In head football coach Bob Biggs’ mind, they’re called Aggie athletes:

Smart, committed, talented. For football, often they are under-sized over-achievers.

Look at the history of UC Davis football. Biggs’ “Aggie athletes” are versatile, occasionally overlooked by other programs and there is no mistaking them.

They are good guys, committed to a common good, aware of the community around them and understanding of what a good education means.

In the transition to Division I competition, Biggs’ Aggies are beginning to share some big-time spotlights as UCD ventures to play the likes of Cal, Arizona State and Texas Christian.

As the arena grows, so do those Aggie athletes.

One such example is junior Nick Aprile, a jack-of-all trades offensive whiz who began his Davis career as a safety. Escalon native Aprile took some time Friday to talk about his experience at UCD.

“My stepsisters and stepdad graduated from here, so even before considering the school, I knew about it,” Aprile explained.

A brilliant two-way player (QB/DB) for his 800-enrollment high school, Aprile (6-foot-1, 212 pounds) knew he might be a little short for a major-college quarterback. So former assistant coach Keith Buckley was up front with him:

“I thought it was a great switch … and since coming to here I’ve had a great time.”

But it wasn’t the only switch.

After his red-shirt freshman year, Aprile was being tested in the Aggie gator (wildcat) offense. Suddenly he was evolving, back on offense. Playing both ways in 2009, Aprile was a reserve defensive back — but also scored four times, averaging more than four yards a carry.

Last season, Aprile’s transformation continued. The relentless running back was called on 99 times, gaining a team-high 389 yards and scoring six TDs.

He returned kickoffs, caught five passes for almost 80 yards and twice (Portland State and Southern Utah) had two scores in the same game.

“He’s a guy that can play anywhere for us and has a good sense of what’s needed in a certain situation,” Biggs once told The Enterprise.

Aprile went 48 yards for a TD in the 48-14 season-opening loss at Arizona State, and got a little Aloha Spirit on a one-yard blast in the Hawaii game.

The communications major believes playing the big boys is part of a learning/growing curve that already is paying dividends.

“It’s prepared us well,” Aprile says about playing FBS giants. “It builds more of a mindset that we can go out and compete with anybody. I think that’s what the coaches are trying to get at when we schedule those kinds of schools.

“We need to learn … to go out and play anybody on any Saturday, no matter where. That’s what we’re doing. It’s a building process that’s coming together.”

So with seven games left, which is the real UCD football team: the one of the first half of the Hawaii game (trailing 49-0) or the second-half team that hosted San Diego (a 24-3 offensive explosion)?

“For sure, San Diego. The problem has been our slow starts,” Aprile believes. “You start slow against these bigger programs — get 14, 21 points behind — it changes everything and throws us off.”

Despite a team that can call on a half-dozen capable running backs, the sometimes wildcat thinks he’ll see an increased offensive load down the stretch.

A favorite position?

“No. Really I like what I do now for the program. I like to play wide receiver or line up in the slot. Play fullback, and (go in) motion and shift everywhere. And then to play tailback…”

Coming from tiny Escalon (7,700 population) to UCD has been a revelation for Aprile, but he says he wouldn’t trade anything.

He has recently added a political science minor and is thinking about law school. Aprile eventually wants to be a sports agent.

He and roommates QB Austin Heywood and WR Anthony Soto make for a nice off-campus offensive package and Aprile says he enjoys seeing his little sister Katie play volleyball for Sacramento State.

So who’s the best athlete between him and Katie?

“We argue about this all the time,” Aprile says, laughing. “I would say I am, but she’s pretty good.”

The Apriles had some ding-dong driveway and backyard battles growing up — the in-house competition obviously helping get each D-I ready.

So, after a 1-3 start — albeit against some over-the-top schools — does Aprile believe Davis is ready for a run at a Great West title?

“It’s time to get back on more stable ground,” Aprile says, adding he knows, deep down, that UCD will be in the GW mix. “I know it’s cliché, but coach wants us to ‘take it one game at a time.’ We really need to do that.”

Notes: Mom and dad are Ellen Clare and Mike Aprile. Nick’s stepdad is Jim Clare, his stepsisters are UCD graduates Jennie and Mandy. …At Escalon High (east of Stockton), Aprile was Trans Valley League player of the year when he rushed for 975 yards and passed for another 540 (accounting for 15 TDs). Aprile, noting Davis was thin on QBs in the San Diego win, chuckles when he says “I go out there at pre-practice and throw the ball around a little bit, have the coaches see my arm.” What not? Another position.

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Nick Aprile works his way up the sideline during a game against San Diego on Sept. 17. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise photo

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Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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