Tim Plough – VACAVILLE INSIDER

Big Sky makes preseason picks

Why wait until the 70th Causeway Classic in November for the Sacramento State-UC Davis rivalry to be rekindled. The Hornets and Aggies love to take advantage of every opportunity to attempt to prove which football team has the upper hand.

Sacramento State can boast about five players being named to the preseason All-Big Sky Conference team. UC Davis had four. The Aggies can counter after being picked to finish higher than the Hornets in the Big Sky coaches and media polls.

**Center** **Nathan Mejia (59) was one of five Sacramento State players named to the preseason All-Big Sky Conference team.**

UC Davis can claim it will again have the best offensive player in the Big Sky. Running back Lan Larison was the preseason pick to win the Offensive Player of the Year award for a second time. He ran for 1,101 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2023 despite missing three games with a knee injury.

Larison scored four touchdowns in the 69th Causeway Classic to lead the Aggies to a 31-21 win, their first victory against the Hornets since 2018. The 6-foot, 199-pound Larison finished his junior year with a bang, rushing for 521 yards and scoring 10 times in the final three games of the season.

The victory was not enough to qualify UC Davis for the FCS playoffs. Sacramento State made it for the fourth time in the past four seasons in which it played. The Hornets did not play in the spring of 2021 after the 2020 season was cancelled.

Sacramento State’s offensive talent was evident with wide receiver Jared Gipson, tight end Graham Kuntz, guard Jackson Slater and center Nathan Mejia being preseason All-Big Sky picks. Montana State also had four offensive players picked.

Linebacker Will Leota was the only Hornet selected on defense. The Aggies had two with defensive end Zach Kennedy and safety Rex Connors, who was the top vote-getter at defensive back. UC Davis also had a specialist in kicker Hunter Ridley.

Montana State had the most players selected with nine, including Brody Grebe as the preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Montana’s Junior Bergen scored a hat trick by being selected at wide receiver, punt returner and all-purpose player.

In the projected standings, UC Davis was picked to finish fourth and Sacramento fifth in the coaches and media polls. The Aggies received one first-place vote in both polls. Defending champion Montana was picked to finish first in both polls.

The Grizzlies received 26 of a possible 38 first-place votes in the media poll and 10 of 12 votes from the coaches. Montana State was picked to finish second and Idaho third in both polls. Montana State received first-place votes in both polls.

Four of Sacramento State’s first give games will be on the road. The Hornets open at San Jose State on Aug. 29 and then travel to Fresno State. After hosting Nicholls on Sept. 14, the Hornets will travel to Texas A&M-Commerce and Northern Arizona.

UC Davis will open at Cal on Aug. 31 in Tim Plough’s first game as the Aggies head coach. The former Aggies quarterback was the tight ends coach with the Golden Bears in 2023 and the offensive coordinator at UC Davis from 2017 to 2020.

UC Davis will host Texas A&M-Commerce on Sept. 7. The Lions will play both the Aggies and Hornets for the second consecutive season. Texas A&M-Commerce lost 48-10 at home to UC Davis and 34-6 at Sacramento State a year ago.

Playing ends, coaching begins

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Kooper Richardson had the option in 2021 of remaining at UC Davis as a graduate student or entering the transfer portal. The offensive tackle would have probably remained with the Aggies if he could have a position to call his own, but he felt as if he was no longer wanted.

The first indication of that came after COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 season. Five games in the spring of 2021 were compensation without costing the players a year of eligibility. Those games cost Richardson , however, as he went from starting 24 games in 2018-19 to having to share playing time.

**Kooper Richarson (77) started his college career at UC Davis, finished it in 2021 at Sacramento State and was recently hired as a graduate assistant at Boise State.**

Tim Keane might have stood a chance of talking Richardson into staying, but the offensive line coach left UC Davis after the 2019 season to take the same position at Boise State. Richardson will now work alongside Keane in the fall after joining the Broncos as a graduate assistant.

Richardson jumped to Sacramento State after leaving UC Davis to join his father Kris and brother Kaden. Kris might have the longest title of any college coach – assistant head coach, run game coordinator and offensive line coach. He also coached his sons at Folsom High.

