Aug. 6, 2007

DAVIS, Calif. - With new $31 million Aggie Stadium ready for its inaugural football season and with renewed NCAA playoff aspirations, the UC Davis football team will begin preparations for the upcoming 2007 season on Wednesday when 90 players begin fall practices in anticipation of the season opener on Sept. 1.

Players will report on Tuesday night for administrative meetings before hitting the field on Wednesday morning for skills testing. UC Davis will practice in full pads for the first time on Sunday afternoon. Two-a-day practices are scheduled for Aug. 14, Aug. 16, Aug. 20 and Aug. 22 with the annual Blue-Gold Scrimmage set for Saturday, Aug. 25 at noon at Aggie Stadium.

All practices are open to the public.

The Aggies, 6-5 last year for their 37th consecutive winning season, will open the season on Sept. 1 against Western Washington. The game against the Div. II Vikings will also be the first football contest in Aggie Stadium which recently finished construction, The facility, which will seat more than 10,000 fans and will also be the home for the UC Davis women's lacrosse team, received a majority of its funding from the student-approved Facilities And Campus Enhancement Initiative (F.A.C.E.) in 1999. Construction began in 2005.

Besides fixed-seating on both the east and west sides of the stadium and on grass berms behind each endzone, the facility also features locker rooms, a mammoth scoreboard with video display, a pressbox with stadium club room on the concourse level, and several concession and restroom locations. A Sportexe all-weather artificial surface has already received positive reviews from teams that have already competed on it.

The upcoming campaign also marks the first season since its final Division II year in 2002 that UC Davis will be eligible for the postseason The university embarked on a four-year reclassification to Division I status in 2003 and was ineligible for the playoffs during that time. Beginning this season, the Aggies will be eligible to compete for an at-large berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) - formerly Div. I-AA - playoffs. The Aggies will begin their fourth season in the Great West Football Conference but the league does not have an automatic berth into the playoffs.

"I think there's a little more excitement," head coach Bob Biggs said of the start to the 2007 season. "I think everybody recognizes the playoffs now are a goal for us. We still want to win a conference championship in the Great West but we (also) want to be one of the top 16 teams and see if we can secure a berth in the playoffs. So, I think in addition to the new stadium and just all the excitement that's surrounding that, it really does feel like kind of a new era.

"The transition period's over," he continued. "We said goodbye to a rich and glorious Division II period in our history and now we're ready to move to the FCS level and hopefully have the same kind of success at that level."

UC Davis returns 46 letterwinners, including 14 starters, from last year's squad which won its final two games to secure its winning season. The Aggies finished the year ranked 24th by coaches in the College Sporting News poll and were No. 29 by The Sports Network. They reached No. 16 in both polls during the midseason. The only 2007 preseason magazine to place UC Davis in the top 25 so far is Phil Steele's College Football Preview Magazine, which has it at No. 23.

Six starters return to the offensive side of the ball, including sophomore wide receiver Chris Carter (54 rec., 703 yds, 5 TD's) and guard Jonathan Compas (6-4, 290, Jr.), who both earned All-GWFC honors. Additionally, Carter was named the league's Rookie of the Year.

Defensively, six starters return as well, led by tackle John Faletoese (6-3, 270, Jr.) who had a team-high 9.5 tackles-for-losses and is a preseason All-American by Street & Smith's College Football Yearbook. Defensive end James Amos (6-3, 245, Sr.), one of six Aggies who have received preseason All-GWFC by media outlets, is also back after posting 45 tackles and 3.5 sacks.

Among the key losses for UC Davis are 2005 All-America and school record-holder for receptions Tony Kays, three-year starting quarterback Jon Grant and All-America free safety Jonathan Barsi. The Aggies also lost three starters off the offensive line and two other starters in the defensive secondary.

Biggs said among the preseason goals are working to gain experience for less-experienced players.

"We like the people we have. We know we've got talented personnel but we lack experience," said Biggs. "We're going to be young in a lot of positions. That doesn't bother me that we're playing young players but you don't know until you actually get in games how they're going to react. And when you have as many young players as we have, and players that are a bit untested, it could be a pleasant surprise like Chris Carter was last year or it could be a maturing process and it may take time for all of them to come together as a unit.

"That's going to be the challenge some years. Last year we had more of a veteran group, this year we're going to be younger, " said Biggs. "They're all different challenges in their own right but I think when you have a younger group you want to build their confidence so you tend to spend more time teaching and just making sure they're taking the necessary steps. You're looking at the big picture and not just the short-term pictures. It'll be a learning process but as far as the excitement, I think everybody - staff, players and fans - are excited about this season so it'll be a great challenge for us."

UC Davis also finalized game times for the upcoming season on Monday. Games against Northeastern (Sept. 22), Cal Poly (Oct. 13) and University of San Diego (Nov. 17) will begin at 1:30 p.m., the opener against Western Washington is at noon and the Oct. 27 homecoming matchup against South Dakota State will begin at 2 p.m.