Date: Saturday August 23, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM (ET)
TV: ESPN
The Quick Hits
The college football season officially kicks off on Saturday and the FCS couldn’t have drawn it up much better to get the party started. The annual FCS Kickoff in Montgomery will showcase two teams who are coming off historic seasons. UC Davis (0-0) is fresh off an 11-3 season and came oh so close to a Big Sky championship last year. The Aggies will look quite a bit different in 2025 but the expectations are just has high in California for another deep run.
Their dance partner in Alabama to open the
campaign will be Mercer (0-0). The Bears won their first ever outright SoCon title last fall behind a stiff defense and a smattering of young playmakers on both sides of the ball. After reaching the quarterfinals for the first time in school history, Mercer has its eyes on even more as it readies for its follow up season. The first game shapes up to be a barnburner and whoever comes out on top will pick up an early quality win for the resume.
The Coaches
Both teams will have second-year head coaches that look like they might be some of the brightest budding stars in the subdivision right now. UC Davis’ Tim Plough, who is an alum of the school, has instilled a new hope around the program that competing at a national championship-level clip might not be that far off. Plough had his team check in at #5 in the national rankings last year when it all came to a close and got them as far as the quarterfinals. This year, though, his coaching prowess will truly be put to the test as UC Davis lost a bunch of its big names from last season.
On the opposite sideline will be Mike Jacobs who, like Plough, is now in year two of calling the shots and is doing so on the heels of a remarkable first go at it. Jacobs, however, does have prior head coaching experience at the Division II level with Notre Dame and Lenoir-Rhyne where he three conference titles. The trend continued last season when he moved up and right now Mercer is pegged to be the top of the heap again.
UC Davis Offense vs. Mercer Defense
UC Davis’ offense was one of the country’s best last fall but so many big names from that group have moved on. Lan Larison was arguably the most well-rounded offensive weapon as a hybrid running back/receiver and now he’s in the NFL trying to land a spot on the Patriots roster. Miles Hastings was one of the nation’s top passers but he, too, is gone. Where does that leave the Aggies and who will step up to take the torch?
Grant Harper looks as though he’ll be the guy under center when the season kicks off after serving as Hastings’ backup last year. Harper is a former three-star recruit who is now entering his senior campaign. He’s appeared in nine games throughout his college career, four of which came last year. Harper threw for just 61 yards but did have a TD last year. All of his action, however, came in garbage time. Mercer’s defense will surely look to take advantage of Harper’s lack of real experience and… bad news for the Aggies… they will be able to throw one heck of a pass rusher his way.
Sophomore Andrew Zock comes into this season as perhaps the best defensive lineman in the entire FCS. Zock was named the preseason SoCon Defensive Player of the Year and, looking at last year’s numbers, it’s easy to see why. As a freshmen, he terrorized offenses off the edge, logging 14.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks. Now with a full season under his belt, Zock will be the scariest player on the field on Saturday.
UC Davis will need to protect Harper however they can and it has a pretty solid O line to do so. Senior Eli Simonson is the most notable returner up front after claiming second-team All-Big Sky honors last year. He and the group will be tasked with keeping Harper upright as well as opening holes for the ground game. Now without the aforementioned Larison, the Aggies will look to Matteo Perez. Perez got 71 touches last year and went for just over 300 yards.
The good news for UC Davis is that if the ground game goes stagnant they have several viable pass catching options. Receiver Samuel Gbatu Jr. is back after a great 2024 campaign in which he caught 44 passes for 779 yards and seven scores. First-team All-Conference tight end Winston Williams is also back and looks to be one of the best at the position this year. A season ago he was responsible for six receiving touchdowns. Harper will have places to go with the ball.
Mercer will need to find a way to slow down that passing attack and it will be tough without standouts Myles Redding and T.J. Moore on the back end of the defense. Moore was a finalist for last year’s Buck Buchanan Award after picking off seven passes and knocking down 13 others. Redding had even more interceptions with nine. Now it will up to safety Donovan Watkins to lead the secondary. Watkins, a redshirt sophomore, made 22 tackles last year and intercepted one pass.
