Aggies also making trips to Mountain West Conference member Wyoming (Sept. 17), perennial Big Sky favorite Eastern Washington (Oct. 1), defending conference champion Southern Utah (Oct. 8), Battle for the Golden Horseshoe rival Cal Poly (Oct. 22) and Big Sky standout Montana State (Nov. 12).

The schedule is a competitive one but head coach Ron Gould said the Aggies' focus is on themselves.

"It's not who we play but HOW we play," he said. "We have to be sure we're getting prepared to be ready for the 2016 season. This offseason is pivotal to get ourselves healthy and to get our younger guys and returning players prepared in spring ball so that they can hit fall camp at full speed."

UC Davis begins its fifth season in the powerful Big Sky Conference, looking to build off a year that featured wins against Northern Arizona, which narrowly missed an FCS postseason berth, and a resounding season-ending road win at Sacramento State. It'll play two FBS opponents for the third consecutive season and play three of its final five games on home turf.

Two Beaver State opponents, which combined for 20 wins last year, will get the season going in the first two weeks. Oregon used its high-octane offense to average 43.0 ppg. while posting a 9-4 record on its way to a berth in the Alamo Bowl. The Ducks, who have won at least 10 games in seven of the past eight seasons, were coming off an appearance in the inaugural College Football Playoff Championship in early 2015.

This fall's matchup will be the first between UC Davis and Oregon but ties between the program have existed for several years. Aggie head coach Ron Gould will be making a homecoming when his Aggies travel to Eugene. After playing defensive back for Oregon (1986-87) and earning his undergraduate degree (1988), Gould served as a graduate assistant for the Ducks from 1990-91. Former Aggie Mike Bellotti, who played in the 1971 "Miracle Game" against Cal State Hayward, won 116 games and led Oregon to 12 bowl games as head coach before later serving as athletics director. UC Davis football alum Nick Aliotti was a longtime defensive coordinator for Oregon until 2013.

Neal Zoumboukos (1966-67) and Chris Petersen (1985-86) - now the head coach at Washington - are other former Aggies who coached with legendary UC Davis head coach Jim Sochor and later at Oregon.

Southern Oregon kicks off the home schedule in early September. SOU and UC Davis will be playing for the ninth time - the Aggies hold a 6-1-1 series lead - but are squaring off for the first time since 1953. The Raiders have been one of the top NAIA teams the past two seasons, posting a 13-2 record in 2014 while capturing their first-ever NAIA championship before returning to the title game in 2015 where they finished as national runner-up and went 11-3. SOU is no stranger to local football fans after nearly upsetting Sacramento State in 2013 before falling, 63-56, in overtime.

The Aggies will return to the road the third week of the season to face Wyoming, the only other first-time opponent on the schedule besides Oregon. The Cowboys, who were 2-10 last fall, are coached by Craig Bohl, who won two national championships while an assistant at Nebraska and then three in a row as head coach at North Dakota State, just prior to joining Wyoming. The game against the Cowboys marks the ninth straight season that UC Davis has faced a member of the Mountain West. Nevada and Hawai'I in 2015 were the most recent.

The remaining four home games feature formidable Big Sky opponents. Weber State finished tied for fourth in the Big Sky after going 5-3 in league and 6-5 overall. The Wildcats, who beat UC Davis, 23-3, late in the 2015 campaign, had an impressive 24-21 win at postseason team Montana to help highlight their season. Northern Colorado was one of the most improved programs in the Big Sky last year, posting a 6-5 overall mark after winning just four games the previous two years combined.

Among UNC's wins was a late-season 35-32 thriller against Portland State, another team which ended the regular season ranked in the FCS top 10. The Vikings, who will visit Aggie Stadium for the first time since 2013, earned a bye in the first round of the FCS playoffs before falling in the second. They turned around a 3-9 record in 2014 to go 9-3 in 2015 and tie for second in the Big Sky. Along the way, they posted road wins at the Pac-12's Washington State (24-17) and FBS member North Texas (66-7) while also beating Montana, Montana State, Cal Poly, Southern Utah and Eastern Washington.

