UC Davis to host Illinois State in football playoffs. Coach Plough has ties to both schools
Tim Plough heard about Illinois State well before drawing the Redbirds of the Missouri Valley Football Conference for this Saturday’s FCS playoff showdown at UC Davis Health Stadium, a meeting of 10-win teams.
Well before he became the UC Davis head coach, Plough was a quarterback at Ramona High School in San Diego County in the early 2000s, where the sharp and stout 6-foot-3, 225-pounder set program passing records. He took a recruiting trip to Harvard, to UCD, to a spot in Oregon — and to Illinois State.
“Someone got my film out,” Plough said while in good spirits on Monday during his weekly media session to size up the FCS postseason. “I took a trip to Illinois State. I had a great time. I remember it was really cold. That was my deciding factor. Same with Harvard. My mom wanted to move the family to Boston, but I got off the plane and it was 5 below zero. Louisville State had a good program and that was attractive to me. For me, it was too cold. I wanted to stay warm.”
Life turned out OK for Plough. The California kid became a UCD student-athlete. He wound up as one of UCD’s first-ever scholarship football players in 2003 as the Aggies were transitioning from Division II to Division I-AA. He became the Aggies starting quarterback as a senior in 2007, met the woman who would become his wife, Christine, and graduated with a history degree in 2008.
Now in his first season in charge of the UCD football program, Plough hopes to keep his red-hot Aggies rolling against a similarly successful team. It won’t be San Diego balmy and warm on Saturday, but the day’s forecast high of 56 degrees is a far cry from 5 below zero.
Plough was the offensive coordinator at UCD under coach Dan Hawkins during the Aggies’ first FCS playoff season in 2018, and he had assistant coaching gigs at Boise State and at Cal before coming full circle. Other schools pursued Plough to be a coach before he settled on UCD, landing the gig nearly a year ago.
“I turned down other (coaching) opportunities and make it a point of emphasis that I want to be here a long time,” Plough said. “I want to win a national championship. I promised (one-time Aggies coaching greats) Jim Sochor and Bob Biggs and those guys that this was what I wanted to do, what we want to do.”
UCD is coming off a bye, the perks of earning the No. 5 seed. Aggies players and coaches watched Illinois State win its playoff opener 35-27 over Southeast Missouri State, pouncing on eight turnovers.
UCD and Illinois State are meeting for the first time, and it is the first time UCD is playing a team from that state since meeting Eastern Illinois in 1978. That was in the Division II quarterfinals, a 35-31 Eastern Illinois victory at the Aggies’ Toomey Field.
The Aggies are 5-1 at home this season, losing only to unbeaten Montana State 30-28 to halt a nine-game winning streak, UCD’s best in its 20 years in the FCS. Montana State is the top-ranked team in the FCS and the top-seeded one in the bracket.
“We’re excited to have a home game, thankful to have another football game to play,” Plough said. “Our best will be needed this week.”
Plough said a lot of Aggies players went home for Thanksgiving dinner as he gave the team the week off. Some remained in Davis and squeezed into his house, where there was a full menu of good eats and football chatter.
“We had our leadership council and seniors, 40 guys at our house,” Plough said. “It was pretty wild. My wife and Mom (Barbara) deserve a lot of credit for making it work.”
Illinois State (10-3) at UC Davis (10-2)
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
On air: Sactown Sports 1140, ESPN+
Of note: Illinois State gave up 602 yards of offense last week, including 567 passing, but survived because the Redbirds intercepted five passes and recovered three fumbles. Tommy Rittenhouse leads Illinois State with 2,607 yards passing and 16 touchdowns, and he has rushed for eight scores. Wenkers Wright doesn’t just have a cool name, he can run the ball, leading the Redbirds with 1,071 yards and 11 TDs. Illinois State lost its season opener to FBS-level Iowa, 40-0, and in conference play lost to FCS No. 2 North Dakota State, 42-10 and to Missouri State 41-7 with a six-game winning streak since. then. UCD won’t reinvent the wheel now, as the Aggies will go with what has worked: passing with Miles Hastings, who has 3,745 yards and 32 TDs; and running with all-purpose star Lan Larison, who has 1,321 yards rushing and 755 yards receiving and 20 total scores. Hastings and Larison are finalists for the Walter Payton Award that recognizes the best player in the FCS. Linebacker David Meyer leads UCD in tackles with 104, and he leads the club with four interceptions. The winner Saturday plays the winner of No. 4 South Dakota vs. No. 13 Tarleton State on Dec. 14.
This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 6:00 AM.