Tim Plough could have been across the field from Brennan Marion in the Art of Sport LA Bowl on Dec. 17, but neither was in attendance. Plough would have been Cal’s offensive coordinator had he not left last December and Marion would have been calling plays for UNLV had he not played hooky.
Marion and Plough will become acquainted in November when UC Davis hosts Sacramento State in the 71st Causeway Classic. Marion missed UNLV’s 24-12 win over Cal because he was already in negotiations to become the Hornets coach. His hiring was announced Dec. 21.
Northern California will not be foreign to Marion. The Greensburg, Pa., native was a wide receiver at De Anza College in Cupertino and finished his career at Tulsa. The 37-year-old began coaching in 2011 and became a head coach two years later at St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School in Vallejo.
Plough coached tight ends at Cal in 2023 after being fired as Boise State’s offensive coordinator in 2022. He turned down an offer to become the offensive coordinator at Cal and instead returned to UC Davis, his alma mater, to become a head coach for the first time after 14 years as an assistant. His first season turned out to be one of the best in the program’s history.
The Aggies were 7-1 in the Big Sly Conference and 11-3 overall. They won nine consecutive games before a 30-28 loss o No. 2 Montana State on Nov. 16 after nearly overcoming a 22-point deficit with 10 minutes to play.
Montana State improved to 15-0 with a 31-17 victory over South Dakota last Saturday in the FCS semifinals. The Bobcats will face North Dakota State in the championship game Jan. 6 in Frisco, Tex. The Bison pulled out a 28-21 victory over two-time defending champion South Dakota State.
South Dakota knocked out UC Davis 35-21 in the quarterfinals after the Aggies drew a first-round bye and rolled past Illinois State 42-10 on Dec. 7. Quarterback Miles Hastings and running back Lan Larison each accounted for three touchdowns against the Redbirds in their final home contest.
Plough recruited Hastings and Larison in 2019 when he was the Aggies offensive coordinator. Now he has the challenge of replacing them along with other seniors such as C.J. Hutton, Princeton Toki, Chaz Davis, Trent Tompkins, Kavir Bains, Ernesto Nava, Jackson Cloyd and Zach Kennedy.
Just as critical for Plough will be building on the momentum the Aggies generated this season and convincing a few more folks that his team is worth the price of a ticket. UC Davis drew more than 10,000 fans for games against pushovers Cal Poly and Northern Colorado, but just 6,317 turned out for the Aggies’ first home playoff game since 2018.
Sacramento State received an at-large berth in the 2023 playoffs in Andy Thompson’s first season as head coach despite losing to UC Davis in the Causeway Classic. More losses came in the offseason with two defensive stalwarts transferring to Washington and a three-year starter at offensive tackle calling it a career.
Injuries further depleted the Hornets during the season. Sacramento State went from being ranked in the top 10 of both FCS preseason polls to finishing 1-7 in the Big Sky and 3-8 overall. Frustration took a toll on Thompson, who resigned to join former Hornets coach Troy Taylor’s staff at Stanford.
Plough inherited a team with proven players who had grown tired of Dan Hawkins, whose 44-31 record in seven seasons was built on 22 wins against Big Sky also-rans such as Cal Poly (6-0) and Idaho State (5-1). Hawkins was also 5-0 against San Diego, which does not offer scholarships in football.
Cal Poly was 2-7 in the Big Sky this season and beat Sacramento State 26-23 on Nov. 16. That might have been the final straw for Thompson although his team showed some resiliency a week later at home by giving UC Davis a run for the money before falling 42-39 in the Causeway Classic.
Sacramento State lost its final five games for its longest losing streak since dropping six in a row in 2018. That season ended with the Hornets being routed 56-13 by UC Davis. The Aggies showed no mercy as Jake Maier tossed his fourth touchdown pass of the day in the fourth quarter with UC Davis already leading by 29 points.
A 2-8 season and an 0-7 finish in the Big Sky resulted in Jody Sears being let go and the Hornets luring Taylor away from Utah to make far less money with a FCS program. Taylor vowed to fulfill his seven-year contract, but his market value soared after Sacramento State won the Big Sky in his first two seasons.
And the best was yet to come in 2022. The Hornets finished 8-0 in the Big Sky and unbeaten in the regular season (11-0) for the time in school history. They added a 12th win in the postseason before losing 66-63 to Incarnate Word in the highest scoring FCS playoff game in history.
Taylor was talking to his players in the locker room after the game when his phone rang. Stanford called after interviewing Taylor earlier in the week and and made an offer the former Cal quarterback could not refuse.
Thompson had an impossible act to follow. Marion will have it a bit easier as an outside hire, but Sacramento State fans were spoiled by success in Taylor’s time. Fortunately for Marion, four wins would be an improvement.
