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The football season still has plenty of legs left to it for Sacramento State and UCDavis, but now the margin for error is microscopically thin.As first-year Sac State coach Brennan Marion reminds his players regularly, theurgency is now. This is a coach who stresses that every game is a fresh start, withthe mission to go “1-0.”“Those that win in November, remember,” Marion said.The Hornets bounded into this season preseason ranked in the FCS, armed with71 new players, a new coaching staff and high hopes to secure the program’sfourth playoff berth since 2019, a run that included three Big Sky Conferencechampionships.At 5-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big Sky, Sac State would need to win its final threeBig Sky games in order to present a viable argument for making the 24-teamSacramento State Hornets long snapper Connor McDowell (37) and Herky the Hornet lead the team onto the field beforetaking on the Montana Grizzlies on Friday, Oct. 24, in Sacramento. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS [email protected]/6/25, 1:32 PM What Sac State, UC Davis need to reach 2025 FCS playoffs | Sacramento Beehttps://www.sacbee.com/sports/college/article312792965.html 2/7playoff bracket. Eleven conference champions across the country earn automaticplayoff bids to go with 13 at-large bids that are selected by the FCS PlayoffCommittee. Every bit of data will be crunched: big wins, quality losses, bad losses,strength of schedule, comparative scores and more.UCD entered the 2025 campaign ranked in the Top 10, rose as high as No. 6 andstand at 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the Big Sky with three regular-season games to go.The Aggies took a jolt to their Big Sky title hopes with a 38-36 home loss to upstartIdaho State last Saturday.That was one of several upsets that rocked the FCS, a day in which No. 2 TarletonState lost to No. 25 Abilene Christian, 31-28; No. 5 South Dakota State fell tounranked Indiana State, 24-12; No. 10 North Dakota lost to unranked SouthDakota, 26-21; and No. 14 Lamar fell to Incarnate Word, 24-17.UCD second-year leader Tim Plough took his team’s line FCS loss this fall hard. Heburdens the expectations of coaching his alma mater.11/6/25, 1:32 PM What Sac State, UC Davis need to reach 2025 FCS playoffs | Sacramento Beehttps://www.sacbee.com/sports/college/article312792965.html 3/7“It’s disappointing, obliviously,” the coach said after Saturday’s game. “You don’twant to lose at home. It’s a big goal of ours at the beginning of the season to winall of our home games, and we didn’t get that done. I think we all have our handsin the loss - from the players to the coaching staff. When we lose a football gameit starts and ends with me, and I must do a lot better.”UCD’s remaining schedule is daunting, but the motivation is clear: secure theprogram’s fourth FCS playoff since 2018.The Aggies play at Idaho in Moscow on Saturday and will face a team that is 3-1this season in the Kibbie Dome. UCD on Nov. 15 heads to No. 3 Montana State inBozeman, where the Bobcats are especially difficult to beat. That contest will airon ESPN2.The Big Sky finale is Nov. 22 at home against Sac State in the annual CausewayClassic.What an FCS insider expert has to saySam Herder covers college football extensively as a Senior FCS Analyst forHEROSports, which does national stories, notebooks and rankings, and he is anFCS Top 25 voter. He has a pulse on all things FCS. This week, Herder posted hisprojections for the FCS playoffs.Herder sized up the Aggies in a text chat with The Sacramento Bee: “If UC Daviswins out, including beating Montana State, to finish 9-2, it should get a Top 8 seedand a first-round bye. Going 2-1 (down the stretch) should get Davis into thebracket at 8-3, especially with a projected year-end Top 10 strength of schedule. Ifthe Aggies drop two more games to finish 7-5, though, they will be competingwith several 7- and 8-win teams on the bubble.”UC Davis Aggies tight end Winston Williams (23) celebrates with teammate Samuel Gbatu, Jr. (8) after scoring touchdown inthe first half on Saturday, Sept. 20, in Davis. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS [email protected]/6/25, 1:32 PM What Sac State, UC Davis need to reach 2025 FCS playoffs | Sacramento Beehttps://www.sacbee.com/sports/college/article312792965.html 4/7Sac State’s path to the FCS postseason is a bit more murky. The Hornets have anFBS loss at Nevada, 20-17, and they are 5-3 against FCS competition. The crushingloss was the 32-24 home setback to Cal Poly, which is 3-6 overall and 1-4 in the BigSky, including a loss last week to a Portland State team that came in 0-8.Sac State’s best “quality” Big Sky loss was to current FCS No. 2-ranked Montana,49-35, on Oct. 24. The Hornets visit Portland State on Saturday, host Idaho on Nov.15 and then head to Yolo County to take on UC Davis.Said Herder of Sac State’s chances: “At 5-4 with no ranked wins, Sac State likelyhas to win out to get into the playoffs. It should make the bracket at 8-4 and aranked win over UC Davis. If the Hornets go 2-1 down the stretch to finish 7-5,they’ll be on the bubble with several other 7 and 8-win teams. Now, if one ofthose wins is over UC Davis, that’s a different-looking 7-5 Sac State teamcompared to a 7-5 team that beat unranked PSU and Idaho and lost to ranked UCDavis.”In other words, the best course of action for UCD and Sac State? Just win, baby.
