Exciting Clash in the UC System: Aggies vs. Golden Bears

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The University of California (UC) school system is an elite public research university system with 10 campuses, 5 prestigious medical centers and three nationally-credentialed laboratories. Two of the premier institutions within this university system are UC Berkeley and UC Davis. The UC Berkeley football team is the Cal Golden Bears. The UC Davis football team is the Aggies.

The Bears and Aggies open their seasons at 5 p.m. EST on Aug. 31 at the historic California Memorial Stadium, on the eastern shore of the spectacular San Franciso Bay.

Illustrious UC Davis

Playing in the Big Sky Conference, the Aggies are a strong Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) team that began playing collegiate football in 1915. They made the FCS playoffs in 2018 and 2021, reaching the quarterfinals in the former season. Former Boise State and Colorado coach Dan Hawkins led the Aggies from 2017 through 2023. However, Davis alumnus Tim Plough took over this offseason and is quite familiar with the Golden Bears, as he was an assistant coach in Berkeley last year.

Located between Sacramento and the Napa Valley, UC Davis boasts a nationally prestigious viticulture (grape growing) and enology (wine making) certificate program.

On the gridiron, the Aggies are coming off a 7-4 season in 2023, which was capped by a victory over their Big Sky rival, the Sacramento State Hornets. The only FBS opponent Davis faced last year was Oregon State, and the Beavers shellacked the Aggies 55-7.

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Senior quarterback Miles Hastings is the leader and team captain of the Aggies offense. In 2023, he completed 231 passes for 2,380 yards with 14 touchdowns. He has set numerous Aggie and Big Sky records. In 2023, he was named to the Walter Payton Award Watch List, given annually to the most outstanding offensive FCS player. Can Plough and Hastings lead the Aggies to a stunning upset over the Golden Bears?

Key Cal Golden Bears

The Golden Bears have a rich history dating back to their season in 1886. They have won five national titles. However, the last was in 1937. One of the founding members of the now-bereft Pac-12 Conference, Cal is set to commence play in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Justin Wilcox, who played defensive back for the Oregon Ducks in the late 1990s, has been Cal's coach since 2017. In his seven seasons at Berkeley, his record is 36-43.

Wilcox will rely on talented redshirt sophomore Fernando Mendoza to quarterback the team. The 6-foot-5 signal caller took over the starting role last year, threw for 1,708 yards and 14 touchdowns and led Cal to victories over Washington State, UCLA and longtime-rival Stanford. Talented junior running back Jaydn Ott returns to lead a potent Bears rushing attack. Ott was named first-team All-Pac-12 last year and is listed by On3 Sports as one of the top 100 players in college football for the 2024 season.

Cal's run defense was stout last year. The Bears allowed only seven runs of 20 yards or longer on the season, tying them for No. 7 in the nation in that category. They only allowed three rushes of 30 yards or more. However, the performance of the defensive secondary was a weak point Wilcox is seeking to strengthen in 2024.

The Golden Bears are favored by 23.5 points over the Aggies.