The Causeway Classic returns to Aggie Stadium after UC Davis' 35-21 season-ending win at Hornet Stadium last November. UC Davis holds a 44-19 all-time record against Sacramento State, including a 44-18 record in the Causeway Classic (the teams met once in the Div.

II playoffs). The Aggies have won five of the past six meetings and 13 of the past 15 but the Hornets have won twice at Aggie Stadium since 2009, including a 41-30 victory in 2014 that snapped UC Davis' four-game win streak in the rivalry.

"This winter, spring and fall are opportunities to improve so that we go into the season fully prepared," Gould said. "We will decide what kind of team we will be with the work we do between now and the start of the season."

UC Davis will begin spring practices in early March.

Game 1 - at Oregon • Sept. 3
Autzen Stadium (54,000) • Eugene, Ore. Series record: First meeting First meeting: None Last meeting: None
Game 2 - vs. SOUTHERN OREGON • Sept. 10
Aggie Stadium (10,849) • Davis, Calif. Series record: UC Davis leads, 6-1-1 First meeting: UC Davis won, 25-6, on 1953 (Davis, Calif.) Last meeting: Tied 12-12 (1932, location unknown)
Game 3 - at Wyoming • Sept. 17
War Memorial Stadium (29,181) • Laramie, Wyo. Series record: First meeting First meeting: First meeting Last meeting: None
Game 4 - vs. WEBER STATE • Sept. 24
Aggie Stadium (10,849) • Davis, Calif. Series record: Tied, 2-2 First meeting: UC Davis won, 31-29 on 9/18/04 (Ogden, Utah) Last meeting: Weber State won, 23-3, on 11/7/14
Game 5 - at Eastern Washington • Oct. 1
Roos Field (8,600) • Cheney, Wash. Series record: EWU leads 4-0 First meeting: EWU won, 24-7, on 11/19/05 (Cheney, Wash.) Last meeting: EWU won, 37-14 on 9/27/14 (Aggie Stadium)
Game 6 - at Southern Utah • Oct. 8
Eccles Coliseum (8,500) • Cedar City, Utah Series record: UC Davis leads, 11-7 First meeting: SUU won, 28-27, on 9/25/93 (Cedar City, Utah) Last meeting: SUU won, 34-6, on 10/24/15 (Aggie Stadium)
Game 7 - vs. NORTHERN COLORADO • Oct. 15 (Homecoming)
Aggie Stadium (10,849) • Davis, Calif. Series record: UC Davis leads, 5-3 First meeting: UNC won 35-28 on 11/22/03 (Toomey Field) Last meeting: UNC won, 56-27, on 10/17/15 (Greeley, Colo.)
Game 8 - at Cal Poly • Oct. 22 (Battle for the Golden Horseshoe)
Alex G. Spanos Stadium (11,075) • San Luis Obispo, Calif. Series record: UC Davls leads, 20-19-2 First meeting: UC Davis won, 28-0, in 1932 (Davis, Calif.) Last meeting: Cal Poly won, 55-38, on 11/14/15 (Aggie Stadium)
Game 9 - vs. PORTLAND STATE • Nov. 5
Aggie Stadium (10,849) • Davis, Calif. Series record: Portland State leads, 10-4 First meeting: UC Davis won, 50-21, on 9/14/74 (Toomey Field) Last meeting: Portland State won, 23-14 (10/4/15)
Game 10 - at Montana State • Nov. 12
Bobcat Stadium (17,777) • Bozeman, Mont. Series record: Montana State leads, 4-1 First meeting: UC Davis won, 45-0, on 9/16/06 (Bozeman, Mont.) Last meeting: Montana State won, 77-37 on 10/11/15 (Aggie Stadium)
Game 11 - vs. SACRAMENTO STATE • Nov. 19 (63rd Causeway Classic)
Aggie Stadium (10,849) • Davis, Calif. Series record: UC Davis leads, 44-19 First meeting: UC Davis won, 14-0, on 10/9/54 (Hughes Stadium, Sacramento, Calif.) Last meeting: UC Davis won, 35-21, on 11/21/15 (Sacramento, Calif.)