Aug. 17, 2002
DAVIS, Calif. -
Head Coach Bob Biggs and his staff welcomed 117 student-athletes on Saturday for the start of fall football practice at UC Davis as the Aggies begin preparations to face arguably their toughest season ever.
The Aggies had testing and agility sessions scheduled on Saturday with two-a-day practices slated to begin on Sunday. UC Davis will go through conditioning drills until beginning practice in full pads on Thursday. Highlighting preseason drills will be the annual Blue-Gold scrimmage game at 7 p.m. on Aug. 30 at Toomey Field.
The Aggies open their 84th season of football at top-ranked Grand Valley State (Mich.) on Sept. 7.
UC Davis finished the 2001 campaign with a 10-3 record, its NCAA Division II record-setting 32nd straight winning season. The Aggies, who advanced to the national semifinals for the fourth time in six years, have earned six straight NCAA Playoff berths.
The 2002 Aggies have been ranked as high as No.3 in the preseason polls. Street & Smith's and Lindy's each have UC Davis third, while Sports Illustrated ranks the Aggies fourth. UC Davis has 18 starters returning, including eight on offense and seven on defense and three on special teams.
Grand Valley State, 13-1 in 2001, features one of the most high-powered offenses in college football. The Lakers, who lost 17-14 to North Dakota in the NCAA Division II Championship game last December, averaged 50.5 ppg and 541.4 ypg in total offense.
UC Davis returns home for games at Toomey Field against Abilene Christian (Sept. 14) and perennial power North Dakota State (Sept. 21). Highlighting the schedule is the 49th annual Causeway Classic (Oct. 5) at Hughes Stadium, as well as other NCAA Div. I-AA matchups at rival Cal Poly (Oct. 26) and home against Saint Mary's (Nov. 2). Three trips to the Pacific Northwest to face Western Oregon (Sept. 28), Central Washington (Nov. 9) and Western Washington (Nov. 16) also await the Aggies.
