A few choice words for our local heroes wearing the Blue and Gold

Annual UC Davis football banquet presents an opportunity to honor UCD's finest

(A week ago Sunday, after the final football game of the UC Davis regular season against Sacramento State, Aggie coaches and players and families of coaches and players and alums and boosters and assorted fans all packed the ARC ballroom on campus for the annual football awards banquet. I was thrilled to serve as MC for this sparkling event that highlighted the accomplishments of our local heroes who proudly wore the Blue and Gold for the last three months. Shortly before the banquet began, the Aggies were informed that they had been selected as the No. 5 seed in the Football Championship Subdivision playoff. The season continues. What follows is my opening statement at the gathering, specifically addressing the players who made this incredible season happen.)

As someone who has had the extreme privilege of witnessing all 12 games in this magical season, I’ve been asked to open the program by giving a recap of the 2024 regular season.

I hope you have three or four hours.

A 10-2 season, 7-1 in the rugged Big Sky Conference, the best FCS league in America.

Of those 10 wins, five were of the comeback variety. In three games the deficits were in the double digits.

In the incredible win at Portland State, the Aggies never led until the clock showed all zeroes.

And make no mistake, both Trent Tompkins and the football were in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

The camera doesn’t lie.

In a conference where you miss three schools every year, you played all of the contenders - Montana, Montana State and Idaho - all of them in the Top 10.

You won in the most hostile environment imaginable in Missoula. You won after trailing 14-3 at Southern Utah. You won after trailing 14-0 to both Idaho and Portland State on consecutive weekends.

After the Portland State game, my cardiologist recommended I should probably not go to any more UC Davis football games.

I wouldn’t hear of it.

And to top it all off, you came back from a fourth-quarter deficit against the dreaded Hornets of Sacramento State for the tenth win in this remarkable season.

Along the way, Miles Hastings and Lan Larison set all kinds of records that likely will never be broken, but collectively, as a team, you also set records for heart and courage and faith in one another that will never show up in the final statistics.

As a UC Davis alum who has watched Aggie football since I was five years old, back when Davisites were driving tractors instead of Teslas, I’ve never witnessed a season quite like this one.

Speaking for myself, and I’m sure for all of Aggie nation, thank you.

Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com