Cal Poly to Visit No. 9/10 Montana for Big Sky Conference Showdown
10/18/2013 12:00:00 AM | Football
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (3-3, 2-0 Big Sky), which last week earned its first shutout in seven years and held Weber State to just 173 yards of offense, the lowest total in Tim Walsh's five seasons at the helm of the Mustangs, puts its unblemished Big Sky Conference mark on the line Saturday afternoon, visiting Montana (5-1, 2-1 Big Sky) for a midseason Big Sky showdown inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium (25,217).
Kickoff is set for 12:35 p.m. PDT and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 am) with Tom Barket providing the play-by-play and Eric Burdick serving as an analyst. Max Media Montana will televise the game, with KKFX (Charter Channel 11) relaying the feed to San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. Links for video and audio streams as well as live stats are available at www.GoPoly.com.
The Mustangs, who fell out of the top 25 in both the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision coaches poll and The Sports Network media poll after losing to Yale 24-10 two weeks ago, bounced back with a 47-0 victory over Weber State. Montana's lone loss was at Northern Arizona 34-16 three weeks ago and the Griz rebounded with wins over Portland State (55-27) and UC Davis (42-7).
Cal Poly, which has yet to play a ranked FCS school this season, will face Nos. 9/10 Montana, Nos. 19/21 Northern Arizona and Nos. 4/6 Eastern Washington in the next five weeks.
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.
Montana, which struggled through a 5-6 campaign last fall, has returned to form in 2013 with national rankings of No. 9 by the coaches and 10th by the media. The Grizzlies have won 19 Big Sky championships from 1969 to 2011, have earned 21 FCS playoff berths, including an FCS-record 17 consecutive trips to the postseason from 1993 to 2009) and claimed national titles in 1995 and 2001.
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 fellowslotback 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.
Six games into the current season, Ivory is ranked No. 1 in the Big Sky and No. 12 in the FCS with his average of 114 rushing yards per contest. The junior is averaging 6.3 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, made a career-high eight catches against Yale and scored three times, two via rushing and one on a pass, against Weber State, rushing for 100 yards. Tucker has 15 catches in five contests, two for touchdowns, and also has non-scoring catches of 39, 50 and 74 yards. Middle linebacker Nick Dzubnar has a team-leading 61 tackles while outside linebacker/rush end Johnny Millard has 56 stops, including a career-high 13 in the loss to Yale.
Sophomore quarterback Dano Graves earned his first collegiate start last week against Weber State and responded with 116 yards on the ground and 169 yards passing, completing 13 of 16 passes, three for touchdowns. Graves is the third Mustang to start at quarterback this fall, following Vince Moraga (two starts, knee injury) and Chris Brown (three starts, hip injury).
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.
The Mustangs played well in both halves against Weber State, jumping to a 20-0 halftime lead and pulling away after the break. Cal Poly produced advantages of 29-10 in first downs, 580-173 in total yards and 31:23 to 28:37 in time of possession. The Mustang defense forced 10 Wildcat punts and limited Weber State to just 53 yards on the ground.
Montana returned 43 lettermen, including 18 starters, off last year's team which went 5-6 overall and finished tied for eighth in the Big Sky at 3-5. The Grizzlies, coming off their first losing season since 1985, opened the 2013 campaign with wins over Appalachian State, North Dakota and Oklahoma Panhandle State.
In the win at UC Davis last week, quarterback Jordan Johnson passed for 163 yards and two touchdowns while Jordan Canada rushed for 126 yards and two more scores. Montana's defense gave up just 237 total yards and the Grizzlies did not commit a penalty, notched four sacks and were 3-for-3 on fourth-down plays.
For the season, Canada has rushed for 471 yards and six touchdowns while Travon Van has 438 yards and four scores to his credit. Johnson has completed 78 of 130 passes (60 percent) for 1,322 yards and 16 touchdowns without an interception. His favorite targets are Ellis Henderson with 15 catches, seven for touchdowns, and Jamaal Jones with 11 receptions. Stephen Shaw averages 46.2 yards per punt, including six of 50 or more yards.
Linebacker Brock Coyle leads the Montana defense with 49 tackles while rush end Zack Wagenmann has 3.5 sacks among his 11 tackles for lost yardage. Montana has 10 interceptions in six games, including two each by Jordan Tripp, Bo Tully, Anthony Goodwin and Nate Harris.
Montana is averaging 474 yards in total offense per game -- 238 on the ground and 236 through the air -- and scoring almost 41 points a contest while giving up 337 yards (115 rushing, 222 passing) and 17.5 points per game.
Montana has 13 Californians on the roster, none from the Central Coast.
Mick Delaney took over for Robin Pflugrad as head coach at Montana following the 2011 season. Delaney was Montana's associate head coach from 2008-11, overseeing the running backs. In his 29th season of coaching football at the collegiate level, Delaney has coached before at Colorado State, Western Montana and Montana State as well as at Butte Central and Great Falls high schools. He earned his degree in education at Montana-Western and his grandson, Mick, is on the Montana roster this fall.
The Mustangs and Grizzlies are meeting for the 17th time and Cal Poly has won just two previous contests -- 35-21 in the first round of the 2005 NCAA FCS playoffs at Missoula and 35-33 in 2010 inside Alex G.Spanos Stadium. Montana earned a 37-23 victory in 2011, the last time the two teams met. Johnson, then a sophomore, passed for 240 yards, two touchdowns and a two-point conversion and also ran for two points as Montana rallied from a 20-14 third-quarter deficit for the win. Delaney is 0-0 against Cal Poly while Tim Walsh is 3-11 against Montana, including a 2-9 mark while at Portland State from 1993 to 2006. The Mustangs are 1-10 in Missoula and 1-4 against the Griz at home.
Next week Cal Poly football, presented by French Hospital Medical Center, returns home to host Northern Arizona on Saturday, Oct. 26. Kickoff in Alex G. Spanos Stadium for the Parent and Family Weekend contest is set for 6:05 p.m. PDT.
The Mustangs defeated the Lumberjacks 42-34 in Flagstaff in the final game of the 2012 regular season to gain a share of the 2012 Big Sky Conference title.
