Cal Poly Continues Big Sky Play by Visiting Weber State on Saturday
10/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
WEEKLY NOTES: CAL POLY | WEBER STATE | BIG SKY
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VIDEOS: TIM WALSH | CHRIS NICHOLLS
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly (2-3, 1-1 Big Sky), which evened its Big Sky Conference record with a 42-39 victory over Southern Utah last week, continues Big Sky play Saturday afternoon with a trip to Weber State (0-5, 0-1 Big Sky) in Stewart Stadium (17,500) at Ogden, Utah.
Kickoff is set for 12:05 p.m. PDT and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 am) with Tom Barket providing the play-by-play and Eric Burdick serving as an analyst. The game also will be televised live by KJZZ (Steve Klauke and Alema Harrington) with CW5 (Charter channels 5 and 780) relaying the feed to its audience on the Central Coast. Links for audio and video streams as well as live stats are available at www.GoPoly.com.
Weber State, coming off a bye week, fell 31-28 at Southern Utah two weeks ago. The Wildcats turned the ball over four times, including an interception in the final seconds of the game. Weber State, outscored 61-7 in the first quarter this season, overcame a 10-0 first-quarter deficit and led three times before Southern Utah scored with 14:20 to go in the fourth period and held on for the win.
Coached by Tim Walsh (sixth season, 34-28, UC Riverside '77), Cal Poly opened the year with two games on the road, dropping a 28-10 decision at New Mexico State and 44-18 at South Dakota State. After a bye week, the Mustangs compiled 470 yards on the ground and scored the first 35 points of the game en route to a 42-14 non-conference victory over Big Sky rival Portland State in their home opener.
Northern Arizona scored with 21 seconds left to hand Cal Poly a heartbreaking 38-35 loss in the Big Sky opener before the Mustangs bounced back with their win over Southern Utah behind 97 plays and 593 yards in total offense, 33 first downs, 452 rushing yards, a pair of 100-yard rushers and a 17-minute advantage in time of possession.
Cal Poly joined Weber State and 11 other schools in the Big Sky Conference prior to the 2012 season. Weber State, co-champion of the Big Sky in 2008, has posted a combined 22-40 record since then, including a 2-9 mark in 2012 and 2-10 in 2013. The Wildcats also claimed Big Sky titles in 1965 and 1968 and have made four Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearances.
Cal Poly football, presented by French Hospital Medical Center, opened Fall Camp with 61 returning lettermen, including 16 players who started at least four games in 2013. Topping the list of returnees are senior linebacker Nick Dzubnar and senior defensive lineman Jake Irwin, both third-team All-Big Sky Conference selections a year ago, and four others who earned All-Big Sky honorable mention praise -- offensive linemen Matt Fisher and Stephen Sippel, defensive tackle Chris Lawrence and linebacker Cameron Ontko.
Juniors Chris Brown and Dano Graves return at quarterback and waged a two-man battle throughout the spring and fall. The duo combined for 10 starts, 1,052 rushing yards and 111 of the team's 136 pass completions a year ago.
Brown, who has started the first five contests this season, started six games last year and passed for 836 yards and 11 touchdowns while rushing for eight scores and 685 additional yards, including 195 yards in a win at UC Davis, a school record for a quarterback. Graves started four games and rushed for 367 yards while passing for 416 yards.
Getting most of the carries this fall are Garcia and seniors Chris Nicholls and Kenny Mitchell at slotback and seniors Brandon Howe and Brent Michaels at fullback. Among the top receivers on the roster are juniors Jordan Hines and Roland Jackson and sophomore Carson McMurtrey at wide receiver and senior Austin Albison at tight end.
With numerous vacancies to fill on both sides of the ball, several transfers and even some true freshmen have stepped in right away, including freshmen Alex Suchesk and Lance Mudd at slotback, Nevada transfer Burton De Koning at linebacker, Washington State transfer Logan Mayes at defensive end and Wake Forest transfer Andrew Hauser and freshman Fino Elisaia at defensive tackle. American River College transfer Tyler Alsey at defensive tackle and freshman Jonathan LaBonty at safety also will get some playing time along with freshman fullback Joe Protheroe.
A year ago, Cal Poly was No. 1 in the FCS in rushing offense (309.1). Two years ago, the Mustangs broke the Big Sky record for rushing yards in a season with 3,890 yards in 12 games. Expect more of the same from the Mustangs' Triple Option in 2014. The Mustangs netted 259 yards against New Mexico State, averaging 5.3 yards per carry, added 226 more yards at South Dakota State, 470 against Portland State, 271 at Northern Arizona and 452 against Southern Utah. Cal Poly leads the Big Sky and the FCS in rushing offense, averaging 335.6 yards a game.
