Arrgh! UC Davis football coach Dan Hawkins dons pirate garb while lamenting lost treasure
Dan Hawkins dressed the part of Halloween a day early during his weekly media session.
The seventh-year UC Davis football coach wore an outfit Monday afternoon that would make Johnny Depp and the “Pirates of the Caribbean” cast blush: Hat, mustache, eye black, beads and medallions, a coat, long black locks, an eye patch and a sword.
Hawkins was in swashbuckling good spirits even if the outlook looks a bit more ominous for his treasured team. UCD entered the season with Big Sky Conference championship hopes, but those aspirations were reduced to the pursuit of a third FCS playoff bid since 2018 after some crushing, close losses. Now, with those dreams dashed as well, the Aggies (4-4, 2-3 Big Sky) aim to finish the season strong and play the spoiler, starting Saturday with a home contest against Portland State (4-4, 3-2).
A 38-21 loss at Northern Arizona last Saturday was a “death blow” to the Aggies’ chances of reaching the postseason, Hawkins said. UCD is stuck in a numbers crunch that only total victories can solve. The Aggies are ninth in a conference that is certain to send at least four teams to the FCS playoffs in No. 3 Idaho, No. 4 Montana, No. 6 Montana State and No. 7 Sacramento State.
The FCS playoff field will consist of 10 automatic conference champion qualifiers with an additional 14 at-large selections.
In full pirate speak, accent and all, Hawkins said: “It’s not often when you get on a raid and pillage and plunder, but you can’t come home with the booty to get the treasure.”
He added: “So, we’re back to where we started if you’ve followed the Aggies and lived with the Aggies. We’re playing an up-and-down melody. We can’t seem to string two wins together. I know it’s been frustrating for the fans and the players.”
The last outing was a painful one to swallow in a season of agonizing losses. That includes a 27-24 home loss to Eastern Washington on a late blocked field goal and a 31-23 loss to Montana in which UCD was undone by a late turnover. The Aggies are 1-2 at home.
At Northern Arizona, UCD had 27 first downs to 11 for the Lumberjacks. The Aggies had more passing yards (342 to 174), more total yards (476 to 289) and dominated time of possession (36:18 to 23:42). But four turnovers and two failed fourth-down conversions doomed UCD.
Now the Aggies prepare for a motivated Portland State team that has to keep winning in order to secure a playoff bid. The Vikings opened the season with an 81-7 loss to the Oregon Ducks, then fell 31-17 at Wyoming before crushing small-college North American University of Louisiana 91-0.
Portland State beat Cal Poly 59-21 to open Big Sky action, lost at Montana State 38-22, downed Northern Arizona 45-21, lost to Idaho State 38-24 and defeated Eastern Washington last week 47-35. The Vikings rushed for 403 yards as Jobi Malary had 23 carries for 241 yards and six touchdowns in earning Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week honors. UCD allows 125.6 yards rushing a game, third best in the Big Sky.
Dante Chachere has passed for 1,017 yards and 13 touchdowns for the Vikings, who hold an 11-6 all-time record against the Aggies. Miles Hastings has passed for 1,833 yards and 12 touchdowns with eight interceptions. Trent Tompkins leads UCD with 41 receptions and 364 yards. Lan Larison leads UCD in rushing with 580 yards in a season heavy on injuries and bad luck.
In going with character, Hawkins said in pirate speak: “We go out and plunder well and on our next mission, we get sent home with our swords between our legs.”
The coach hasn’t lost his passion for his team, regularly saying, “I love our guys.” It has not been for a lack of effort that the Aggies have endured such a trying season.
It’s football, a sport in which not everything goes according to the script.
