UC Davis fielded its best team ever in 2024. 5 things to ponder this season
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UC Davis returns some key players from 2024 team that finished No. 5 in FCS rankings.
- Offensive line depth and quarterback talent highlight 2025 preseason strengths.
- Big Sky Conference title hopes hinge on tough road games, especially at Montana State.
The history of the program is right there on display for all to see, especially players tasked with the challenge and responsibility of continuing a tradition of football excellence at UC Davis.
The wall below the scoreboard on Jim Sochor Field lists each of the 32 conference championships collected by the Aggies, the first coming in 1924 when Calvin Coolidge was president. The last was in 2018, with a close second-place showing in 2024.
Close by, a listing of the all-time UCD playoff teams is nearly as long, the last appearances coming in 2018, 2021 and 2024. Last season was the best showing by UCD in the 20 years of Division I FCS play after decades of good living at Division II.
Coach Tim Plough last season deemed the 2024 Aggies to be the best in program history, certainly at the D-I level. The current outfit could be even better, he said, and who doesn’t appreciate a coach who champions his guys?
The Aggies bound into this season preseason ranked No. 8 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 with a host of returning players from an 11-3 team that narrowly lost the Big Sky Conference championship race to Montana State, which went 15-1 and played for the 2024 FCS championship.
UCD finished ranked No. 5, the program’s highest FCS final ranking. The Aggies open the season Aug. 23 against No. 11 Mercer.
Plough played quarterback for the Aggies in the 2000s and over the years became close to Hall of Fame coach Jim Sochor, the brilliant coach and motivator who died in 2015. Plough also has remained in contact with retired Aggies coaching greats Bob Foster and Bob Biggs.
Plough makes sure to maximize his resources, tapping into old minds for fresh ideas with a peek back for perspective. The theme generally includes the joys and benefits of a sport big on blocking, tackling, brotherhood and championship pursuits.
“The cool part for me,” Plough said after a recent practice, “is that Coach Sochor used to tell me that he felt like I was the perfect guy to be a bridge to this generation. I have relationships and I have knowledge of what was, and it’s important that I educate players and make them a part of what we do here and to continue the things that we’ve done for a long time.”
The second-year head coach added, “We can’t do the same stuff we did here in 1980 and think that we’re going to win in 2025, but there are elements of the things that we did in 1980 that will never change, that will lead to us being successful.”
A history buff on world events, politics and sports, Plough makes sure that his players soak in the past achievements of the program, which was founded in 1915. This includes having former players and coaches speak to the team, or watching old program documentaries.
Here are five things to ponder as UCD prepares for its Aug. 23 opener against No. 11 Mercer of Georgia in the FCS Kickoff Classic in Alabama, a game that will be televised on ESPN.
Who starts at quarterback?
UCD never has a shortage of passers, a tradition in Yolo County since Bob Biggs engineered dramatic comebacks in the early 1970s; to Ken O’Brien starring in the early 1980s, enroute to becoming a first-round draft pick in 1983; to the record-setting efforts of Khari Jones, Randy Wright, J.T. O’Sullivan, Jake Maier and three-year starter Miles Hastings, who starred in recent seasons and is now in his first season in the Canadian Football League.
Former Del Oro High School of Placer County star Caden Pinnick sparkled in spring drills and in the spring game. The redshirt freshman is a dual-threat player who already has the attention of his teammates in just his second year with the program.
Grant Harper is in his fifth year with the program, the backup last season. He, too, has the respect of his teammates and coaches and has impressed in spring and recent workouts.
“Having a good quarterback at Davis will never be a problem,” Plough said. “Grant is a guy that’s been built in the system. He knows it really well. We feel confident we can win with him. Caden is an example of an extremely talented guy, a local product that we know has an amazing future. Is that future now or is it a year from now? We don’t know, but we know he’s going to win a lot of games for us.”
And to tie in the theme of tradition and bridging gaps, the UCD roster also includes Axel Eason, a 6-foot-4 passer out of Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County, where he was a 3-star, dual-threat star. Eason is the son of Bo Eason, one of the all-time great defensive players at UCD from the early 1980s. Bo Eason was so good that his name is on top of the UCD press box to honor his legacy.
How good are the Aggies up front?
UCD returns all five starters on the offensive line under position coach Mike Cody, and none of them look as if they miss many meals. Eli Simonson is 6-6 and 285, having earned All-Big Sky honors in 2024. Zaire Collier is 6-3 and 305, a leader in the unit at center out of Granite Bay High in Placer County. Jace Rodriguez is 6-5, 295, Ernesto Nava is 6-4, 305, and David Main is 6-4,300.
The unit will block for a new starting running back to be announced as the Aggies look to somehow replace All-American Lan Larison, now with the New England Patriots. Preseason All-American tight end Winston Williams, fellow tight end Ian Simpson and receiver Samuel Gbatu Jr. offer experience.
The Aggies also boast of an All-American kicker in Hunter Ridley. But it always starts up front.
“This is the best we’ve been on the offensive line,” Plough said.
How good can the defense be?
The defense expects to be formidable, especially with the tenacity and experience of twin brothers Rex and Porter Connors. Rex is an All-American, a fourth-year starter in the secondary and a three-time All-Big Sky Conference selection. Porter is a preseason All-Big Sky pick at linebacker after posting 86 tackles in 2024.
The Aggies on the defensive line return Trent Carrade, Rayne Mayo Jr., Joey Carrillo, Jake Williams and Clayton Lynham.
UCD welcomed transfer portal additions in All-Ivy League performers Derrell Porter of Dartmouth and Jacob Psyk of Harvard.
Are the Aggies really better this season than last?
The Aggies don’t sandbag and dodge. They believe they are great, or should be. The coaches and players also understand that they have to prove it on the field.
“I think we have more talent this year than we had a year ago,” Plough said. “But that doesn’t make us a great team, right? Great teams are built from within, and what made last year’s team was those guys suffered together for multiple years (in the playoffs or just missing the playoffs), and they came together as a unit.
“We have more talent, but what remains to be seen is do we have the mental toughness, and do we have the competitiveness, and did we learn from the guys before us?”
Can the Aggies win the Big Sky?
The overall schedule is as good as the program has faced, ever. The Aug. 23 opener is intriguing, a showdown against Mercer, followed by an Aug. 30 game at Utah Tech. On Sept. 6, UCD travels to Seattle to face the FBS Washington Huskies before hosting Southern Utah in a home opener Sept. 20.
The Big Sky schedule includes an Oct. 11 game against preseason No. 18 Northern Arizona, a Nov. 1 showdown at No. 8 Idaho, a Nov. 15 contest at No. 2 Montana State. Then there’s the Nov. 22 home game against No. 11 Sacramento State — the Causeway Classic, a series that dates back to 1954.
Plough has long maintained that the Aggies must win their home games to have a shot at the Big Sky. An FCS playoff berth, at the least, is certainly within reach. The Big Sky championship could come down to the game at Montana State.