UC Davis opens practice for the 2008 season on Wednesday.
(Wayne Tilcock, Davis Enterprise)

Aug. 5, 2008

DAVIS, Calif. - Ninety players will join 16th-year head coach Bob Biggs and his staff on Wednesday for the beginning of preseason practices as the UC Davis football team begins preparations for the 2008 season-opener on Aug. 30 at San Jose State.

Players will have an administrative meeting on Tuesday evening before hitting the field for skills testing on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. The Aggies will have their first practice in full pads on Sunday afternoon. They will practice twice each on Aug. 12, 14, 18, 20 and 28.

UC Davis has two scheduled scrimmages prior to their opener, the first on Aug. 16 and the other on Aug. 22. Both will be held in the evening at Aggie Stadium. All other practices will be held at Howard Field, adjacent to Toomey Field. Practices are open to the public.

The Aggies, who finished 2007 with a 5-6 overall record, return 46 letterwinners including 19 starters. The offense welcomes back 10 players with starting experience while the defense has six. Three specialists are also back.

"I'm excited because we have so much experience," said Biggs. "Although we only have 10 seniors, so many players got a chance to start last year."

The Aggies will face San Jose State for the second consecutive season, the first of 12 regular-season games in 2008. UC Davis will travel to Central Arkansas (Sept. 6) before hosting the first-ever night game at Aggie Stadium against Portland State (Sept. 13). Road games at Montana (Sept. 20) and Northeastern (Sept. 27) lead into a five-game homestand against Northern Colorado (Oct. 4), Southern Utah (Oct. 11), Iona (Oct. 18), North Dakota (Oct. 25) and Sacramento State (Nov. 8).

All home games will be at 6 p.m. except the opener against Portland State which will be a 7 p.m. televised kickoff, and the Causeway Classic matchup against Sacramento State which will start at 2. The regular-season concludes with road games at Cal Poly (Nov. 15) and San Diego (Nov. 22).

UC Davis enters its second season as an official member of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and returns for its fifth season in the Great West Conference. The Great West welcomes two new members in North Dakota and South Dakota which will join Southern Utah, Cal Poly and the Aggies in the five-team league.

An annual highlight for the team will come on Aug. 13 when the Aggies visit patients at The Shriner's Hospital for Children in Sacramento. The Aggies will play games and interact with the children, providing lasting memories for everyone involved.