2021 UC Davis Aggies football team

2021 UC Davis Aggies football
NCAA Division I First Round, L 24–56 vs. South Dakota State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 17
FCS Coaches	No. 16
Record	8–4 (5–3 Big Sky)
Head coach	Dan Hawkins (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Cody Hawkins (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Matt Coombs (2nd season)
Home stadium	UC Davis Health Stadium

2021 Big Sky Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 10 Sacramento State $^		8	–	0					9	–	3
No. 2 Montana State ^		7	–	1					11	–	3
No. 7 Eastern Washington ^		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 6 Montana ^		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 17 UC Davis ^		5	–	3					8	–	4
Weber State		5	–	3					6	–	5
Northern Arizona		4	–	4					5	–	6
Portland State		4	–	4					5	–	6
Idaho		3	–	5					4	–	7
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					3	–	8
Cal Poly		1	–	7					2	–	9
Idaho State		1	–	7					1	–	10
Southern Utah		0	–	8					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2021 UC Davis football team represented the University of California, Davis as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The season Led by fifth-year head coach Dan Hawkins, the Aggies compiled an overall record of 8–4 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, tying for third place in the Big Sky. UC Davis received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoff, where they lost to South Dakota State in the first round. The Aggies played home games at UC Davis Health Stadium in Davis, California.

Preseason

Polls

On July 26, 2021, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Aggies were predicted to finish sixth in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Weber State	(7)
2	Montana	(3)
3	Eastern Washington	(2)
4	Montana State	(1)
5	Sacramento State	(1)
6	UC Davis
7	Northern Arizona
8	Idaho
9	Idaho State
10	Portland State
11	Southern Utah
12	Cal Poly
13	Northern Colorado

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Weber State	(14)
2	Montana	(4)
3	Eastern Washington'	(3)
4	Montana State	(3)
5	Sacramento State
6	UC Davis
7	Northern Arizona
8	Idaho
9	Idaho State
10	Portland State
11	Southern Utah
12	Northern Colorado
13	Cal Poly

Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Aggies had three players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.

Offense

Connor Pettek – C

Defense

Bryce Rodgers – DT

Special teams

Daniel Whelan – K

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	4:30 p.m.	at Tulsa*	No. 23	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium Tulsa, OK	ESPN+	W 19–17	15,085
September 11	1:00 p.m.	at San Diego*	No. 14	Torero Stadium San Diego, CA		W 53–7	1,712
September 18	7:00 p.m.	Dixie State*	No. 14	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	W 60–27	9,865
September 25	5:00 p.m.	at No. 14 Weber State	No. 12	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	ESPN+	W 17–14	6,802
October 2	7:00 p.m.	Idaho	No. 8	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	W 27–20	11,622
October 9	12:00 p.m.	at Idaho State	No. 7	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	ESPN+	L 17–27	5,206
October 16	5:00 p.m.	Northern Colorado	No. 13	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	W 32–3	10,963
October 23	5:00 p.m.	at Cal Poly	No. 10	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA (Battle for the Golden Horseshoe)	ESPN+	W 24–13	9,573
November 6	12:00 p.m.	at Northern Arizona	No. 8	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	ESPN+	W 40–24	6,088
November 13	5:00 p.m.	No. 7 Eastern Washington	No. 6	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	L 20–38	7,344
November 20	6:00 p.m.	No. 11 Sacramento State	No. 10	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA (Causeway Classic)	ESPN+	L 7–27	12,315
November 27	12:00 p.m.	at No. 11 South Dakota State*	No. 14	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN+	L 24–56	3,681
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries

At Tulsa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Aggies	7	3	3	6	19
Golden Hurricane	3	7	7	0	17

See also: 2021 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team

At San Diego

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Aggies	16	6	14	17	53
Toreros	0	0	7	0	7

See also: 2021 San Diego Toreros football team

Dixie State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Trailblazers	7	6	14	0	27
No. 14 Aggies	15	21	3	21	60

See also: 2021 Dixie State Trailblazers football team

At No. 14 Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Aggies	0	7	3	7	17
No. 14 Wildcats	0	7	7	0	14

See also: 2021 Weber State Wildcats football team

Idaho

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vandals	6	7	7	0	20
No. 8 Aggies	3	10	0	14	27

See also: 2021 Idaho Vandals football team

At Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Aggies	0	3	0	14	17
Bengals	14	10	0	3	27

See also: 2021 Idaho State Bengals football team

Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	3	3
No. 13 Aggies	0	11	7	14	32

See also: 2021 Northern Colorado Bears football team

At Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Aggies	0	10	14	0	24
Mustangs	0	7	6	0	13

See also: 2021 Cal Poly Mustangs football team and Battle for the Golden Horseshoe

At Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Aggies	8	12	17	3	40
Lumberjacks	14	3	0	7	24

See also: 2021 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

No. 7 Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Eagles	0	14	10	14	38
No. 6 Aggies	7	3	7	3	20

See also: 2021 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

No. 11 Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Hornets	7	17	3	0	27
No. 10 Aggies	0	0	0	7	7

See also: 2021 Sacramento State Hornets football team and Causeway Classic

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS	23	14	14	12	8	7	13	10	9	8	6	10	14	17
Coaches	21	12	12	10	8	8	12	10	9	7	4	11	16	16