Aggies come home to face hard-luck Utah Tech

Game is final tune-up before Big Sky play begins

With one final opportunity to iron out all the wrinkles before play begins in the rugged Big Sky Conference, the surging UC Davis Aggies will host struggling Utah Tech Saturday night in the last of four non-conference football games to start the season.

Game time in UC Davis Health Stadium is 7 p.m.

After an opening loss to undefeated California, the No. 12 Aggies have won two straight over Texas A&M-Commerce and a strong Southern Utah squad to take a 2-1 record and high hopes into Saturday's game.

And then next Saturday Big Sky play begins in earnest when No. 4 Idaho comes to town to open conference play for both schools. That game is not necessarily for all the marbles, but it will give the winner an inside track toward the league title and a bid to the FCS playoffs.

Although the Aggies will need to take care of business in October as well, they finish the season in November with back-to-back-to-back games against three Big Sky powers, No. 10 Montana in Missoula, No. 3 Montana State in Davis and No. 11 Sacramento State on the east side of the Yolo Causeway.

While coaches rightly warn players about looking ahead and not concentrating on the opponent at hand, the rest of us can be forgiven for peeking at a schedule that may be the strongest in UC Davis' proud history.

Speaking of strong schedules, it's been no picnic in the early season for Utah Tech, which was known as Dixie State when the Aggies pummeled the Trailblazers, 60-27, in September of 2021.