Mercer Offense vs. UC Davis Defense
Signal caller Whit Newbauer rose onto the scene in a big way as a freshman last year but ultimately lost the job to D.J. Smith down the line. Smith returns (as does Newbauer) and is expected to get the nod again to begin the season. He completed 77.3% of his throws last year for 924 yards and eight touchdowns all in six games of action but also rushed for 159 yards and three scores. Smith’s dual-threat ability is something that UC Davis will need to hone in on or they could be in trouble, especially as the game wears on.
While the quarterback position is handled, the biggest question mark the Bears will have on offense is who is going to replace last year’s star Dwayne McGee. McGee was the SoCon Offensive Player of the Year but he’s gone now meaning that guys like C.J. Miller and Micah Bell will have to step up. The duo combined for 663 yards and three touchdowns in 2024.
With the uncertainty in the backfield, the Aggies might prepare for a pass-heavy attack from Smith and they’ll have one of the top defensive backs in the country to combat it. Rex Connors is back for his senior season and he’s the best in the business at safety. Connors, the preseason Big Sky Defensive MVP, has eight career interceptions and 25 defended passes under his belt. He will spearhead the secondary and Smith will need to know where he is on every snap.
Connors, though, isn’t the only big danger in the secondary. This offseason UC Davis added transfer Khalani Riddick from Southeast Missouri State following a great campaign that saw him register 87 tackles and five PBUs. The duo of Riddick and Connors is one that the Aggies will undoubtedly lean on a lot this fall and both are more than capable of making opposing QBs pay for errant throws.
Smith will need his receivers to be at their best against the UC Davis secondary. Brayden Smith and Anthony Dabbs will have a tall order on their hands but both are talented pass catchers that have proven themselves. Last season Dabbs finished second on the team with 417 receiving yards and three scores while Smith came in right behind him with 390 yards and five more TDs.
Up front UC Davis will turn to Harvard transfer Jacob Psyk for production on the line. Psyk logged 11 tackles for loss last year along with 6.5 sacks for the Crimson. His first job as an Aggie is to now corral the elusive Smith and he’ll have some talented teammates to help in that cause. Another former Ivy Leaguer in ex-Dartmouth defensive lineman Derrell Porter also joins. He authored six tackles for loss and had 35 stops last year.
The Special Teams
The Bears return kicker Reice Griffith for his junior season. He is looking to improve on a year in which he connected on 16 of his 20 field goal attempts and made all 54 of his PATs. Griffith has a range of 44 yards and, although he didn’t do it at all last season, he can punt if need be.
The main punting duties will fall upon redshirt senior John McConnell who is one of the best in the country. Last year McConnell 43.4 yards per punt (16th in the entire NCAA) and came out as a semifinalist for the FCS Punter of the Year. He forced 32 fair catches in 2024 and only had six touchbacks. If Mercer has to punt in this one, McConnell will certainly be able to flip the field.
On the other side, UC Davis is in the midst of a punter battle between sophomore transfer Dylan Mauro and returning punter Cade Cox. Last season with Southwest Oklahoma State, Mauro totaled over 2,700 punting yards and pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line 19 times. Cox only got 12 punts off for the Aggies last year and averaged 34.6 per boot. Both may get opportunities in this game.
As far as kicking goes, UC Davis will be in good shape as All-American Hunter Ridley is back. Ridley was sensational last year, making 16-of-18 field goal tries (88.9%) as well as 56 PATs. Ridley is essentially automatic and if the Aggies can get it close, he can handle the rest.
Predictions
This will come down to how much pressure Mercer can generate against the UC Davis offensive line. The game will be won and lost in those trenches specifically and right now it’s tough to bet against the talent on that Aggies line. Harper will need to make his fair share of plays through the air and he should be able to given the weapons he has in that department. The ground game is the big question right now. The Bears will get into the backfield with Zock but not as oten as they need to. While Smith and company will keep this game close, UC Davis will pull away in the end. The Aggies, because of their home in the Big Sky, are battle tested in a way that Mercer just isn’t and that resolve will show through late. UC Davis wins a good one to kick off the season.
Score Prediction: Mercer: 24 – UC Davis: 31
