2023 UC Davis Aggies football team

The 2023 UC Davis football team represented the University of California, Davis as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Dan Hawkins, the Aggies played their home games at UC Davis Health Stadium in Davis, California. The UC Davis Aggies football team drew an average home attendance of 10,562 in 2023.

2023 UC Davis Aggies football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 24
Record	7–4 (5–3 Big Sky)
Head coach	Dan Hawkins (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Cody (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Matt Coombs (4th season)
Captain	Teddy Buchanan
Home stadium	UC Davis Health Stadium

2023 Big Sky Conference football standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Montana $^		7	–	1					13	–	2
No. 8 Idaho ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 9 Montana State ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Northern Arizona		5	–	3					5	–	6
No. 24 UC Davis		5	–	3					7	–	4
No. 13 Sacramento State ^		4	–	4					8	–	5
Portland State		4	–	4					5	–	6
Weber State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Eastern Washington		3	–	5					4	–	7
Idaho State		3	–	5					3	–	8
Cal Poly		1	–	7					3	–	8
Northern Colorado		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

Polls

On July 23, 2023, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Aggies were predicted to finish second in the Big Sky by the coaches and fifth by the media.

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana State	120 (10)
2	UC Davis	96 (1)
3	Sacramento State	94 (1)
4	Weber State	91
5	Idaho	89
6	Montana	84
7	Eastern Washington	52
8	Portland State	45
9	Northern Arizona	44
10	Northern Colorado	37
11	Cal Poly	25
12	Idaho State	15

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Montana State	447 (26)
2	Idaho	410 (8)
3	Montana	359 (2)
4	Sacramento State	334 (3)
5	UC Davis	330
6	Weber State	320
7	Eastern Washington	216
8	Northern Arizona	178
9	Portland State	167
10	Northern Colorado	109
11	Cal Poly	103
12	Idaho State	69

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	5:00 p.m.	at Texas A&M–Commerce*	No. 16	Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium Commerce, TX	ESPN+	W 48–10	4,227
September 9	6:00 p.m.	at No. 16 (FBS) Oregon State*	No. 15	Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	P12N	L 7–55	35,728
September 16	7:00 p.m.	Southern Utah*	No. 16	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	W 23–21	7,942
September 23	7:00 p.m.	Eastern Washington	No. 15	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	L 24–27	14,724
September 30	5:00 p.m.	at Cal Poly	No. 21	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA (Battle for the Golden Horseshoe)	ESPN+	W 31–13	8,744
October 7	4:00 p.m.	No. 17 Montana	No. 20	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	L 23–31	9,576
October 14	5:00 p.m.	at No. 22 Weber State		Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	ESPN+	W 17–16	7,121
October 28	1:00 p.m.	at Northern Arizona	No. 25	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	ESPN+	L 21–38	6,931
November 4	4:00 p.m.	Portland State		UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	W 37–23	8,945
November 11	3:00 p.m.	at Idaho State		Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	ESPN+	W 21–14	7,001
November 18	2:00 p.m.	No. 8 Sacramento State		UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA (Causeway Classic)	ESPN+	W 31–21	11,622
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time