Alright college football fans, it’s time to get pumped, get juiced, and get ready as two rivals, the Sacramento State Hornets and the UC Davis Aggies, will compete for bragging rights in the Sacramento region as they will play in their 55th Annual Causeway Classic rivalry game.
The game will start at 2:05pm and will, for the first time in the rivalry game’s history, take place this year at the new Aggie Stadium on the campus of UC Davis. It’s not that the game has never taken place at UC Davis, but last year when the new Aggie Stadium was built, it was Sacramento State’s turn, in a switch-off every other year basis, to host the Causeway Classic at Hornet Stadium.
The new Aggie Stadium which wasn’t too kind to its home team in its inaugural year (UC Davis went 2-3 at home last year) has finally settled in and become quite the place to be on the campus of UC Davis, as it has become a cozy and comfortable place for the Aggies to call home (UC Davis is 5-0 at home so far this year). This game will be the Aggies’ fifth straight home game out of a six-game home-stand.
As for Sacramento State, being on the road has been sort of a bumpy ride. They had lost all 3 of their previous road games this season before finally picking up their first road victory this past weekend against Eastern Washington (November 1, 2008). This will be the Hornets second straight road game before returning home for their final home game of the season against Northern Colorado on November 15, 2008.
The Aggies have won four straight, and are coached by Bob Biggs, who has compiled an impressive 119-54-1 record in his 14 years as head coach of UC Davis. The Aggies, this year, are led offensively by their sophomore quarterback, Greg Denham (2,405 yards & 20 TD’s), and defensively by their junior linebacker, Mike Morales (47 tackles & 2 Interceptions). UC Davis’ largest victory in the rivalry’s history was a 51-6 score back in 1982.
The Hornets are looking to get back to.500 on the season with a win against their hated rivals, and are coached by Marshall Sperbeck who has earned the respectability of coaches all across the college football stage by changing the attitude and talent of a team that is used to losing. So far in his first two years as head coach for Sacramento State he has a record of 7-13. The Hornets, this year, are led offensively by their sophomore quarterback, Jason Smith (1,249 yards & 9 TD’s), and defensively by the Buck Buchanan Award candidate and two-time All-American, senior linebacker, Cyrus Mulitalo (72 tackles, 1 sack, 1 Interception). Sacramento State’s largest victory in the rivalry’s history was a 50-18 score back in 1980.
The all-time series between the two teams goes to UC Davis as they lead 39-16. And being that this year, the game is being played in Davis, the advantage once again goes to the Aggies as they lead the series 16-7 at home.
It should be an interesting game. UC Davis is once again a force to be reckoned with in the Great West Conference, while Sacramento State is an up and coming gritty team in the Big Sky Conference.
So get prepared and hopefully show up, to the 55th Annual Causeway Classic as the 4-5 Sacramento State Hornets will challenge the 5-4 UC Davis Aggies. And if you can’t show up to the game, listen to the game which will be broadcasted on www.kssu.com.
1 comment:
The writer's enthusiasm overcomes the little mistakes - though it would be nice it they didn't appear.
"Alright" being the prime example.
Still, the columnist writes with enough authority that the readers feels a sense that the column is all true and that this game is not to be missed.
Good details such as:
"It has become a cozy and comfortable place for the Aggies to call home (UC Davis is 5-0 at home so far this year)."
As a postscript, today's Bee talks about a Sac State win, which means that those reading this column - and who took the writer's advice - were vindicated.
Post a Comment