Cal Poly to Visit Northern Illinois for Another FBS Matchup on Saturday
9/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (1-2, 0-0 Great West), coming off its first win of the 2011 football season following setbacks at San Diego State and Montana, will play its first game in the state of Illinois in 15 years Saturday afternoon, visiting Northern Illinois (1-2, 0-0 Mid-American).
Kickoff on Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium (24,000, Field Turf) is set for 12:30 p.m. PDT and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 am) with Tom Barket providing the play-by-play and Eric Burdick doing color commentary. Links for audio and video streams as well as GameTracker will be available on www.GoPoly.com.
Cal Poly's football team, presented by French Hospital Medical Center, faces another ambitious schedule under third-year head coach Tim Walsh, taking on a pair of FBS teams, two FCS squads in the national polls and another team that is undefeated the past two-plus seasons. Both San Diego State and Northern Illinois won bowl games in 2010, Montana has a pair of FCS national championships to its credit and Eastern Washington claimed the FCS crown last fall. South Alabama has not lost a football game in the program's three-year existence. Cal Poly's 11 foes in 2011 posted a combined 76-53 win-loss record in 2010.
"We have as tough a schedule as you could want at this level," said Walsh. "Our goal is to win the Great West Conference championship and, as far as the playoffs go, we have to win some tough road games to get there. Every game, we will have to play our best."
The Mustangs opened the 2011 campaign armed with nearly 50 returning lettermen, including 14 starters, off a team which finished two points shy of a postseason berth, letting a 21-3 halftime lead slip away in a 22-21 loss to rival UC Davis in the final game of the 2010 season.
Last Saturday in Alex G. Spanos Stadium, Cal Poly shattered a 7-7 first-quarter tie with four consecutive touchdowns, including two interception returns for scores, en route to a 48-14 victory over South Dakota State. Cornerbacks Bijon Samoodi (46 yards) and Asa Jackson (100 yards) each returned thefts for scores while junior quarterback Andre Broadous threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores as the Mustangs amassed 522 yards in total offense and 27 first downs. Senior fullback Jake Romanelli earned his second career 100-yard game rushing with exactly 100 yards on 17 carries, scoring the final Cal Poly touchdown on an 11-yard run.
Northern Illinois, coached by Dave Doeren (first season, 1-2, Drake '94) returned 47 lettermen, including 14 starters, off last year's team which went 11-3, finished first in the Mid-American Conference's West Division at 8-0 and won the 2010 Humanitarian Bowl with a 40-17 victory over Fresno State in Boise, Idaho.
The Huskies opened the 2011 campaign with a 49-26 victory over Rich Ellerson's Army squad before falling at Kansas 45-42 and against No. 7 Wisconsin 49-7 at Soldier Field in Chicago last week. Jasmin Hopkins ran three yards for a touchdown to tie the Wisconsin game at 7-7 before the Badgers scored the final 42 points. The Huskies were held to 64 rushing yards and gave up 621 yards in total offense. Quarterback Chandler Harnish completed 14 of 24 passes for 164 yards.
For the season, Hopkins has rushed for 192 yards and two touchdowns while Harnish has added 167 yards and four scores. Harnish has connected on 53 of 76 passes (70 percent) for 674 yards and seven TDs. His favorite targets are Nathan Palmer with 12 catches, Perez Ashford with 11 and Martel Moore with 10. Safety Jimmie Ward leads the Husky defense with 28 tackles.
The Mustangs and Huskies are meeting for the first time Saturday. Cal Poly will be playing a team from Illinois for the fifth time. The Mustangs are 0-2 against Bradley (1950 and 1952), 1-0 against Eastern Illinois (21-13 in the 1980 NCAA Division II National Championship Game at Albuquerque, NM) and 0-1 against Western Illinois (51-10 in 1996).
One year shy of their first venture to the Big Sky Conference, the Mustangs welcomed back six starters on offense and eight on defense, plus several other players who started a few games or accumulated a lot of playing time as backups. Among those are Broadous, who started four games at quarterback last fall, all on the road, and numerous defensive players who rotated in and out of the lineup with the starters.
Broadous backed up Tony Smith for two seasons and entered fall camp as the No. 1 signal caller. A year ago, the junior from Portland, Oregon, completed 41 of 64 passes (64.1 percent) for 510 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing 87 times for 305 yards and three more scores.
The Mustangs also will be led by senior slotback Mark Rodgers (882 yards and eight TDs rushing; 20 catches and three more TDs), Romanelli (459 yards, eight TDs) and a veteran offensive line which includes seniors Scott Winnewisser, Art Munoz and Maurice McClure.
Top returnees on defense are Buck Buchanan Award candidate Asa Jackson (55 tackles, two interceptions) at cornerback, linebackers Johnny Millard (38 tackles, two forced fumbles) and Kennith Jackson (67 tackles) and linemen Erich Klemme (28 tackles, 2.5 sacks), Kyle Murphy 23 tackles, six hurries) and Gavin Cooper (39 tackles, six sacks, six hurries), who could return this week following offseason foot surgery.
Cal Poly has captured three Great West Conference titles in the seven-year history of the league (2004, 2005, 2008) and earned NCAA Division I FCS playoff berths in both 2005 and 2008, reaching the quarterfinals in 2005. The Mustangs have won 59 of their last 93 games dating back to the 2002 season finale and have won 21 of their last 44 games on the road and 38 of their last 46 home contests.
Cal Poly has a bye next week, then will play three of its next four games at home, beginning with Central Oklahoma on Saturday, Oct. 8, at 4:05 p.m. in Alex G. Spanos Stadium. It will be Cal Poly's Hall of Fame Game with wrestler Ken Bos, football wide receiver Mike Amos, men's soccer standout Clay Harty, boxer Pete Godinez, Sr. and women's volleyball coach Mike Wilton honored at halftime.
