Rex Connors must love company. The UC Davis safety shares a three-bedroom apartment with his brother Porter, an Aggies linebacker, running back Matteo Perez and a student who is hopefully majoring in psychiatry so he can figure out why anyone who is not a football player would want to live with three of them.
Being an All-Big Sky Conference selection as a redshirt freshman in 2022 does not mean Connors has a room to himself. It makes sense for the brothers to share a room, so Connors is goes along to get along.
There is one benefit for Porter in living with his brother. Connors takes pride in making eggs for breakfast. Porter does his part by occasionally offering to prepare dinner. Hamburger Helper is his speciality.
The brothers will soon go their separate ways at night when they move into a six-bedroom house. Connors looks forward to getting out of bed without worrying about slipping on clothes Porter left on the floor.
“He’s the worst (of the two) – 100 percent,” Connors said. “We’ve had to deal with sharing a room for one year. There are definitely those days when one of us can tell that you’re getting on the other one’s nerves.”
Connors earns his keep with the Aggies by getting on opposing running backs and wide receivers. He led the defense last year in tackles (95) and interceptions (five). No other player had more than 57 tackles. Those statistics have led to Connors being selected to multiple preseason FCS All-America teams.
The 6-foot-1, 203-pound Connors appreciates the honors, but winning is always first and foremost. UC Davis finished 5-3 in the Big Sky and 6-5 overall in 2022. The Aggies did not receive an at-large berth to the FCS playoffs, but Idaho did despite a 44-26 loss at home to UC Davis. The Vandals went 6-2 in the Big Sky.
“We thought beating Idaho would get us in,” said Connors, who came to UC Davis from Pleasant Grove High School in Utah.
Idaho also lost to Sacramento State. The Aggies fell to the Hornets and two teams Idaho did not play – Weber State and Montana State, which shared the Big Sky championship with Sacramento State at 8-0.
Montana State was ranked No. 1 in the Big Sky coaches and media preseason polls. The coaches picked UC Davis second and Sacramento State third. The Hornets were fourth and the Aggies fifth in the media poll.
Folks in Davis should have thought of sending a parting gift to Troy Taylor when the coach resigned at Sacramento State to take the Stanford job. The Aggies were 0-3 against the Hornets with Taylor at the helm.
All-Big Sky quarterback Miles Hastings is likely the reason the Aggies ranked ahead of the Hornets in the coaches poll. The Hornets have yet to name a quarterback after losing the tag team of Jake Dunniway and Asher O’Hara.
Connors had 11 tackles and an interception in the Aggies’ 27-21 loss to the Hornets in 2022. He had 10 or more tackles in four games, including 17 in a 24-22 loss at eventual FCS national champion South Dakota State.
The Hornets’ three-game winning streak in the Causeway Classic is their longest since winning four in a row in 1988-91. UC Davis won 21 of 27 meetings, including eight in a row in 2000-07, before Taylor arrived.
Connors thinks it is high time for the Aggies to flip the script on the Hornets. “Last year we were so close,” he said. “We’ve got a little chip on our shoulders this year. I think we’ve got a great shot to do what we want to do.”
UC Davis opens at Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday. The Aggies will travel to Oregon State on Sept. 9 and then return for their home opener Sept. 16 against Southern Utah.
Being an All-Big Sky Conference selection as a redshirt freshman in 2022 does not mean Connors has a room to himself. It makes sense for the brothers to share a room, so Connors is going along to get along.
There is one benefit for Porter in living with his brother. Connors takes pride in making eggs for breakfast. Porter tries to do his part by occasionally offering to prepare dinner. Hamburger Helper is his speciality.
The brothers will soon go their separate ways at night when they move into a six-bedroom house. Connors looks forward to getting out of bed without worrying about slipping on clothes Porter left on the floor.
“He’s the worst (of the two) – 100 percent,” Connors said. “We’ve had to deal with sharing a room for one year. There are definitely those days when one of us can tell that you’re getting on the other one’s nerves.”
Connors earns his keep with the Aggies by getting on opposing running backs and wide receivers. He led the defense last year in tackles (95) and interceptions (five). No other player had more than 57 tackles. Those statistics have led to Connors being selected to multiple preseason FCS All-America teams.
The 6-foot-1, 203-pound Connors appreciates the honors, but winning is always first and foremost. UC Davis finished 5-3 in the Big Sky and 6-5 overall in 2022. The Aggies did not receive an at-large berth to the FCS playoffs, but Idaho did despite a 44-26 loss at home to UC Davis. The Vandals went 6-2 in the Big Sky.
“We thought beating Idaho would get us in,” said Connors, who came to UC Davis from Pleasant Grove High School in Utah.
Idaho also lost to Sacramento State. The Aggies fell to the Hornets and two teams Idaho did not play – Weber State and Montana State, which shared the Big Sky championship with Sacramento State at 8-0.
Montana State was ranked No. 1 in the Big Sky coaches and media preseason polls. The coaches picked UC Davis second and Sacramento State third. The Hornets were fourth and the Aggies fifth in the media poll.
Folks in Davis should have thought of sending a parting gift to Troy Taylor when the coach resigned at Sacramento State to take the Stanford job. The Aggies were 0-3 against the Hornets with Taylor at the helm.
All-Big Sky quarterback Miles Hastings is likely the reason the Aggies ranked ahead of the Hornets in the coaches poll. The Hornets have yet to name a quarterback after losing the tag team of Jake Dunniway and Asher O’Hara.
Connors had 11 tackles and an interception in the Aggies’ 27-21 loss to the Hornets in 2022. He had 10 or more tackles in four games, including 17 in a 24-22 loss at eventual FCS national champion South Dakota State.
The Hornets’ three-game winning streak in the Causeway Classic is their longest since winning four in a row in 1988-91. UC Davis won 21 of 27 meetings, including eight in a row in 2000-07, before Taylor arrived.
Connors thinks it is high time for the Aggies to flip the script on the Hornets. “Last year we were so close,” he said. “We’ve got a little chip on our shoulders this year. I think we’ve got a great shot to do what we want to do.”
UC Davis opens at Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday. The Aggies will travel to Oregon State on Sept. 9 and then return for their home opener Sept. 16 against Southern Utah.
