Early season football showdown coming to UC Davis this Saturday
No. 4 Vandals and No. 11 Aggies open Big Sky play with a critical battle
NO. 4 IDAHO COMES TO TOWN ... With the four-game non-conference schedule squarely in the rearview mirror, No. 11 UC Davis, 3-1, will open Big Sky Conference play Saturday against the No. 4 Idaho Vandals in what may be the top FCS battle nationally on the final weekend of September.
Game time in UC Davis Health Stadium is 7 p.m. An overflow crowd is expected for the second Saturday in a row.
Idaho opened the season by scaring mighty Oregon before falling, 24-14, then beat FBS Wyoming, 17-13, in Laramie, where War Memorial is the highest stadium in the country at 7,220 feet. The thin air apparently did not hamper the Vandals.
Then again, the Wyoming Cowboys are off to an 0-4 start as they watch the once-proud Mountain West Conference dissolve around them, so the Idaho win hardly qualifies as an upset.
The Vandals also have wins over ranked FCS teams UAlbany and Abilene Christian, though they nearly blew a 27-3 lead in the latter game before holding on for a 27-24 win.
Four Big Sky teams are ranked in the Top 10 this week, and the Aggies will face all four this fall, starting with Idaho.