Joining the rival Hornets might have also been Richardson’s way of sticking it to UC Davis after being discarded like an old couch. He started all 11 games at right tackle in 2021 for Sacramento State, which finished 8-0 in the Big Sky Conference and advanced to the FCS playoffs.

Mike Cody became the offensive line coach at UC Davis after Keane departed and was promoted to offensive coordinator last season. New head coach Tim Plough will call plays as he did in 2016-19 as the Aggies offensive coordinator, so Cody will return to coaching the offensive line.

Like Keane, Plough left UC Davis in 2019 to became offensive coordinator at Boise State. Plough did not last two seasons in Boise. He was fired in 2022 after a 27-10 loss to UTEP left the Broncos with a 2-2 record. The loss was Boise State’s first in seven meetings with UTEP since 2000.

Plough found a new job in 2023 as the tight ends coach at Cal and was offered a promotion to offensive coordinator after the season. The opportunity to return to UC Davis, his alma mater, following Dan Hawkins’ retirement was an offer he simply could not refuse.

UC Davis coach digs into draft

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Caleb Williams would not be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft if Tim Plough had a say with the Chicago Bears. The UC Davis head coach has nothing against the former USC quarterback and 2022 Heisman Trophy winner other than he does not believe Williams is the best player available at the most important position in football.

Plough would select Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., who will likely have to wait until the second round to hear his name called. Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest mock draft has LSU’s Jayden Daniels and North Carolina’s Drake Maye following Williams. Kiper also has Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy and Oregon’s Bo Nix going ahead of Penix.

**Tim Plough returned to UC Davis to become head coach after Dan Hawkins resigned.**

Who is Plough to think he knows better than Kiper? Plough is widely regarded for his creative offensive mind. He was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UC Davis before leaving in 2021 to take the same job at Boise State. He was fired four games into the 2022 season and joined Justin Wilcox’s staff at Cal as the tight ends coach in 2023.

Wilcox offered to make Plough the offensive coordinator after Jack Spavital left to take the same job at Baylor. Despite being flattered, Plough opted to return to UC Davis and become head coach after Dan Hawkins called it a career. The Aggies could not offer as much money as Cal, but job security is invaluable. Plough will no longer have to worry about moving his family every year or two.

“I was happy at Cal, but it was too great of a risk (to stay there). I couldn’t do that to my wife and (three) kids,” said Plough, who was a quarterback with the Aggies for four years and started as a senior in 2007. “(UC Davis) is where I really wanted to be. It made more sense for us as a family. This is a dream.”

His one season at Cal alllowed Plough to see Williams, Nix and Penix in action. Williams had the best performance of the three against the Bears, throwing for 368 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for two scores in the Trojans’ 50-49 victory. Nix and Penix each had four touchdown passes against Cal.

Penix would be Plough’s pick because of his poise in the pocket. “The NFL game plays from the pocket and he’s the most prepared,” Plough said. “He can move in a confined space and still be accurate. He’s the most accurate thrower and the best thrower of the group.”

Plough questions if Williams can function within the parameters of a playbook instead of continually trying to improvise. “It’s his athleticism,” Plough said. “He has the ability to make plays off schedule and make something out of nothing.. He played in Lincoln Riley’s offense (at USC), so he’s had the tutelage from one of the best offensive minds in the country.”

Nix completed 77.4 percent of his passes with just three interceptions last season, but Plough is not convinced Nix can thread the ball to receivers in tight coverage. Plough added that Nix is a proven leader who could be capable of stepping into an NFL huddle as a rookie and taking charge of an offense.

Finding a quarterback is the least of Plough’s concerns in his return to UC Davis. He recruited Miles Hastings to play for the Aggies in 2019 and will have the senior behind center in the fall. Plough will be calling plays after Mike Cody did so in 2023. Cody was promoted from offensive line coach to offensive coordinator after Cody Hawkins left his father’s staff to become head coach at Idaho State.

Hastings went from throwing for 3,048 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2022, when he was a first-team selection in the All-Big Sky Conference voting, to passing for 2,380 yards and 10 touchdowns with a caeer-high 10 interceptions last season.