Cal Poly Resumes Big Sky Schedule by Hosting Weber State Saturday Night
10/11/2013 12:00:00 AM | Football
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (2-3, 1-0 Big Sky), which has lost three of its four non-conference games, puts its unblemished Big Sky Conference mark on the line Saturday night, hosting Weber State (1-5, 0-2 Big Sky) for its Hall of Fame Game inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium (11,075).
Kickoff is set for 6:05 p.m. PDT and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 am) with Tom Barket providing the play-by-play and Kyle Shotwell serving as an analyst. Links for video and audio streams as well as live stats are available at www.GoPoly.com.
The Mustangs, who rallied from a 21-7 halftime deficit to beat Portland State 38-34 on Sept. 26 before letting a 10-7 intermission lead evaporate in a 24-10 loss to Yale, fell out of the top 25 in both the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision coaches poll and The Sports Network media poll for the first time since the fourth week of the 2012 season. Weber State, which is playing its fifth road game of the season Saturday, won its opener against Stephen F. Austin 50-40 on Aug. 31 at home, but has lost five straight, scoring a combined total of 41 points.
A year ago, Cal Poly finished 9-3 overall, captured a share of the Big Sky title in its first year in the conference and earned a second-round NCAA FCS playoff berth, falling 18-16 to Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas. In earning their third FCS playoff berth, the Mustangs finished with a winning record for the 10th time in the last 12 seasons.
Weber State, co-champion of the Big Sky in 2008, has posted a combined 21-30 record since then, including a 2-9 mark in 2012. The Wildcats also claimed Big Sky titles in 1965 and 1968 and have made four Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearances. Among the assistant coaches on second-year Jody Sears' staff is former Montana head coach Robin Pflugrad.
Cal Poly football, presented by French Hospital Medical Center, opened Fall Camp with 58 returning lettermen, including 17 players who started at least four games in 2012. Topping the list of returnees are a pair of second-team All-Big Sky honorees -- linebacker Johnny Millard and defensive tackle Sullivan Grosz -- and eight others who earned All-Big Sky honorable mention praise.
Junior Willie Tucker returns at wide receiver after leading the team with 28 catches a year ago while three of the five starters on the offensive front -- Giovanni Sani, Mike Freeman and Lefi Letuligasenoa -- return as well. Also returning are junior Kristaan Ivory, the No. 2 rusher a year ago with 728 yards and eight touchdowns, and fellow slotback Cole Stanford with 241 rushing yards and 17 catches for 486 yards and four scores.
On defense, all four starting defensive linemen of a year ago -- ends Andrew Alcaraz and Jake Irwin plus tackles Grosz and Chris Lawrence -- return. At linebacker, junior Nick Dzubnar moves from the outside to replace Kenneth Jackson in the middle (Mike) while Millard shifts from Will to Sam. Junior Cameron Ontko takes over at Will. Eight of the nine defensive backs who played six or more games last fall return along with senior three-year letterman Bijon Samoodi, who sat out the 2012 season with a hip injury.
Bobby Zalud, who handled all kicking duties (55-for-55 PATs, 12-for-16 field goals, 40.6 punting average), and return specialist Chris Nicholls (24.0 average per kickoff return, 8.5 average per punt return) also return.
Five games into the current season, Ivory is ranked No. 1 in the Big Sky and No. 14 in the FCS with his average of 116.8 rushing yards per contest. The junior is averaging 6.5 yards per carry, scored three touchdowns against San Diego on runs of 81, 2 and 61 yards, accumulated 184 yards and one score against Portland State and made a career-high eight catches against Yale. Tucker has 15 catches in four contests, two for touchdowns, and also has non-scoring catches of 39, 50 and 74 yards. Middle linebacker Nick Dzubnar has a team-leading 52 tackles while outside linebacker/rush end Johnny Millard has 51 stops, including a career-high 13 in the loss to Yale.
Sophomore quarterback Chris Brown has started Cal Poly's last three games since replacing Vince Moraga in the third quarter of the Fresno State contest. Moraga is lost for the season due to a knee injury. Brown has completed 45 of 79 passes (57 percent) for 539 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 269 yards and three scores.
