Aggies hit the road for quarterfinal playoff showdown with potent South Dakota Coyotes
UC Davis will be greeted by one of the loudest crowds in FCS football in the notorious DakotaDome
VERMILLION, South Dakota - UC Davis head football coach Tim Plough and South Dakota head football coach Bob Nielson agree on one thing: the deeper you go into the playoffs, the tougher the competition.
Both coaches know they have their work cut out for them Saturday afternoon as the No. 5 Aggies take on the No. 4 Coyotes before what is expected to be a sellout crowd in the 10,000-seat DakotaDome on the USD campus.
Game time is 2 p.m. in Vermillion, noon in Davis. The game will be televised live on ESPN+ and carried as well on Sactown Radio, 1140 AM, with Scott Marsh and Scott Gordon on the call.
Both teams have had a number of impressive comebacks in magical seasons that have led them to this point. Both, in fact, trailed in last week's Round of 16 games, before rallying to set up Saturday's showdown.
South Dakota's comeback was far more dramatic. The Coyotes trailed Tarleton State, 31-28, in the fourth quarter before scoring twice down the stretch in a 42-31 win.
The Aggies, meanwhile, also put up 42 points on Illinois State after trailing 7-0 early, but held the Redbirds to a field goal the rest of the way.
All of that, of course, is ancient history.
The Aggies come in at 11-2 as the winningest team in UCD's FCS era. They remain one win shy of the all-time school record of 12-1 set by the Ken O'Brien-led 1982 team that reached the Division II championship game with two postseason victories.
"This will be the greatest challenge we've faced all year," said Plough.
"They're at home and it's a hostile environment, but if I had to choose between playing in the dome or playing outdoors in zero degrees, I'll take the dome. It's a tremendous venue, their fans are great and it will be really fun."
