Jan. 22, 2008

DAVIS, Calif. - Six games at Aggie Stadium - including five under the lights - along with road matchups at perennial NCAA FCS power Montana and Western Athletic Conference member San Jose State, highlight the 2008 UC Davis football schedule announced on Tuesday.

UC Davis will be playing its second season as an official member of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), looking to return to the NCAA postseason for the first time since the 2002 season, its final in Div. II. The Aggies finished 5-6 overall in 2007.

The upcoming campaign, for which season tickets are currently on sale, is the Aggies' first-ever 12-game regular season and begins on Aug. 30 at Football Bowl Subdivision member San Jose State. The Aggies and Spartans will be playing for the second straight season.

Four of the first five games are on the road before UC Davis returns to Aggie Stadium to play five consecutive contests. A bye on Nov. 1 near the end of the homestand will provide a welcomed break heading into the Causeway Classic against visiting Sacramento State (Nov. 8; 1 p.m.), also the only day game of the home slate.

Included in the 2008 schedule are Great West Football Conference games at home against Southern Utah (Oct. 11) and North Dakota (Oct. 25) and on the road at rival Cal Poly (Nov. 15). North Dakota and South Dakota - both beginning four-year reclassifications from Div. II to Div. I - replace outgoing members North Dakota State and South Dakota State which will be joining the Gateway Conference this fall.

The Aggies are not scheduled to play new GWFC member South Dakota this season while Cal Poly will not play North Dakota. Southern Utah will play both. League officials are currently in discussions to formulate a plan on determing a conference champion in light of changing league membership. A complete round-robin schedule will be in place for 2009.

The only first-time opponent on the schedule is Iona College (Oct. 18), located in New Rochelle, N.Y. and a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Gaels finished 7-4 last season.

The beginning of the season will provide a stern test for the Aggies who opened 2006 with five straight road games.

They'll open the season at San Jose State and Central Arkansas (Sept. 6) - which visited Toomey Field in 2006 - before traveling to Montana (Sept. 20) and Northeastern (Sept. 27). Montana, which averaged 22,800 fans for eight home games in 2007, was undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the FCS before being upset by Wofford in the first round of the championship playoffs. The matchup in Missoula will be the first between the Aggies and Grizzlies since 1995.

A home game against Portland State (Sept. 13) in the season's third week breaks up the early road games. The 6 p.m. game also marks the first-ever night game at Aggie Stadium which will have its new lights installed by this spring.

Consecutive home night games against Northern Colorado (Oct. 4) and Southern Utah - also the annual Homecoming game - are followed by vists from Iona and North Dakota leading into the season's only bye. The night games at Aggie Stadium each begin at 6 p.m.

UC Davis will conclude its homestand against Sacramento State in the 55th annual Causeway Classic trying to win the local rivarly game for the ninth consecutive season. The Aggies will conclude the regular season with a conference contest at Cal Poly in the teams' annual "Battle for the Golden Horseshoe" and on Nov. 22 at the University of San Diego. The Aggies won a memorable 49-46 showdown over the visiting Toreros in last season's finale, pulling out the victory as quarterback Matt Engle hit receiver Brandon Rice with a 18-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds.

The 16-team 2008 FCS playoffs begin Nov. 29.

Thumbnail descriptions of each opponent are below.

SAN JOSE STATE (Aug. 30; 1 p.m., San Jose, Calif.)
The Spartans finished 5-6 overall and 3-4 in the Western Athletic Conference in 2007... San Jose State beat UC Davis 34-14 at Spartan Stadium last Sept. 29... UC Davis took a 7-0 lead and trailed just 14-7 at halftime before San Jose State pulled away in the second half... All-time series: SJSU 4-2-2 overall; 2-1 at San Jose.

CENTRAL ARKANSAS (Sept. 6; TBA, Conway, Ark.)
The Bears, moving into their third year of reclassification to Div. I, played their first FCS-compliant schedule last season, posting an overall record of 8-3 and a second-place mark of 5-2 in the Southland Conference... UC Davis beat visiting Central Arkansas 33-13 in the teams' first meeting in 2006... All-time series: UC Davis 1-0 overall; 0-0 at Conway, Ark.

PORTLAND STATE (Sept. 13; 6 p.m., Aggie Stadium)
The Vikings finished 3-8 overall and 3-5 in the Big Sky Conference under first-year head coach Jerry Glanville... Portland State will be making its first visit to UC Davis since beating the Aggies 14-12 in 2005, a week prior to UC Davis' memorable win at Stanford... Last season, behind a clutch goal-line stand in which the Aggies turned away the Vikings five straight times from inside the 2-yard line, UC Davis captured a 26-17 come-from-behind win at PGE Park... All-time series: Portland State 6-1 overall; 1-1 at Davis.

MONTANA (Sept. 20; 1:05 p.m., Missoula, Mont.)
The Grizzlies, who won the 2001 national championship, finished the regular season 11-0 and 8-0 in the Big Sky Conference... Montana entered the NCAA FCS Championships ranked No. 2 nationally but were upset by Wofford 23-22 in the first round... The Grizzlies beat UC Davis 41-20 in Missoula in 1995 in the teams' last meeting... All-time series: Montana 2-0 overall; 2-0 at Missoula.