Cal Poly has had difficulty putting together two solid halves of football this season. In their three road games, the Mustangs have been outscored 82-17 in the first half and outgained 926-375 in total offense. In the second half, Cal Poly has outscored its three road foes 63-26 and compiled a 926-515 advantage in total yards.
Last week against Yale, it was the complete opposite. The Mustangs forged ahead 10-7 on a 53-yard field goal by Bobby Zalud on the final play of the first half, then produced one first down, 37 yards in total offense and no points after the break, possessing the ball for just eight minutes as the Bulldogs scored 17 unanswered points for the 24-10 victory.
After playing no home games in September for the first time since 2000, the Mustangs are playing five of seven games at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, starting with Yale last week and continuing with Weber State this week. Cal Poly also hosts Northern Arizona on Oct. 26, Sacramento State on Nov. 9 and Eastern Washington on Nov. 16.
Weber State returned 37 lettermen, including 16 starters, off last year's team which went 2-9 overall and finished tied for 11th in the Big Sky at 2-6. After the season-opening win over Stephen F. Austin, the Wildcats have lost to Utah, Utah State, McNeese State, Sacramento State and Eastern Washington.
In the loss to the Eagles last week, the Wildcats fell behind early as Vernon Adams threw two touchdown passes in the first seven minutes and completed 16 of 23 passes for 194 yards and four scores. Weber State quarterback Austin Chipoletti connected on 17 of 27 passes for 140 yards and one score, a 21-yarder to Cameron Livingston. Josh Booker and Bo Bolen both scored on short runs for the Wildcats.
For the season, Chipoletti has completed 53 of 102 passes (52 percent) for 413 yards and two scores, with Erik Walker his favorite target with 24 receptions for 288 yards and a touchdown. Bolen (278 yards), Booker (218) and Zach Smith (207) have combined for six rushing touchdowns for the Wildcats, who also have scored one touchdown each by an interception, kickoff return and fumble return.
Linebacker Roman Valenzuela leads the Weber State defense with 48 tackles and three quarterback hurries. The Wildcats have six interceptions in six games, including two each by Deon'tae Florence and A.J. Coney.
Weber State is averaging 270 yards in total offense per game -- 161 on the ground and 109 through the air -- while giving up 540 yards a contest (242 rushing, 298 passing).
Among Weber State's 13 Californians on the roster is senior safety Chris Wheeler, a Templeton High School graduate who transferred from Allan Hancock College a year ago and has 42 tackles in six starts this season.
Sears joined Weber State's coaching staff as a defensive coordinator in January 2012 and became head coach three months later when John L. Smith left for Arkansas without ever coaching a Wildcat game. Sears spent three seasons at Washington State, five at Eastern Washington, three at Army and also was an assistant at St. Ambrose and Iowa State; he was a wide receiver at Washington State.
Weber State has produced one Walter Payton Award winner -- former Arroyo Grande High School standout Jamie Martin, who still holds numerous passing records and, despite not being drafted, played 16 seasons (1993-2008) in the NFL with the Los Angeles and St. Louis Rams, Washington Redskins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers.
Cal Poly and Weber State are meeting for the 10th time in football this weekend and the Wildcats own a 5-4 advantage in the series. Andre Broadous threw a career-high three touchdown passes, Kristaan Ivory and Brandon Howe both scored twice and Barrett Wangara returned an interception 58 yards for a touchdown as Cal Poly rallied from a trio of early six-point deficits to defeat Weber State 45-23 a year ago in Ogden, Utah.
Walsh is 7-6 against Weber State, including a 6-5 mark while he was head coach at Portland State, while Sears is 0-1 against Cal Poly.
At halftime of Saturday's game, the five newest inductees into the Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame will be introduced. They are baseball player Dan Chergey, distance runners Carmelo Rios and Amy Harper Avrit, swimmer Glenn Perry and tennis standout Mike Giusto. The quintet will be officially inducted Friday night at Embassy Suites in San Luis Obispo.
Next week Cal Poly football, presented by French Hospital Medical Center, plays at Montana on Saturday, Oct. 19, with kickoff in Washington-Grizzly Stadium set for 12:30 p.m. PDT. KKFX-TV (Channel 11 and 106-1 on Charter) will carry the Max Media feed from Missoula live.