Coached by Jay Hill (first season, 0-5, Utah '00 and '05), Weber State returned 36 lettermen, including 14 offensive and defensive starters, off last year's team which finished 2-10 and tied for 11th in the Big Sky at 1-7. The Wildcats have lost to FBS member Arizona State, three-time defending FCS champion North Dakota State, Sacramento State in a non-conference contest, Stephen F. Austin and Southern Utah.
Weber State's offensive leaders through five games are running back Zach Smith (457 yards, 6.1 yards per carry, two TDs), quarterback Billy Green (129 of 217, four interceptions, 1,387 yards, eight TDs) and receivers Shaydon Kehano (44 catches, 511 yards, five TDs) and Cam Livingston (30-395-0). Middle linebacker Emmett Tela leads all defenders with 53 tackles (35 solo), including seven for lost yardage and 2.5 sacks. Blake O'Neill averages 41.2 yards per punt.
Weber State is averaging 117 rushing yards, 277 passing yards and 20 points per game this season while giving up 199 rushing yards, 248 passing yards and 35.4 points a contest. The Wildcats fell to Southern Utah despite a 492-360 advantage in total offense and sacking Ammon Olsen six times. Green completed 23 of 36 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns, but also had two interceptions.
Hill was a longtime assistant coach at Utah (2000-13), the last nine as cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator, before he was hired as head coach at Weber State last December. He played college football at Ricks Junior College and Utah, leading the Mountain West interceptions as a senior. Hill played briefly in the XFL and signed free agent contracts with the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants.
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 11th time in football this weekend and the Mustangs evened the series at 5-5 with a 47-0 shutout a year ago in Alex G. Spanos Stadium. In his first collegiate start, quarterback Dano Graves passed for three touchdowns and ran for 116 yards while the Mustang defense held the visiting Wildcats to just 173 total yards -- lowest in Tim Walsh's tenure as Cal Poly head coach -- in posting its first shutout in seven years. Weber State drove into Cal Poly territory just twice in the game, marching to the 36-yard line before a first-quarter punt and to the Mustang 21 as time expired. Cal Poly compiled advantages of 29-10 in first downs, 580-173 in total yards and 31:23 to 28:37 in time of possession. Weber State converted just four of 16 third-down plays and punted 10 times. Cal Poly defeated Weber State 45-23 in its last trip to Ogden in 2012. Walsh is 8-6 against Weber State, including a 6-5 mark while he was head coach at Portland State, while Hill is 0-0 against Cal Poly.
A year ago, the Mustangs, 3-3 at home and 3-3 on the road, were ranked as high as No. 10 before losing to Yale and falling out of the top 25 for the rest of the year. Among the milestones achieved by Mustang players last fall, Alex Hubbard's 31.9 kickoff return average is No. 2 all-time at Cal Poly while Bobby Zalud's 148 total points by kicking is No. 4 and his 88 career PAT kicks made is No. 5. Paul Hundley's 43.8 punting average is No. 3 and he finished the season with a 41.65 career average, No. 2 on the list.
Three Mustangs, all linebackers, secured over 100 tackles, the first time that has been accomplished in one season. Dzubnar's 112 tackles is No. 8 all-time while both Ontko and Johnny Millard had 108, tied for No. 9.
This year's leaders through five games are Brown (513 rushing yards and seven TDs, 620 passing yards and four TDs), slotback Kori Garcia (420 yards, 6.0 average per carry, three TDs) and fullback Brandon Howe (333 yards, four TDs). Chris Nicholls has rushed for 161 yards and is Cal Poly's top receiver with nine catches. Jordan Hines has eight catches for 169 yards and two scores. Linebacker Nick Dzubnar tops all defensive players with 69 tackles, reaching double digits in each of Cal Poly's first five games this season. Linebacker Cameron Ontko has 46 tackles while Chris Fletcher, Karlton Dennis, Dave Douglas and Jordan Williams have one interception each.
Cal Poly, which captured the 2012 Big Sky title in its first year in the conference, was picked by head coaches this summer to finish fourth in the Big Sky for the second straight season. The Mustangs shared fourth place with Southern Utah, Montana State and UC Davis in 2013.
Next week, Cal Poly remains on the road, visiting Sacramento State for another Big Sky game on Saturday, Oct. 18. Kickoff in Hornet Stadium in the state capital is set for 6 p.m. PDT.
Photo above of Brandon Howe blocking for Chris Brown courtesy of Ray Ambler| RA Photos
