By admin 
These used to be called “Body Bag” games.
In the 1990s and 2000s, that was the tag stuck on games that pitted lower-level Division I football programs against the behemoths of the sport. Now when an FCS Division I-AA program takes on a heavily financed big-boy program at the FBS-Division I level, it’s called a much tamer “Money Game.”
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UC Davis can speak from experience. The Aggies are nobody’s pushover in this sport, but UCD coaches do not deny that they are understandable underdogs as an FCS elite taking on an FBS elite. The FCS-No. 6 Aggies play at FBS No. 21 SMU in Dallas on Saturday afternoon.
The payout is $460,000 for the Aggies in what is supposed to be a sure victory for the Mustangs, who are favored by 26 points in their season opener. Last season, UCD played an early game at the University of Washington and lost big while collecting big, taking home a check for about $600,000 to help provide a financial boost to other athletic programs on campus.
UCD recovered just fine, securing another FCS playoff berth.
UCD is 2-0 with a late rally to topple Portland State and a start-to-finish excellent showing to roll San Diego last week, 49-17. SMU, is an entirely different animal.
“These games are what they are,” UCD coach Tim Plough said this week during his weekly media session “What I love coaching at Davis is that these are really smart guys. They live in reality. They understand what these games mean and what they’re about.”
He said he appreciates playing a game that helps support the athletic program financially and helps his team.
“I want to play teams where we can get enough financial help other teams on campus,” he said. “I take pride and honor that we can do that. That means a lot to me>’
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And, he noted, the game is good for his team.
“Our guys have an opportunity to test themselves against elite competition,” he said. “The challenge is that SMU has a gigantic budget. So they’re going to be able to handle NIL much better than us. They have a bunch of talented players and a depth chart that’s way different than ours. But what an opportunity. We want to win, and we’ll try to figure out that formula. I don’t want to just show up, shake the coach’s hand and say ‘thanks for the money.’ We want to compete. We want to have fun, rip it and see how well we can play. Anything is possible.”
UCD success against FBS
UCD is 4-21 against FBS teams since moving from Division II to Division I in 2004.
The Aggies in 2005 stunned Stanford on The Farm, 20-17, under coach Bob Biggs. In 2018, Dan Hawkins coached UCD past San Jose State 44-38 with the coaching staff that included Plough.
In 2021, UCD beat Tulsa under Hawkins. In recent years, UCD battled Cal in Berkeley, losing 27-13 in 2019, 34-13 in 2022 and 31-13 in 2024 in Plough’s first game as Aggies head coach.
A win over SMU would give the Aggies their first ranked win over an FBS program in program history.
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FCS No. 6 UC Davis (2-0) at FBS No. 21 SMU (1-0)
When: 1 p.m. Saturday.
On air: ACC Network, Sactown Sports 1140 AM radio
Of note:
- SMU beat Florida State 27-24 in a season opener as Kevin Jennings passed for 430 yards and three touchdowns, a game won in the final seconds on a field goal by Nick Reed.
- Treynor Cleeland has passed for 581 yards and seven touchdowns for UCD, five of those TDs coming in the rout of San Diego.
- UCD All-American receiver Samuel Gbatu Jr. has 17 catches in two games for 236 yards and three scores.
- UCD senior Matteo Perez rushed for a career-best 123 yards, including a 79-yard scoring spring. It was his first 100-yard effort with UCD.