ABOUT THE GAME
UC Davis opens its 101st football season by facing its sister school for the 10th time in school history, the second time in the program's Division I era, and the first time since September 4, 2010... The two teams also met up eight times from 1932 to 1939, with 18 other meetings against Cal's junior varsity team (known as "Cal Ramblers") between 1915 and 1957.
Who: California
When: Saturday, August 31 • 3:37 p.m.Â
Where: Berkeley, Calif.
Venue: Memorial Stadium (62,467)
Listen: Sports 1140 on TuneIn appÂ
Watch: Pac-12 Networks
Stats: StatBroadcast
Today's Aggies-Golden Bears matchup also marks the seventh time UC Davis has faced a Pac-12 Conference member during the D-I or D-I reclassification era, along with Stanford (2005, 2014, 2018), Cal (2010), Arizona State (2011) and Oregon (2016)... The Aggies have also announced future dates against USC (2021) and Washington (2025).
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Cal went 7-6 overall with a 4-5 record in the Pac-12 Conference in 2018... The season featured a 12-10 upset of Washington on Oct. 27, and an appearance in the Cheez-It Bowl (against TCU) on Dec. 26... Senior ILB Evan Weaver leads five total Preseason All-Pac-12 picks, along with DE Luc Buquette, CB Camryn Bynum, P Steven Coutts and S Ashtyn Davis... Following a season in which he recorded 159 tackles with 4.5 sacks, two interceptions and six PBUs, Weaver also made preseason watch lists for the Chuck Bednarik Award (collegiate defensive player of the year), Bronko Nagurski Trophy (defensive player of the year) and the Butkus Award (linebacker of the year)...Â
Third-year head coach Justin Wilcox has numerous connections to UC Davis: he played defensive back at Oregon for Aggie alum Mike Bellotti, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Dan Hawkins at Boise State (2001-02), then later served the Broncos as defensive coordinator for UC Davis grad Chris Petersen (2006-09)... Additionally, wide receivers coach Burl Toler III was a member of the Aggie coaching staff (also overseeing WRs) in 2017... Finally, Cal's director of football operations, Denis Hallin, served in the identical capacity for UC Davis from 2013-15 under then-head coach Ron Gould (also a former Cal assistant).
EARLY BUZZ
Thanks to its 10-3 record and NCAA quarterfinal appearance in 2018, UC Davis opened the season at No. 5 in the preseason national polls from the American Football Coaches Association, STATS, Lindy's and Athlon Sports... HERO Sports had the Aggies at No. 3 behind No. 1 James Madison and No. 2 North Dakota State... Street & Smith put UC Davis at No. 7, which matches the team's final 2018 STATS FCS position.
Individually, senior QB Jake Maier earned preseason All-America honors from four different outlets, plus Big Sky Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year... The communication major from La Habra and reigning Big Sky Offensive POW also made the preseason watch lists for the Walter Payton Award (FCS offensive player of the year) and CFPA Performer of the Year.Â
Junior WR Jared Harrell joined Maier on the Preseason All-Big Sky Conference team, senior TE Wes Preece garnered Preseason All-America acclaim from Phil Steele, while sophomore RB Ulonzo Gilliam also appeared on the HERO Sports Preseason All-America rolls... Finally, junior punter Daniel Whelan earned a spot on the watch list for the Augusta Sports Council's inaugural FCS Punter of the Year award... This is the same group that has awarded the Ray Guy Award since 2000...Â
AGGIES ON THE AIRWAVES
UC Davis football returned to Sports 1140 (calls KHTK) in 2018 and will continue to air on that station through at least 2020... Scott Marsh (play-by-play) and Doug Kelly (analyst) will provide the call, with Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Famer Scott Barry joining the crew for home games... An eventual NFL Draft pick by the 49ers, Barry earned NCAC Offensive Player of the Year and AP All-America honors as a senior in 1984... He also had the unusual distinction of starting in the 1982 NCAA D-II title game, replacing the injured Ken O'Brien.
UC Davis also has half its schedule on TV this year: Cal (Aug. 31) on Pac-12 Networks, Montana (Sept. 28) on ROOT Sports, North Dakota (Oct. 5) on Midco, Cal Poly (Oct. 12), Weber State (Oct. 26) and Montana State (Nov. 16) on Eleven Sports, and Sacramento State (Nov. 23) on CW31... Fans outside the coverage areas of these stations may also stream Big Sky Conference games on WatchBigSky.com.
#89 KEELAN DOSS
The Aggies' three-year All-American receiver from 2016-18, Keelan Doss was signed as a undrafted free agent by his hometown team, the Oakland Raiders, immediately following last spring's NFL Draft... In the first three weeks of the 2019 preseason, Doss hauled in 11 receptions (t9th in the NFL) with 99 yards and a touchdown... Doss' journey through the Raiders' camp has featured heavily in the 14th season of HBO's documentary series Hard Knocks... The second episode (airdate: Aug. 13) particularly centered around the Aggie organizational studies grad, and even featured his August 5 visit to UC Davis Health Stadium.
2018 IN REVIEW
UC Davis enjoyed a banner year in its second season under head coach Dan Hawkins, posting a 10-3 overall record and a 7-1 mark in the Big Sky Conference... The latter captured the Aggies a tri-championship with Weber State and Eastern Washington... UC Davis also advanced to the NCAA FCS playoffs for the first time in program history, taking down Northern Iowa, 23-16, before falling in the final minute at No. 4 Eastern Washington.
The Aggies entered the Stats FCS Top 25 in the second week of the season, then made a 23-21-19-16-14-10 ascension into the top 10 by Week 7... UC Davis ultimately climbed as high as No. 4 by the November 5 poll... The Aggies also entered the AFCA Coaches top 10 on October 29 (No. 9), then topped out at No. 7 a week later... UC Davis finished at No. 7 in the final STATS poll, No. 8 in the final coaches' rankings.
KEY VICTORIES: a 44-38 win at San Jose State (Aug. 30), marking the nation's first FCS-FBS upset of the year, and the program's first since the Aggies beat the Spartans in 2010... A run of 46 unanswered second-half points to erase a 21-3 deficit and lift UC Davis to a 49-21 victory over Montana (Oct. 27) – its first in series history... Smoke from November's "Camp Fire" forced the 65th-annual Causeway Classic up Interstate 80 the Nevada's Mackay Stadium... UC Davis scored a 56-13 win over Sacramento State on the neutral turf (Nov. 17), clinching a share of the Big Sky Conference championship.