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY (Sept. 27; 11 a.m. (PST), Brookline, Mass.)
The Huskies were 3-8 overall and 2-6 in the Colonial Athletic Association in 2007, winning two of their final three games including a 31-13 upset at then No. 8 New Hampshire on Nov. 3... QB Tim Plough threw for 313 yards and 2 TD's as UC Davis beat Northeastern 28-10 last Sept. 22 for the program's first-ever win at Aggie Stadium... All-time series: UC Davis 1-0 overall; 0-0 at Brookline.

NORTHERN COLORADO (Oct. 4; 6 p.m., Aggie Stadium)
Like UC Davis, the Bears are coming off their first official FCS season after finishing their reclassification in 2006-07... Northern Colorado was 1-11 overall and 1-7 in the Big Sky, picking up its lone win at Montana State (17-14) on Oct. 27... The Aggies and Bears met four consecutive seasons beginning in 2003... UC Davis head coach Bob Biggs earned his 100th career win with a 30-20 at Greeley, Colo., in 2004.. All-time series: UC Davis 3-1 overall; 1-1 at Davis.

SOUTHERN UTAH (Oct. 11; 6 p.m., Homecoming, Aggie Stadium)
The Thunderbirds went winless in 2007, finishing 0-11 overall and 0-4 in the Great West Football Conference... The Aggies have won three straight games in the series and six of the past seven, including a 41-21 win at Cedar City last season.. This season's game will be held in conjunction with UC Davis' Fall Festival as part of its Centennial celebration during the 2008-09 academic year... All-time series: UC Davis 9-3 overall; 6-0 at Davis.

IONA COLLEGE (Oct. 18, 6 p.m., Aggie Stadium)
The Gaels posted an overall record of 7-4 and a 2-1 mark in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference... Iona shared the league title with Marist and Duquensne... Iona will be making its second-ever trip to California... Last season, they lost a 55-7 matchup at Cal Poly... All-time series: First meeting.

NORTH DAKOTA (Oct. 25, 6 p.m., Aggie Stadium)
The Fighting Sioux, playing their final Div. II season before beginning a four-year reclassification to Div. I this fall, finished 10-2 overall and 7-1 in the North Central Conference in 2007... They are entering theif first GWFC season... North Dakota advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Championships... The Aggies and Fighting Sioux have met just once with North Dakota beating UC Davis 14-2 in the Div. II championship quarterinals in 2001 in Grand Forks... All-time series: North Dakota 1-0 overall; 0-0 at Davis.

SACRAMENTO STATE (Nov. 8, 1 p.m.; 55th Causeway Classic; Aggie Stadium)
The Hornets, under first-year coach Marshall Sperbeck, were 3-8 overall and 3-5 in the Big Sky Conference last season... They won their final two games of the season... QB Matt Engle threw for 302 yards and 2 TD's while UC Davis had two key fourth-quarter interceptions in winning the Causeway Classic last season for the ninth consecutive year, 31-26, at Hornet Field... All-time series: UC Davis 39-16 overall; 17-7 at Davis.

CAL POLY (Nov. 15; TBA; "Battle for the Golden Horseshoe"; San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
The Mustangs finished the season ranked No. 24 in The Sports Network poll of media and sports information directors, posting an overall mark of 7-4 and GWFC mark of 2-2... Cal Poly posted its second straight win over UC Davis in 2007, scoring a 63-28 victory at Aggie Stadium... The rivals have played some exciting games in recent years with the four previous games prior to last year's decided by an average of 5.0 ppg... All-time series: UC Davis 16-15-2 overall; 7-9 at San Luis Obispo.

UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO (Nov. 22; TBA; San Diego, Calif.)
The Toreros have been one of the top FCS mid-major teams in recent years, completing the 2007 campaign with a 9-2 overall record, including the exciting 49-46 UC Davis win in the season finale at Aggie Stadium... The Toreros have lost just three games the past two seasons, two of them to UC Davis... This will be the series' first game at San Diego... All-time series: UC Davis 2-0 overall; 0-0 at San Diego.

2008 UC DAVIS SCHEDULE
Aug. 30 - at San Jose State, 1 p.m.
Sept. 6 - at Central Arkansas, TBA
Sept. 13 - PORTLAND STATE, 6 p.m.
Sept. 20 - at Montana, 1:05 p.m.
Sept. 27 - at Northeastern, 11 a.m. (PST)
Oct. 4 - NORTHERN COLORADO, 6 p.m.
Oct. 11 - SOUTHERN UTAH* (Homecoming), 6 p.m.
Oct. 18 - IONA, 6 p.m.
Oct. 25 - NORTH DAKOTA*, 6 p.m.
Nov. 8 - SACRAMENTO STATE (Causeway Classic), 1 p.m.
Nov. 15 - at Cal Poly*, TBA
Nov. 22 - at Univ. of San Diego, TBA

* - Great West Football Conference game

All times and dates subject to change
All times Pacific