Aggie football plans ahead to 2009, schedules game with Fresno State for the first time since 1952

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Next year's Aggie football schedule includes a game with Fresno State for the first time since 1952.

The game is scheduled for Sept. 5, 2009, at the 41,000-seat Bulldog Stadium. UC Davis is receiving a guaranteed $225,000 payment for the game, according to a news release from the UC Davis athletics department.

Since Bulldog Stadium opened in 1980, Fresno State has won nearly 80 percent of its games there, posting a 122-30-2 record.

The Bulldogs went 9-4 last season, while the Aggies went 5-6, snapping a streak of 37 winning seasons. Fresno State is a member of the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A), the highest level of football competition in the NCAA. UC Davis is one step below that, in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA).

The Aggies and Bulldogs first met on the gridiron in 1922. The final score that year: 0-0, the only tie in 17 contests between the two schools.

UC Davis and Fresno State played 15 times from 1922 to 1938, then took a break until 1951 and 1952. Fresno State owns an 11-5-1 advantage, including victories in the last seven games in the series.

The Bulldogs won the last game, 41-7, while the Aggies' last win came in 1932, by the score of 3-0.

UC Davis this year begins its second season as a full-fledged Division I school in the NCAA.

But even before going Division I, the Aggies were playing Football Bowl Subdivision opponents, starting with Stanford in 2005 -- a game in which UC Davis, then Division I-AA, scored an upset win, 20-17.

In other FBS matchups since then, the Aggies lost twice, 46-13 to Texas Christian in 2006 and 34-14 to San Jose State in 2007.

UC Davis meets San Jose State again this year, in the season opener for both teams. The game is set Aug. 30, with a 5 p.m. kickoff at Spartan Stadium.

The Aggies' home opener is set for 7 p.m. Sept. 13 against Portland State. The rest of the Aggie Stadium schedule comprises a game every Saturday in October, plus the Causeway Classic in November.

Home games:

Sept. 13 -- Portland State, 7 p.m.

Oct. 4 -- Northern Colorado, 6 p.m.

Oct. 11 (homecoming) -- Southern Utah, 6 p.m.

Oct. 18 -- Iona, 6 p.m.

Oct. 25 -- North Dakota, 6 p.m.

Nov. 8 (Causeway Classic) -- Sacramento State, 2 p.m.

Away games:

Aug. 30 -- at San Jose State, 5 p.m. PDT.

Sept. 6 -- Central Arkansas (Conway), 4 p.m. PDT.

Sept. 20 -- Montana (Missoula), 12:05 p.m. PDT.

Sept. 27 -- Northeastern (Brookline, Mass.), 9 a.m. PDT.

Nov. 15 -- Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo), 4:05 p.m. PST.

Nov. 22 -- San Diego, 6 p.m. PST.

The UC Davis ticket office is at Freeborn Hall; the telephone number is (530) 752-1915.

Online orders: Click here.

More about Aggie football: ucdavisaggies.cstv.com.

Media Resources

Dave Jones, Dateline, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu

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