Tim Plough and Brennan Marion will meet for the first time when UC Davis and Sacramento State meet for the last time in the Causeway Classic on Saturday. Nothing says the rivalry will never be rekindled. The question is whether it will ever be possible once the teams go their separate ways.
Marion and the Hornets are leaving the Big Sky Conference with nowhere to go for the time being. The NCAA denied their request to jump from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) because they have yet to be invited to join an FBS conference.
Sacramento State has approached UC Davis with an offer to continue to play as nonconference opponents, but the Aggies have already scheduled their three nonconference games in 2026. And there is little point in trying to make a date as long as the Hornets’ immediate future is in limbo
“If they go up (to FBS status) as they’re planning to do, they’re going to have to compensate us the way an FBS team compensates us,” Plough said. “I don’t know if they would be willing to do that. We could play (in Davis) once in a while, but FBS teams do not play FCS teams on the road.”
“Personally I don’t see it working out,” said Plough, who started at quarterback for UC Davis as a senior in 2007 until an ankle injury ended his season before the Causeway Classic. He is 1-0 in the Causeway Classic as the Aggies head coach after a 42-39 win at Sacramento State last year.
That victory sent UC Davis into the FCS playoffs as the No. 5 seed with a first-round bye and a second-round home game. The Aggies rolled past Illinois State 42-10 to earn a trip to No. 4 South Dakota. Quarterback Miles Hastings threw five interceptions to doom the Aggies in a 35-21 loss to the Coyotes.
UC Davis came home empty-handed after setting a school record for wins in a season (11) and earning its highest seed in three trips to the FCS playoffs. The Aggies are 2-3 in the playoffs and have yet to reach the semifinals. A victory Saturday should clinch a fourth trip to the postseason.
Making the playoffs and contending for a Big Sky championship are no longer enough for Plough. A win at third-ranked Montana State last Saturday would have given UC Davis a shot at sharing the conference title. Montana State will play Montana for the crown on Saturday after beating UC Davis 38-17.
The Bobcats have squashed the Aggies’ title hopes in each of the past two seasons. Both teams were 6-0 in the Big Sky when they met last November. Montana built a a 22-point lead in the third quarter and held on for dear life to win 30-28. UC Davis was so close again and yet still far away.
“As we saw the other night, we’re not where we want to be yet,” Plough said in frustration. “Two years in a row we’ve worked really hard to get to a place where we can try to win the conference and we have fallen short to the same team two years in a row. Luckily that’s not our last game.”
Plough has been asked whether he will leave UC Davis if a lucrative opportunity comes his way. He resigned as the Aggies offensive coordinator in 2022 to take the same position at Boise State. It might take an offer of being the head coach at a college of that caliber for Plough to be enticed.
“I know every coach will say he’s never going to leave, but it would be extremely irresponsible for me to say I’m never going to leave,” Plough said. “I didn’t come to Davis to show I can be a good head coach and further my career. I want to win championships and build something special here.
“Until we get that done, it’s going to be pretty hard for me to leave.”
