Records: Aggies, 3-7 (2-5); Hornets, 6-4 (4-3)
Where: Aggie Stadium — Davis, Calif.
When: Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
Who to Watch: Although all the action will be down on the field, everyone will be focused on Coach Bob Biggs, who is coaching the final game of his 20 year-long career. After announcing his retirement earlier this year, everyone has circled this game on their calendars as one of the most important games in UC Davis history.
The game carries enormous significance not only due to rivalry, but it will also be the last game for several seniors and notably Coach Biggs who announced his retirement earlier this year.
“This one is very important because it is Sac State and it is the last game for Coach Biggs,” said junior quarterback Randy Wright. “We want to send them out right and not leave a bitter taste in our mouth losing four games in a row.”
The Aggies are coming off a three game losing streak after a near upset of sixth-ranked Eastern Washington, and are seeking to end that streak this week against their regional rivals.
The Sacramento State Hornets have gone through a similar experience as the Aggies the past couple weeks, facing three ranked teams in a row and losing two of them by only a margin of three points.
“Defensively they give you a lot of different looks,” Biggs said. “If you look at their games against Montana State and Cal Poly, they have been able to stop good teams.”
Wright also talked about the unique looks that the Sacramento State defense gives the offense.
“They do a lot of weird things defensively so we’re just going to try and hit them big and put a lot of point up on the board. Hopefully we smoke these guys,” he said.
Defensively, the Aggies will seek to stop Sacramento State and their elusive quarterback Garrett Safron.
“They have an athletic quarterback who likes to run and scramble, and we’ve played some teams with quarterbacks like that so we just need to have extra focus hustling to the ball and pursuing,” said senior linebacker Jordan Glass.
Biggs mentioned the skill of their players that makes Sacramento State a tough offense to stop.
“Offensively they present a lot of problems. Their quarterback has a lot of weapons,” Biggs said. “They have some prolific wide receivers with great speed and two or three running backs that are very quick and nimble so they can hurt you in a lot of ways.”
Both the Aggies and Hornets have experienced numerous tight games this season, and this upcoming game is expected to be more of the same. The past 5 matchups between these two teams have been decided by 10 points or less.
“Hopefully we are up by a lot and it won’t be close but you have to expect it to be close, especially during a rivalry game,” Wright said.
Come out to Aggie Stadium this Saturday at 3 p.m. to catch what will be a exciting and memorable game in UC Davis football history.
-Jason Min
