No. 18/19 Cal Poly Opens Defense of Big Sky Title Thursday at Portland St.
9/26/2013 12:00:00 AM | Football
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | PORTLAND STATE | BIG SKY
PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEOS: TIM WALSH | KRISTAAN IVORY
MUSTANGS REMAIN NOS. 18/19 IN FCS POLLS
AUDIO STREAM | LIVE STATS | LIVE STATS
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Following back-to-back losses to Football Bowl Subdivision members Fresno State and Colorado State, Cal Poly (1-2, 0-0 Big Sky) opens defense of its one-third share of the Big Sky Conference title Thursday night at Portland State (3-1, 0-0 Big Sky), a team averaging 42.8 points and 612 yards per game.
Kickoff at JELD-WEN Field (18,627) is set for 7:15 p.m. PDT and the game will be broadcast live on ROOT Sports (DirecTV 683, 687; Dish Network 414, 426) with Tom Glasgow (play-by-play), Jason Stiles (analyst) and Jen Mueller (sideline) at the microphones. The game also will be aired live on ESPN Radio (1280 am) with Tom Barket providing the play-by-play and Eric Burdick as an analyst. Links for an audio stream as well as live stats are available at www.GoPoly.com.
The Mustangs, coming off a bye week, are ranked No. 19 in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision coaches poll and 18th in the The Sports Network media poll. Portland State is receiving votes in both polls after defeating Eastern Oregon, Humboldt State and, last week, UC Davis 41-10 in a non-conference game while falling to Cal 37-30 three weeks ago.
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.
Cal Poly, which opened its fifth season under head coach Tim Walsh -- who coached for 14 seasons at Portland State (1993-2006) -- with a 38-16 victory over San Diego on August 31, fell 41-25 at Fresno State and 34-17 at Colorado State. The Mustangs, playing their first Thursday game since 2002 when Cal Poly lost its season opener at Toledo 44-16, are 4-0 when playing after a bye week in the Walsh era.
Portland State has rolled up 672, 553, 622 and 601 yards of total offense in its first four games this season en route to a 612 average per game, No. 2 in the Football Championship Subdivision, and leads the FCS in rushing, averaging 328 yards per contest. The Vikings are 11th in the FCS with their 42.8 scoring average.
Cal Poly 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.
Moraga won a four-man battle at quarterback in Fall Camp and was tabbed by Walsh on August 19 to start the season opener against San Diego. Moraga, however, injured a knee in the third quarter at Fresno State and is lost for the season. Redshirt sophomore Chris Brown (pictured above) was the starter at Colorado State and, in his first collegiate start, completed 11 of 20 passes for 164 yards and one score while rushing for 61 yards on 14 carries. Junior slotback Kristaan Ivory rushed for 728 yards and eight touchdowns as a backup to 1,500-yard rusher Deonte Williams a year ago. 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.
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.
As a team a year ago, Cal Poly was No. 1 in the FCS in passing efficiency, No. 3 in rushing offense (324.2 yards a game), No. 7 in scoring offense (38.6 points per contest) and No. 8 in sacks allowed (.83 per game) in 2012. In addition, the Mustang defense showed considerable improvement last fall compared to the year before. In 2012, Cal Poly was No. 45 in scoring defense (86th two years ago) and No. 57 in total defense (90th in 2011).
Three games into the current season, Ivory is ranked No. 2 in the Big Sky and No. 18 in the FCS with his average of 112 rushing yards per contest. The junior is averaging 7.2 yards per carry and scored three touchdowns against San Diego on runs of 81, 2 and 61 yards. Tucker is 23rd in the FCS in receiving yards per game (102.7) and has 15 catches in three contests, two for touchdowns. He also has non-scoring catches of 39, 50 and 74 yards. Middle linebacker Nick Dzubnar has 11.7 tackles per game, 12th in the FCS and first in the Big Sky.
Portland State returned 47 lettermen, including 12 starters (six on offense, five on defense, one on special teams) off a team which went 3-8 in 2012, finishing tied for 11th place in the Big Sky. The Vikings, who fielded their first football team in 1947, have compiled 29 winning seasons in 66 years and have made one FCS playoff appearance (2000) and nine NCAA postseason appearances.
The Vikings are led offensively by running back DJ Adams, who sparked a 428-yard ground game against UC Davis with 208 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback Kieran McDonagh, who completed 11 of 21 passes for 174 yards and two scores with three interceptions. For the season, Adams has rushed for 491 yards (7.9 yards per carry) and seven scores while McDonagh has completed 52 of 91 passes (57 percent) for 1,029 yards and seven touchdowns. Top receiver is Kasey Closs with 20 catches for 493 yards and five touchdowns. Strong safety Dean Faddis leads Portland State defensively with 35 tackles while middle linebacker Jaycob Shoemaker has 29 stops.
The Vikings, who have lost 18 straight games to nationally ranked teams dating back to 2008, have recorded 17 sacks and have been penalized 40 times in four games. Punter Kyle Loomis is averaging 46.8 yards per kick and Portland State has won three of four games despite a 10-minute disadvantage in time of possession.
Nigel Burton is in his fourth season as head coach at Portland State, guiding the Vikings to 2-9, 7-4 and 3-8 marks in his first three campaigns. He was defensive coordinator at Nevada in 2008 and 2009, spent five seasons as secondary coach at Oregon State and was defensive backs coach under Walsh at Portland State in 2001 and 2002. Burton was a threeyear starter at safety at Washington and replaced Jerry Glanville as Vikings head coach in December 2009.
Cal Poly and Portland State are meeting for the 20th time in football this week. Last year's Big Sky game at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, the first meeting between the two schools since 1999, was won by Cal Poly 37-25 as Deonte Williams rushed for 169 yards and quarterback Andre Broadous passed for 117 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for two more scores. The Vikings had won five straight against the Mustangs, including the last three under Tim Walsh (1993, 1998, 1999) and hold a 10-9 edge in the series, which started in 1977. Cal Poly won the first six meetings. Tim Walsh is 2-1 against Portland State, the first two while head coach at Sonoma State, while Nigel Burton is 0-1 against Cal Poly.
Out of the polls in 2011, Cal Poly regained its spot in the top 25 in 2012, climbing to as high as No. 11 in both the coaches and media polls before falling to Sacramento State and Eastern Washington. The Mustangs, 4-1 at home three straight seasons (2009-11), went unbeaten (5-0) at home last fall for the first time since the 2005 squad went 6-0 at home. Cal Poly has won 48 of its last 57 home games (84 percent) and has claimed nine of its last 20 games on the road since going winless away from Alex G. Spanos Stadium in 2009 as part of an eight-game road losing streak.
Cal Poly football, presented by French Hospital Medical Center, captured four Great West Conference titles in the eight-year history of the league (2004, 2005, 2008, 2011) before moving to the Big Sky last fall and has earned NCAA Division I FCS playoff berths in 2005, 2008 and 2012, reaching the quarterfinals in 2005 with a win at Montana before falling at Texas State. The Mustangs have won 75 of their last 117 games (64 percent) dating back to the 2002 season finale and have won 28 of their last 57 games on the road (49 percent).
After playing three straight games on the road -- no home games in September -- Cal Poly returns to Alex G. Spanos Stadium on Oct. 5 with a 2:05 p.m. contest against Yale, the first-ever Big Sky Conference versus Ivy League matchup.
